TRAVELING STORYTELLERS Matthew Bozeman | ITGM 705 | Exercise 3 | Professor David Meyers | February 15, 2011

TRAVELING STORYTELLERS

Traveling Storytellers is a family-oriented card game. Specifically, it is tailored in such a

way that it can be played by families on long car rides. The main concept behind the game is for

players to create an imaginative narrative from the card hand they are dealt.

The game itself consists of several pieces. There is a large deck of cards that contains

several suits, or types of cards. The individual types are Setting, Structure, Character, Animal,

Object, 360 Degree. There is also a Swap card. The Setting card contains Time and Place

information, such as ‘England in the Middle Ages’. Structure cards contain a specific building,

such as ‘Castle’ or ‘Farm House’. Character Cards contain people, for example, ‘Soldier’ or

‘Farmer’. Animal cards contain animals, such as ‘Horses’ or ‘Cats’. Object cards contain specific

objects, such as ‘Sword’ or ‘Treasure Chest’. 360 Degree cards allow the player to choose any

person or object in their line of sight. The game comes packaged with a case that folds out and

attaches to a car’s seat back. The case contains pockets that allow the current player to create a

storyboard from their cards. This helps to keep the cards in order while the player relays their

narrative. The case also contains a built-in timer.

Gameplay starts with setup. The case is expanded and attached to a seat back. The cards

are taken out and separated into piles -- Setting, Structure, Character, Animal and Object cards

each get their own pile, while 360 Degree and Swap cards are combined into one pile. All piles

are shuffled. Each player is dealt a hand of cards consisting of one card from each deck, except

the Character deck, from which they get two. Each player should examine their hand to make

sure they have the appropriate number of cards and card types. If they have a swap card, they

may request a card from another player. If they have a 360 Degree card, they should look around

them and choose an person or object to include in their narrative. Once all players are ready to

begin, the person to the left of the dealer goes first. Each player has three minutes to place his or

her cards on the storyboard and imagine and plan out their narrative. Time is kept by the built-in

timer. When the timer goes off, the player must tell their story. Players are welcome to judge the

merits of each others stories, but there are no real losers in Traveling Storytellers. Everyone who

comes up with a great story is a winner!

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Though initially conceived as a one version game, this design could easily be developed

further via specialized versions or expansion packs. For example, there could be editions themed

after popular television or movies, or expansion packs specific to certain genres, like princesses

or pirates. The ability to expand it should contribute to the marketability of a certainly successful

game.

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