How do you play the game?

You can download the game's instructions to see what it's like.

Can we play Narratopia with two people?

The dynamics of story exchange are different when the group includes two people instead of three. It's a subtle thing, but when two people are talking, a storyteller has less of an audience, and the stories come out differently. All numbers above three are similar, but two is a special case. Narratopia was designed for a minimum of three people. You can play the game with two people, but the gameplay is not likely to work as well (at least we can't find a way to make it work as well yet). If you come up with a great way to tweak the game so it works better two players, tell us about it!

How am I supposed to make what it says on the cards fit the stories people tell?

You can be as creative as you want to be with your interpretations of what it says on the cards. You can play with them. For example, it's perfectly okay to ask, "How did the pencil feel about that?" It's all part of the game.

Why not choose the best story?

There are plenty of great games about choosing the best story. This game is about listening to stories and connecting them together. It's a different kind of fun.

What about people going on too long? Shouldn't there be a time limit?

We tried that, but whoever was telling the story tended to hate the rule. People have all sorts of subtle ways of telling each other when we're ready for a story to be over. We fidget and say "Yeah, okay" and give off "I'm done listening" signals. It's not necessary to make those signals explicit in the game. But if you want to, you can always use a sand timer or something to limit how long people can talk. (Just don't get upset when it's your turn and you want to keep going!)