Storycraft: Plot Twist
Every player is an author racing to assemble the most acclaimed novel from a shared deck. You will wander the town of Quill's Hollow, take ideas that were not strictly yours, and occasionally give a rival writer's block at the worst possible moment.
The Forlorn Orphan grows up into The World's Deadliest Assassin. Same card, turned around.
The whole mechanic
Both halves are printed on the same face of the card. The First Draft is the rough version, the one you scribbled at two in the morning. The Revised is what it becomes once an editor gets hold of it. You start every idea rough and spend the game turning it into something brilliant, all while your rivals do their best to knock it back down.
The pieces of a story
Bring any genre to the table
The town of Quill's Hollow
Secretly choose a location on your die. Everyone reveals at once. Land somewhere alone and the action is yours. Share it with a rival and you can mess with each other.
Take one Publisher Request from the row. Objectives that pay out every Book once you claim them.
Take a Book Element off a rival's board and drop it into your matching slot, First Draft side up.
Flip one or two of your own cards, either direction. This is how a rough draft becomes a masterpiece.
Name a genre or an element. Dig through the deck until you hit a match, and take it.
Pull the top card off the discard pile, then play an extra card from your hand.
Move your Writer's Block token to any other element slot, freeing up the one it was on.
A turn, start to finish
Take one card from the Book Element deck into your hand. You draw on the first turn like every other turn.
Secretly pick a location on your die. Everyone reveals at once. You may discuss, promise, and lie. None of it is binding.
Do the thing your location does. If a rival landed there too, choose one thing to do to them.
Put one Book Element onto your board, First Draft side up.
Take any Publisher Requests your book now qualifies for. Once claimed, they pay out every Book.
Advance the quill. At the end of the fifth turn, the Book scores and everyone reads what they wrote.
The good part
At the end of every round, each author presents a title and a synopsis. Read your cards as one connected story, improvise your own, or scan the companion app and let it write the back cover, score it, and read the winning book aloud. Then everyone votes for a favorite, and no, you cannot vote for yourself.
"In a food court at the edge of the known galaxy where the nachos are, inexplicably and cosmically, still soggy, the person who just sat down had strong opinions about that. She had the evidence, the argument, and a publication date."
Real cards from the deck
Give each one a turn. Same card, two ideas.
Fantasy · Setting. Tap to turn it around.
Sci-Fi · Lead Character. Tap to turn it around.
Historical · Love Interest. Tap to turn it around.
Noir · Villain. Tap to turn it around.
Fantasy · Climax. Tap to turn it around.
Paranormal · Resolution. Tap to turn it around.
In the box
A deck of beautifully illustrated Book Elements to build your story from, and a stack of Publisher Requests to chase.
A game board of Quill's Hollow, with every location, both decks, and the track you climb toward acclaim.
Your own Storycraft board where the book comes together, plus a meeple, a writer's block token, a die, and a marker.
A quill to mark the turn, a stack of books to mark the round, and a bookmark for whoever goes first.
Kickstarter · March 2027
Behind-the-scenes updates, card reveals, and first access when we launch. No spam. Just good stories.