Tiny Stories

is a conversation game, where you advance the story by

making things up on the fly. It’s a game you play on the
bus, on a walk, with your friend or a stranger you just
met.

It can take five minutes or thirty to create tales as

mundane as a post office errand or as epic as the
seventy-seven regrets of the queen of flowers.

How to Play
To play, you and up to 3 other friends answer short
questions to create a foundation for the shared story.
Then, you fill in the conversation blanks.

You have a coin called a Goodluck Token that will be

flipped to determine whether your story’s hero will have
good luck or not.

The story ends when the Goodluck Token has been

flipped seven times, or when you simply decide the story
is over.
Beginning the Story
Beginning with the oldest then to youngest, answer the
following questions and provide details on the options
that were picked. If there are more questions than players,
loop around until all questions are answered.

1 Once upon a time in a [ fantastical place you’ve read

about / nostalgic place you’ve seen in your dreams /
make-believe version of your hometown ]
• The convenience store, but underwater
• A mountainside harbor with friendly cats

2 There was a hero — [ an animal with an interesting job

/ an inanimate object with big ideas / an interesting
human with a more interesting hat ]
• A hatstand with plans for electric cats
• The middle manager with a cow hat

3 Who has always wanted to [ do something ] but could

never manage because of [ a strange / silly / surreal
obstacle ]
• Correctly count all the island cats, but never could because
they couldn’t wake up on time to see them all

4 But now they must set off to adventure thanks to [ recent

events / renewed courage / encouragement of a dear
friend ]
• But now can thanks to the recent purchase of a stronger
alarm clock
Playing the Story
After you’ve fleshed out the premise of your story, it’s
time to narrate its hero, where they go, and what they’ll
see and do!

This is done via dialog. The first person starts by picking

an option from below and filling in its blanks. The next
person builds on that by picking another option and
filling that in! The choices below can be filled in sequence,
selected manually, or completely randomly. You’ll still go
from oldest player to youngest to keep it organized.

The hero [goes to or are moved to] a

[different location]

They see and meet... [things and people]

They [do an action] that [succeeds or fails]

They come to a realization that [epiphany]

If you’re playing solo, build your story by picking your

options randomly (roll a 4-sided die or point your finger
with eyes closed) and filling in the blanks!
The Goodluck Token
Everyone shares one special coin called the Goodluck
Token. When the Goodluck Token is heads-up, that means
that the story tends to go positively for the hero.

• The hero makes it to the Ball with plenty of time to

spare
• The hero notices useful details about the ambassador
they’re speaking with
• They realize that the person they love has always loved
them back

To flip it to tails, the stakes must escalate and something

must go especially awry!

When the Goodluck Token is tails-up, then there are more

and more complications and challenging developments
with each new dialog.

• The hero makes it to the Ball but misses the gala

• The hero doesn’t notice the ambassador scowling at
them
• They realize that the person they love has never given
their relationship a chance

To flip it to heads, the stakes must somewhat resolve and

a new detail about the situation is uncovered.

Tiny Stories starts with the Goodluck Token heads-up and

ends if it’s been flipped seven times.
Sample Play
Armin (A) and Bernice (B) are playing.

A: So our hero is a bear who’s an accountant, and he’s

always wanted to start his own bar, haha.

Okay, I’ll start. Mr. Bear sees and meets the woodland
clients lining up to his desk.

B: He realizes he didn’t bring his work documents!

Oh wait, our token is heads right? I should pick a

positive development. OK, he realizes that his crush is
in the queue!

A: He decides he wants to make a good impression. So he

slicks his hair back and tries to catch her attention.

But I’m flipping the goodluck token to tails, and the

awry thing is that his boss notices him and gets mad
that he’s slacking off!

B: Oh no! Mr. Bear is asked to go to the back office to do

some drudgery work.

A: He sees a mystery letter addressed to him...

B: And he decides to pocket it! It’s a success, but since

we’re at tails, there’s some slight complication...it
gets crumpled in his pocket and a sentence become
unreadable!
Tiny Stories
by momatoes — 2nd edition, 2022

Thank you for reading!