Photo challenge ideas for friends

What makes a good photo challenge

We've tried hundreds of prompts with groups of friends. The ones that work almost always have the same things in common:

• Short: if you have to read it twice, it's too long.
• Doable anywhere: in class, on the bus, in your room. Nobody should be stuck because they're not at home.
• No gear needed: something around you, your face, your hand. Nothing to go and buy.
• Different answers: "something red" gets ten different pics, and that's what makes it funny.
• A short timer: with 3 minutes, nobody has time to make a perfect pic, which is the point.
• Nobody is the target: you laugh at the situation, never at someone.

68 challenge ideas, by theme

Faces

• Your face when you're cooked
• Make the worst face you can
• Your Monday morning face
• Act out the emoji you send the most
• Your best movie villain stare
• Your face when you're hiding a secret
• Selfie with your phone flashlight under your chin

WTF

• Show the weirdest thing around you
• Take a pic without looking at your screen
• Something that looks like a face
• Build a monster out of three objects
• Make yourself a hat out of whatever's nearby
• Something that has no business being where it is
• The most useless thing you own

Creative

• Zoom all the way in on something. The others have to guess.
• A rainbow of objects
• A smiley face made of objects
• Recreate a famous work of art
• A pic from an extreme low angle
• Draw your mood in 10 seconds
• Find something perfectly round

Food

• What you're eating or drinking right now
• The sketchiest thing in your fridge
• A piece of fruit, shot like an ad
• Your face tasting something sour
• The one dish you can cook (or its ingredients)
• Some food that looks like a face

Outside

• The sky, right now
• A cloud that looks like something
• Pic of your shadow
• A puddle, a reflection or a window
• Your feet on an unusual floor
• A door you think looks cool

Style

• Today's fit, head to toe
• Today's socks
• Pose like you're on a magazine cover
• The ugliest piece of clothing you own
• Your look if you left on vacation tomorrow

Sport

• Your best plank pose
• Do 10 squats, then selfie
• Copy an athlete's celebration
• Balance on one foot. Pic.
• Your champion pose on the podium

Gaming

• Your rage quit face
• Your victory pose, emote style
• Recreate a video game scene with objects
• The most tangled cable in your setup
• A real-life object that also exists in a game

Music

• Recreate a famous album cover
• Your makeshift mic
• Spell out a song title with objects
• Your rapper or rockstar pose
• Your face when a terrible song comes on at a party

Animals

• Impersonate an animal
• An animal shadow puppet
• Your face like a cat that just knocked something over
• Something that looks like an animal
• Something that would make a great cat toy

At home

• The messiest corner of your room
• Something with a story behind it
• Something broken you're keeping anyway
• The strangest decoration in your home
• Your favorite spot at home

School & work

• Your face when class or the meeting drags on
• A doodle in the margin
• What you're doing instead of working
• Your Friday 5 pm face
• The most random thing in your locker, bag or desk

How to play with your crew

You don't need an app to start. In a group chat, someone picks a random challenge from the list, starts a 3 minute timer, and everyone answers with a pic taken on the spot (not an old one from the camera roll). At the end, you vote for the best one.

The hard part is keeping it going: who picks the challenge, at what time, who has answered, who is cheating with an old pic. That's exactly what PRAWND does: once a day, at a surprise time, your whole squad gets the same challenge. You have 3 minutes, live camera only, and you only see your friends' pics after posting yours. In the evening, The Drop shows the day's recap and the photo of the day vote.

Your squad picks its themes (say, only gaming, food and faces) and your friends can write their own challenges. The app is free, with no ads and no purchases.

Keep it fun and safe

A photo challenge is about laughing together. A few rules to agree on with your crew:

• Never take a pic of someone who doesn't agree, and never a pic to make fun of a person.
• No dangerous challenges, and none while walking in the street, crossing or riding a bike. A failed challenge is no big deal.
• Don't show your address, your school's name, a license plate or anything with your details on it. Check what's behind you.
• Play with people you know in real life. A small private group of friends beats a big open group.
• If a pic makes you uncomfortable, say so, leave the group, or talk to an adult you trust. In PRAWND you can report, block or delete your answer in a few taps.

FAQ