Storytailors
Storytailors Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- A book with transparent pockets
- 38 double-sided story cards (10 stories)
- 86 character cards
- A voting and scoring board (contains 3 jigsaw pieces)
- 36 voting chips (6 sets in different colors, 6 chips with unique symbols in each set)
- 6 player tokens (in 6 colors)
- Rules of the game
Set-up
- Open the book to the first page and put it in the middle of the table.
- Assemble the voting and scoring board and put it under the book.
- Choose one of the stories and take all its cards. It is convenient to look at the background of the cards — each story has the same-colored background. Don't forget to check both sides of the cards as they are double-sided. The numbers in the upper right corner of the story cards will help you too — the first digit always indicates the number of the story. For example, for Story 1 the cards are all numbered '1.x'. Put the rest of the story cards in the box, you won't need them for this game. Sort your story cards in ascending order (from 'x.1' to 'x.7'). Insert the first card of the chosen story into the right pocket of the page spread (there is a document icon on it). Put the rest of the story cards next to the book.
- Each player gets a set of 6 voting chips and a token in the chosen color. Put your token at the beginning of the scoring board.
- Thoroughly shuffle the character cards and deal 5 of them to each player. Put the rest of the pile face down next to the voting and scoring board.
- Open the top character card from the pile and insert it into the left pocket on the first page spread (there is a paw-prints icon on it). This is the first character of your story.
Now you are ready to start the game!
Important! The basic rules of the game are intended for 3 to 6 players. Rules for 2 players can be found in "Other game modes".
Playing the Game
Each story consists of 7 cards (or 10 cards if it is a 'tricky' story, see "Tricky stories" below). The game is played in 5 rounds, where for each story card, except for the first and last cards of a story, the players will all together choose the most suitable character. The role this character is playing in the story is highlighted in bold cursive in the text of each card.
What can you find on a story card?
(On the back you will see the role of the character from this part of the story)
- Story number/Card number
- Title of the story (only on the first card of each story)
- The story itself (at least, a part of it)
- The character you are going to choose is always highlighted in bold cursive
- A role from the story on the other side of the card (It has nothing to do with your current story, just ignore it.)
How to play?
Note: we recommend choosing as the Narrator the most responsible player among those who can read.
Choose the Narrator of the story. This player will participate in the game along with the other players but will also read the story cards and help with the game play.
The Narrator reads the beginning of the story on the first page spread to all the players, then turns a page to the next spread, inserts the second story card into the corresponding pocket (these pockets are marked with a document icon) and reads the next part of the story.
Then all the players (including the Narrator) choose a character card from their hand which, in their opinion, better suits the description in the story and put it face down on the table. The character you are choosing is always highlighted in bold cursive in the story card. The Narrator may repeat the role of the character you are choosing in this round to all the players.
When all the players have chosen a character card, the Narrator shuffles them face down and then puts them face up under the scoring board so that each card is associated with one of the symbols on the board. Each player secretly chooses the best-suited character among the suggested and puts the voting chip with the corresponding symbol face down on the table. After that all the players open their chips simultaneously and put them next to the card they voted for. Remember: you may not vote for your own character!
Scoring
Players earn 1 point for each vote given to their card. Besides, if one (or several) of the cards got the most votes, each player who voted for it (or them) earns 1 additional point. If all the cards got exactly 1 vote each, do not award additional points. Insert the winning character card into the left pocket on your current page spread (pockets for the characters are always marked with a paw-prints icon). In case of a tie the player with the fewest points on the scoring board chooses which of the leading characters is to be inserted in the book. In case there are several such players, the choice is up to the youngest among them.
Move your tokens on the scoring board according to the number of points you earned. Discard the rest of the characters and deal 1 new character from the pile to every player.
