A Simple Story Game

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Over on Flight Papers, Ashi posted this little gem:

Each player is designated a unique color. At the start of game, they are given a number of tokens of this color. All players start with the same number of tokens.

When a narrative decision point arises, each player may put forward multiple possible resolutions. For each resolution offered, they cast one of their stones into a bag. After everyone has put forward their resolutions, two stones are drawn in succession.

The first stone determines the story—which player’s resolution will come to pass.

The second stone determines the narrator, who speaks the outcome.

The narrator may choose amongst all the possible resolutions forwarded by the winning player, or combine them as they see fit. They may fill in details, but their narration must remain reasonably true to the player’s intended resolution.

Afterwards, all participating players whose outcomes were not drawn receive two new stones. The player whose narrative was chosen receives one.

I'm posting it here as a reminder of how simple a complete game can be. Also, you should be reading Ashi's blog. She rules.

posted by John Harper at 11:16 AM