Tag: Storytelling

Storytelling games present players with a narrative story that the players directly influence through their in-game actions.

Lost Ones

| OTSG Staff
Lost Ones

Lost Ones

Lost Ones is a “Choose Your Own Path” story utilizing map tile exploration. Each player takes on the role of a Lost One, a kidnapped youth taken to the Otherworld, home of the Fae. Thankfully, a conflict between warring Fae factions has created enough distraction for the Lost Ones to escape. Now you must explore this magical realm of dreams and nightmares and hopefully discover a way home while the remaining Fae hunt you down.
Each player takes between 1 and 3 actions in a round. Once a player completes their action, any player who hasn’t taken their turn can take their actions. Repeat taking rounds until the game ends.

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Hand Management
  • Narrative Choice
  • Storytelling
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 45 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.50

Dixit

| OTSG Staff

Each turn in Dixit, one player is the storyteller, chooses one of the six cards in their hand, then makes up a sentence based on that card’s image and says it out loud without showing the card to the other players. Each other player then selects the card in their hand that best matches the sentence and gives the selected card to the storyteller, without showing it to anyone else.

The storyteller shuffles their card with all of the received cards, then reveals all of these cards. Each player other than the storyteller then secretly guesses which card belongs to the storyteller. If nobody or everybody guesses the correct card, the storyteller scores 0 points, and each other player scores 2 points. Otherwise, the storyteller and whoever found the correct answer score 3 points. Additionally, the non-storyteller players score 1 point for every vote received by their card.

The game ends when the deck is empty or if a player has scored at least 30 points. In either case, the player with the most points wins.

Game Mechanics:

  • Race
  • Singing
  • Storytelling
  • Targeted Clues
  • Voting

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 6 Players
  • ~30 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.19

Deception: Murder in Hong Kong

| OTSG Staff

Deception: Murder in Hong Kong is a game of deduction and deception for 4-12 players that plays in about 20 minutes.

In the game, players take on the roles of investigators attempting to solve a murder case – but there’s a twist. The killer is one of the investigators! Each player’s role and team are randomly assigned at the start of play and include the unique roles of Forensic Scientist, Witness, Investigator, Murderer, and Accomplice. While the Investigators attempt to deduce the truth, the murderer’s team must deceive and mislead. This is a battle of wits!

The Forensic Scientist has the solution but can express the clues only using special scene tiles while the investigators (and the murderer) attempt to interpret the evidence. In order to succeed, the investigators must not only deduce the truth from the clues of the Forensic Scientist, they must also see through the misdirection being injected into the equation by the Murderer and Accomplice!

Find out who among you can cut through deception to find the truth and who is capable of getting away with murder!

Game Mechanics:

  • Deduction
  • Hidden Roles
  • Storytelling
  • Team-Based Game
  • Traitor Game
  • Variable Set-up

Game Specifications:

  • 4 – 12 Players
  • ~20 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.59

The Adventure Zone: Bureau of Balance

| OTSG Staff
The Adventure Zone: Bureau of Balance

The Adventure Zone: Bureau of Balance

The Adventure Zone is a wildly popular podcast and series of graphic novels from The McElroy Family. TAZ: Bureau of Balance captures the humor and joy of this world and expands it, allowing you to create your own unique adventures with your family and friends.

In TAZ: Bureau of Balance, you and friends are adventurers charged with retrieving dangerous artifacts from nefarious villains. To succeed, you may have to outwit vile gerblins, armwrestle ogres, or endure the withering criticism of sarcastic specters. Can you work together and overcome all challenges before your health runs out?

TAZ: Bureau of Balance is a cooperative storytelling game for 2-5 players. It uses a dynamically generated dungeon created by combining multiple decks of cards; as challenges are overcome, new challenges are revealed. The mechanics are easy to learn and players are encouraged to describe their heroic deeds. No experience is required, and any group of friends can have a hilarious adventure in about an hour!

Game Mechanics:

  • Cooperative
  • Move Through Deck
  • Storytelling

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • 60 – 90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.67