Summary: Players collaboratively tell an invented story. They start out by asking one another questions and then conclude the story together.

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 First Round:  Everyone is dealt two cards, which only they may look at. Each player will have the opportunity to play one of these cards during the course of the game.

 

The oldest person selects one of their cards with a character in it and places it in the middle face up. If none of that player’s cards have a character, they may draw two new cards.

 

The player who selected the card turns to the player on their left and asks two questions about the character in that card. You may use the following questions or make up your own: What is the character's name? What does the character like to do? What is the character’s favorite childhood memory?

 

Proceeding clockwise, each player turns to the person on their left and asks two questions. These can be questions about the character, as before, or about the setting. Sample setting questions include: Where did the character come from? Where does the character live now? What is the most important thing that has happened in the past ten years in this place?

 

If there are 2 players, this round is played with only one card. If you are playing with 3-4 players, one player may choose to play one of their cards during this round. Remember that a player can only put down one card per game.

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Second Round: Once everyone has had a chance to contribute, the person to the left of the first player selects one of their cards to put down.

 

In this round, players ask one question to the person on their left. These questions should be about what the character is doing. This helps the group identify a problem the character is facing and develop the plot. Players can draw on elements from any of the cards to answer.  Feel free to use these questions or make up your own more closely related to the story you are creating:  What is the character doing? Why are they doing that? What will happen if they aren’t successful? Who else is involved?

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Players may provide longer responses during this round, but no player should speak for more than 90 seconds at a time. 

 

Third Round: In the third round, the players no longer ask each other questions. Instead, they speak in turn or work collaboratively to wrap up the story. As in round two, no player speaks for more than 90 seconds at a time.

 

A player who has not put down a card yet can choose to flip over one of their cards. Players can take as much time as they need to conclude the story, but we recommend limiting the round to 10 minutes when first starting out.