What’s The Scenario?

Included in this deck of cards are 50 unique storytelling prompts, each designed to get your mind moving in new and unexpected directions. Use them one at a time or in endless combinations to write a scene, prompt a memory, improvise a situation, and more. 

The big text on each card is your prompt, while the small text offers a nudge if you’d like a little more to get started.

Each prompt is designed to be interpreted as abstractly or concretely as you’d like. If, for example, you pull the Use A Helicopter card, you can tell a story about a helicopter ride, or a helicopter-parent, or a man with a helicopter tattoo, and so on.

More importantly, don’t worry about “getting it right” or how well your idea matches the prompt. Just go with whatever story the prompt inspires you to tell.

To play, first decide the type of story you’d like to tell and whether you’re playing solo or with a group.

  • Solo Games

    Game 1: Draw 1 card. Write for 5 minutes using the card as your prompt. Repeat 2-4 times, building on your first story with each new card. 

    Game 2: Draw 3 cards at once. Order the cards in a way that suggests the outline of a single story, then write that story.

    Game 3: Draw 3 cards at once. Develop a single story using your cards in the exact order you drew them from the deck, then write that story.

    Group Games

    Game 1: (1) Everyone draws 1 card and shares their card with the group. (2) As a group, decide on one story that includes everyone’s cards. (3) Assign scenes, then write individually for a predetermined amount of time. When you’re finished, share in the order the scenes appear in the story. 

    Game 2: (1) Make a grid of 3x4 cards, face-down. (2) Take turns revealing one card at a time to the entire group. (3) After each card is revealed, individually write for a predetermined time, building on your same story with each card.  (4) Once each participant has had the chance to reveal a card, share the individual stories you wrote using the shared cards. 

  • Game 1: Draw a card. Consider any memories or experiences you have related to the card’s prompt. Write a brief outline if it helps. Share your story with the group.

    Game 2: Pair up. Draw one card for the two of you to share. Discuss what that card reminds you of—memories, experiences, dreams. When you’re feeling stuck in the conversation, draw another!tion text goes here

  • Game 1: Draw a card. Use the card’s prompt to initiate a scene. When the scene is over, have a different player draw another card and initiate another scene. Repeat this until you’ve enacted 3-5 scenes. Try to continue the characters, storylines, themes, or other narrative elements from one scene into the next. 

    Game 2: Three players each draw one card, which they keep to themselves. One player initiates a scene between the others. As the scene progresses, all three players privately use their individual cards to inform their behavior, motivations, or actions in the scene. Once finished, share your cards.

  • Game 1: Draw a card. How does this card speak to you at this moment in your life? 

    Game 2: Draw three cards. Lay them out face-up in the order you drew them. The card on the left is your past, the middle your present, and the right your future. How do these cards speak to you at this moment in your life?

  • The joker is the most flexible card in the deck and can be used to disrupt your game in a number of ways.

    Here are a few ideas for how to use it while writing a story, though you’re encouraged to invent your own.

    When you draw the joker:

    • Collect a word/phrase/sentence from each player and use them in your next scene.

    • Give a word/phrase/sentence to each player that they have to use in their next scene.

    • Swap stories with another writer and continue their story while they continue yours.

    • Write the opposite of your previous card. Get creative about what that means. 

    • Multiply an aspect of your most recent card. Get creative about what that means. 

    • Invert the values of a character (the hero goes bad, the villain does good, etc.)