Originally, The Story Game was created as a sub-game of The Party Game, which my friend S and I invented to entertain large groups of friends. Most aspects of The Party Game are irrelevant here, but the Story bit involved a gigantic hat into which the guests all placed their story prompts. By turns, the guests each draw out a prompt and tell a tale (tall or true) based on it.

Incidentally, if you're hosting a party soon and would like more details on the complete Party Game, shoot me an email and I'll explain. S and I tried to get it copyrighted by Milton-Bradley. Unfortunately, they weren't very receptive, so it's unlikely you'll see it on your toy store shelves any time soon. Their loss.

How to Play

The standard format for The Story Game is quite simple. You, the prompter, start with “Tell me a story that...” and give between one and three specifications for a story you'd like to hear. These are completely open-ended and may involve locations, actions, characters, events, or any other criteria you can conjure up. You may leave your prompts in the comments section of any of my articles or email them to me directly. When I receive them, I'll get straight to work weaving you an intriguing tale. When it's finished, I'll publish it here and, if possible, email a copy directly to you.

An Added Bonus

As an added bonus, every time you read a story, you can rate it in the comments section based on whether you think it is...

• Absolute, Gospel truth
• A delicate blend of fact and fiction
• Total bullocks

After a story has been posted for two weeks, I'll reveal whether or not it is true. I can't afford to give you prize money if you're right, but feel free to take bets with your friends. They have lots of money they're just aching to give you.