StorySpawn is a game of evolutionary storytelling. Each round, everyone writes a possible continuation of the current story, and then the group picks a favorite. At the end of the game, you’ll find that you’ve created a unique and fascinating narrative.
What You Need
- Three or more players.
- Many sheets of note-paper.
- One pencil per player.
Setup
To begin the game, each player writes down the initial segment of a story. When everyone’s written one, each player reads his or her entry aloud to the group. Then everyone secretly votes for one favorite. (You can’t vote for your own.) When everyone’s ready, reveal. The entry with the most votes becomes the beginning of the story for this game. If there’s a tie, break the tie using some random method.
Play
Each succeeding round follows the pattern of the setup round. Each player writes down a continuation of the current story. When everyone’s written one, each player reads his or her entry aloud to the group. Then everyone secretly votes for one favorite. (You can’t vote for your own.) When everyone’s ready, reveal. The entry with the most votes becomes the next part of the story. If there’s a tie, the player whose entry was chosen on the previous round gets to choose which of the tying entries wins. As always, you’re not allowed to choose your own entry.
Ending the Game
When the group is ready to end the story, declare the current round to be the final one. Everyone should then write an ending to the story. Vote on the entries as normal, thus ending the story and the game. As a group, decide on a title for the story. If you’d like, choose one player to read the entire story aloud.
Acknowledgments
- Game Design—Kory Heath
- Game Development—Dave Chalker, John Cooper, Jacob Davenport, Chris Welsh
- Playtesting—Stephen Glenn, James Kyle