Rules and Guidelines for Play

To get you started, here are some suggestions for how the Unlimited Story Deck can be played to tell stories:

Download the Rules Document!

Game play

•    Shuffle the deck and deal 7 cards to each player (or less or more, depending on how much range of possibility you want as a narrator.  The fewer cards to choose from, the more random and absurd the story might be).

•    To begin your story either flip a card over from the deck or choose who will go first and where the story will start.

•    Play any card from your hand onto the table in any position or order, in a way that suggests a narrative (think of the way panels are arranged in comic books to visually orient the story).

•    If you play a card, draw a card to replace it.

•    You can play cards one at a time in player order around the table (but not necessarily; if you really want to, play two cards together or interrupt the story when it’s not your turn, but remember to be courteous!)

•    Formulate a narrative connection and express it out loud.


Narrative Connections

•    Narrative connections can relate to any card in play on the table.

•    The terms and descriptions on the cards do not have to be taken literally or read out loud; they are just suggestions to help spark your imagination towards new narratives.

•    The story should be consistent/ non-contradictory to previous narrative connections in play.  If not, then explain it effectively. 

•    If you are having trouble explaining what happens in the story between two cards, remember to ask yourself and your fellow narrators questions, particularly who, what, where, when, and why.  Don’t be afraid to ask for clarification and detail.

•    Cards can be “stacked” (placed on top of each other) to form more direct connections, such as giving a character an object or dynamic, or as descriptions and metaphors (for example, the Animal card stacked on the Scientist card can be read as a zoologist, or the Android card can be read as a metaphor for a character’s emotional state). 

•    Cards can also be “tapped” (turned sideways) to indicate that those characters, events, etc. are in action or have returned to action during a particular part or scene of the story.  Cards can also be played upside down to indicate their opposite or contrary, or in any other orientation you can think of.

•    The placement of cards does not have to be linear across the table.  Different plots and storylines can branch off by placing cards vertically away from the main story.  “Tapping” cards becomes more important here in order to know which plotlines are still unresolved or in action.

•    Make up any connection you want (even if that connection could be on another card in the deck).  There is no limit to what you can say, though sometimes the most believable and enjoyable stories are the most direct.


Ending the Story

•    The story is over when: it either reaches a natural conclusion or between 30 to 50 cards have been played (which is roughly the amount of narrative elements that can be comfortably held in the head).

•    Some of the event cards can be used as resolutions or goals towards which the story will move by placing them at an end spot on the table (these of course may be changed during play).

•    Another way of deciding where a story might end is to use foreshadowing: a card played early in the game may serve as an event or theme that keeps coming up, or towards some resolution of which the story can be moved.

•    There are also a couple general ending cards, the The End and Failure event cards, which can be used to force an ending to the story if the narrative does not reach a natural conclusion.


Other Potential and Possibilities

•    You might also use character cards as representations for yourself (like an avatar in video or role playing games), allowing you to be the protagonist of the story.  Or pick sides with the characters and try to allow them to achieve their goals.

•    Dynamic cards suggest various genres, moods, or themes that stories can be told in.  Try placing a Dynamic above the playing field and then constraining the kind of story told to that affect (for example, the events or ending of a story told through the Economic dynamic card should be about monetary issues).

•    Someone should be a scribe or note-taker to write down the narrative expressions (the Story), for remembering what has happened during play and as a record to enjoy afterward.

•    As the Deck consists of a large number of cards, you may remove cards before play in order to hone the kind of Story that could be created.  Similarly, if you have favorite characters (or events, etc.), you can play them directly to ensure their inclusion in the story.

•    To play the Unlimited Story Deck as a children’s game, we recommend removing the Dynamic cards from the deck, along with cards referring to violence, sex, drugs, and/or politics; card that either parental discretion forbids or that children may not have enough familiarity with to know how to play. 

•    If you do not find a particular storytelling element you want to include in your stories, feel free to make up a new card for it and insert it in the deck. 

•    All storytelling elements and terms have been drawn from the public wealth of human narratives and knowledge.  As long as the card descriptions are not directly quoted, any stories created from the Unlimited Story Deck belong to the narrator(s).  These are your stories now; feel free to retell them however you want.

•    Lastly, remember that the Unlimited Story Deck is just a tool and game to help you tell stories.  There may be endless ways that all the different storytelling elements in the deck can be combined and expressed, but the real Unlimited Story is in your imagination!