There is nothing quite like sitting down with family and friends and playing a wholesome game to bring you all together.

Well, Draw Something – whose creator OMGPOP has just been bought by Zynga for a reported $200m (£120m) – is nothing like that.

Unlike traditional board games, where players compete face to face across the table, Draw Something demands that you get your head down and concentrate on the tiny screen of your mobile phone (or perhaps an iPad, if you are particularly flash and require a bigger canvas).

The app is basically an interactive version of Pictionary, and is ridiculously addictive. You are given a choice of three words (graded from easy to hard), and once you've picked one, you set about drawing it with your stubby finger marking increasingly indecipherable lines on the screen. Having sent the drawing to your competitor, they have to work out what it means in as short a time as possible.

Choosing the easy option only earns you one gold coin, and there isn't much fun in drawing a door. The action is all in choosing the hard option. How, for example, do you draw Holland? Well, it turns out, it's a man holding a big spliff, standing next to a tulip. It worked for me, anyway.

But try drawing RZA, leading member of US rap collective the Wu-Tang Clan, when you know the person who has to work it out is rather more interested in Handel than hip hop? That's when you've got a challenge.

But, be warned. The app might be free, but Zynga has its eye on your pocket. Once addicted, you'll soon find yourself wanting to buy the add-ons, like more colours for your palette, which is where they expect to make the real money.