The players then take back their voting chips, the Narrator turns a page, inserts the next story card and the players again choose and vote for the best-suited character…
Example of a game
Lily, Nick, Julie and Dylan have chosen one character each for their first round. During the voting Julie's card (a hedgehog) got 2 votes, and Dylan's and Lily's cards (a chipmunk and a water skater) each got 1 vote. Thus, Julie earns 2 points, and Dylan and Lily earn 1 point each. No one voted for Nick's card (a squirrel) and he does not earn any points for his card in this round. But, since Julie's hedgehog got the most votes and is, therefore, the winning character, Nick and Lily, who voted for it, each earn 1 additional point. As a result, Julie and Lily earn 2 points and Nick and Dylan earn 1 point each for this round.
The hedgehog is the next character in the story. The kids insert it in the empty pocket and discard the other characters.
In the second round the kids' votes divided equally between two cards. Julie's stork and Nick's shark got 2 votes each.
Julie and Nick earn 2 points each for these votes. Besides, all players earn 1 additional point each, because they voted for one of the leading characters. Since Dylan earned the fewest points after two rounds, he is the one to choose which of the characters goes in the story. He chooses the stork.
In the third round all the players voted for different characters and earned 1 point each for the votes on their cards. Additional points are not awarded in this round, because none of the characters got more votes than the other characters. Dylan again chooses the character for the book. Since there are no leading characters, he may choose anyone. This time he chose Lily's sheep.
End of the Game
The game finishes with the end of the story. (The last card of each story does not contain new characters, so after inserting it in the book you won't take a vote.)
The player with the most points is the winner of the game.
Now you can recollect the whole story! Let's see who of you better remembers all the plot twists. Character icons and their roles in the story (which are now visible above the pages on the last page spread of the book) will help prompt your memory!
You can also read the completed story at bedtime, discussing it and examining the characters more closely.
Other Game Modes
Important! In this game mode you may vote for any character including your own, that is why we recommend this mode for younger players.
Cooperative Mode
For 3-6 players:
At the beginning of the game put 2 tokens on the scoring board regardless of the number of players: a green token for players and an orange one for the game. Every player still chooses one character card from the hand for each voting. After that add cards from the pile up to 6 characters in total. Shuffle and put the six characters face up in the slots. The players' goal is to choose one winning character with the most votes. You are not allowed to discuss or in any way hint at the character you are going to vote for!
If you succeed and there is only one winning character after the voting, the players earn 1 point — move the green token one step forward on the scoring board. If there are no or more than one leading character, 1 point is given to the game — move the orange token forward. In this case the character to go in the book is chosen randomly among the leading ones.
If at the end of the game the green token is further than the orange one on the scoring board, you played as a tight-knit team and won the game. Congratulations!
Otherwise, you might want to observe, what makes other players choose the characters they vote for, and try again.
For 2 players:
This mode is played just like the cooperative mode for 3-6 players with the following differences:
- for the voting always add 2 character cards from the pile (you may also add only 1 or even 3 cards each round to make the game easier or more difficult);
- in case of a unanimous vote the players earn 1 point;
- if the players voted for different characters, 1 point goes to the game.
Mode for the Youngest Players
Do not take the scoring board, player tokens and chips for this mode. Use only the book, story cards for one of the stories and character cards. After each story part the players choose a character from their hand and explain their choice. Discuss your characters, together decide upon the most suitable of them and insert it into the corresponding pocket. At the end of the story no one wins or loses the game.
Tricky Stories
Some of our stories have several story lines. If you play one of these stories (they consist of 10 story cards), on some cards you will be asked to decide, how to proceed with the story, by choosing between 2 possible story lines each time.
When you come across a card with a branching-path icon, first read the story part above it. Choose and vote for the highlighted character according to the basic rules of the game. Then read the two choices below the symbol and decide, how the story continues. You may do it randomly (the Narrator shuffles and opens one of the mentioned cards), or you may all decide, what the characters do next. Insert the chosen story card in the corresponding pocket and put the other card in the box (next time you might choose differently and see how it changes the story).