Draw a Straight Line

How to play Draw a Straight Line

It sounds like the easiest drawing task in the world: join two dots with a straight line. No ruler, no snapping, no second attempt within the same stroke. Your line is colour coded as you draw it, green while you are right on the ideal path and drifting towards red as you wobble away from it. When you lift off on the second dot, a dashed ruler line slides in so you can see exactly where you bent, and the biggest wobble is circled for you.

1. Choose Dots (connect A and B) or Freehand (any straight line you like).
2. Put your finger, pen or mouse on one of the dots.
3. Draw to the other dot in one smooth stroke, without doubling back, within eight seconds.
4. Lift off on the second dot to see your accuracy score as a percentage.
5. Try again on the same dots, or press New dots for a fresh angle and length.
6. Beat your best and press Share score to send a score card to your friends.

How the straightness score works

The game resamples your stroke into evenly spaced points, so drawing slowly in one place does not count more than drawing quickly in another. Each point is then measured against the perfect line between the dots, and the average sideways error is compared with the length of the line. That makes the score fair across screen sizes: a short line on a phone and a long line on a monitor are judged on the same scale. In Dots mode a small penalty is added if you start or finish away from the centre of a dot. In Freehand mode the game calculates the best-fitting line through your stroke (the same principal-axis method used in statistics), so only pure straightness matters, and it also tells you the angle you drew at.

Tips for drawing a straight line freehand

• Look at the target, not your pen. Artists are taught to keep their eyes on the end point; your hand naturally aims where you look.
• Move from the shoulder. Wrist and finger movements pivot, which turns long lines into gentle arcs. Lock your wrist and let your whole arm glide.
• Go a bit faster than feels safe. Slow lines pick up every tremor. A confident, steady speed gives a cleaner result.
• Ghost the line first. Hover just above the screen and rehearse the motion two or three times before you touch down.
• Rotate the angle in your favour. Most people find pulling a line towards themselves or sideways easier than pushing it away. On paper you could turn the page; here, practise the awkward angles with New dots.
• Watch the colour. If the line turns yellow, correct gently. Big corrections create a second wobble.

Why practise straight lines?

Confident straight lines are one of the first exercises in almost every drawing course, from technical drawing to sketching, architecture and comics. Perspective drawings are built from them, hatching and shading are made of them, and clean lines make any sketch look more professional. The exercise also trains hand-eye coordination and fine motor control, which is why it shows up in calligraphy warm-ups and handwriting practice too. A minute of quick attempts a day is a surprisingly effective warm-up before drawing, writing or even gaming with a mouse.

Unlike drawing on paper, the game gives you instant, honest feedback. You see which part of the line bent, how far it strayed and whether you tend to curve the same way every time. Many players discover they always bow their lines in one direction, a habit that is easy to fix once you can see it.

More drawing skill challenges

Mastered straight lines? Take on the classic Draw a Perfect Circle test, then see how your accuracy holds up under pressure in Speed Draw, where an AI has to recognise your doodles against the clock. To relax afterwards, open the free online drawing board.