Draw an Owl From Memory

The owl is on screen for a couple of seconds, then it is gone and the canvas is empty. You draw it back from memory - the body, the two ear tufts, the big round eyes, the beak between them, and the feet. Your line is scored against the target and laid over it afterwards, so you can see which parts you kept and which ones drifted.

An owl is two problems. The ear tufts are not shapes added to the head - they are corners of the outline itself, so the whole silhouette has to remember them while you draw it. Then the eyes: they are much bigger than they feel, and nearly everyone draws them too small and too far apart, which is the single change that makes a drawing stop reading as an owl.

This is a practice round: played and scored for real, and it changes nothing in your game - no coins, no best score, no unlocks - so you can take it as often as you like, whether or not you have reached Animals in the Shape Challenge.

How the scorer reads an owl

The owl is ten separate parts, and the scorer gives each a share of the 128 comparison points in proportion to how much line it has. The body outline, which includes the two ear tufts, is the largest single part at 44%. But the eyes - two rings and two pupils - take 35% between them, about 44 of the 128 points: almost as much as the body. The beak is 5% and the two feet 5%.

So an owl is scored on two things above all: the silhouette and the eyes. A careful beak cannot make up for eyes of the wrong size, and because the scorer also holds shape match to the worst-matching tenth of the drawing, one badly placed pair of eyes limits the whole result.

Each part's share of the line, and of the scorer's comparison points
Part	Share of the line	Comparison points
Body outline, with the ear tufts	44%	56
Eyes - both rings and both pupils	35%	44
Wings	12%	16
Beak	5%	6
Feet	5%	6

What small eyes cost

Drawn with a slight, even wobble and nothing else wrong, the owl scores 93. Draw the same owl with the eyes 40% smaller and pushed apart - the most common owl mistake - and it scores 66. Shape match drops from 93 to 55; coverage barely moves (98 to 93), because smaller eyes remove only a little line. One mistake, 27 points.

The owl target in grey with a freehand owl drawn over it in blue, its eyes clearly smaller and further apart than the target's — Eyes 40% smaller and set wider apart, over the target. Scored by the game's own scorer: 66 / 100.

Scored by the game's own scorer, out of 100
Attempt	Total	Shape	Coverage	Smoothness	Scale
The same hand, no mistake	93	93	98	66	99
Eyes drawn 40% smaller and set wider apart	66	55	93	66	99

Three drills for the owl

Eyes a third of the body. Draw the two eye rings first, each a third as wide as the whole body. Then check the gap between them: on the target it is narrower than a pupil - the eyes almost touch.
The M at the top. Draw only the top of the outline, as a wide M: two tuft points, with the dip between them about 15% of the owl's height lower. The tufts are corners of the silhouette, not ears stuck on afterwards.
The eye line. Put the eye centres a little under halfway down from the tuft tips - about 42% of the owl's height - and the beak directly below the gap between them.

Questions people ask

What happens after the shape disappears?: You draw on a blank canvas with no guide underneath, in one attempt. The outline comes back afterwards, laid over your drawing so you can see the difference.
How is my score worked out?: Shape match, coverage, smoothness and scale, combined into one score shown with a star rating and a tip. Shape match counts for the most, at 70%.
Can I play with other people?: Two ways. 2 Players passes one device back and forth, alternating who draws first each round. Multiplayer opens a live room for 2–8 players over 5, 10 or 15 rounds, joined with a six-character code.
How many shapes are there?: 276 shapes across 12 categories, from geometry and letters to animals, food and fantasy.

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