User:Thijshijsijsjss/Gossamery/Story Cubes

Story Cubes are a game-like storytelling device and exercise in imagination. The game is played by throwing the 9 cubes, that have an icon on each side, and using them to make a story starting with 'Once upon a time...'.

An example
Once upon a time, Boba Fett was ordered to capture the Jedi Yoda, who was to be fed to the terrible fiend on Tatooine named Sarlac. It was an imporant mission, that demanded discrete movement. As not to catch unwanted attention with his ship the Slave 1, Boba Fett was given a Tie Fighter. A Stormtrooper was to assist him. Together, they ventured into the forest moon of Endor, where Yoda had been seen gathering premium logs for his cozy home on Dagobah. This was important to Yoda, a Jedi in tune with the forces of nature. Naturally, this made him well respected among the Endorian natives the Ewoks. Boba Fett, on the other hand, represents machinal destruction in the Ewoks' eyes, his mere existence being the result of careful interventions in nature. It was for this reason that the Ewoks were not pleased when Yoda, proficient in the ways of the Force and mildly clairvoyant as a result, informed the moon of Endor of Boba Fett's coming. No, far from pleased. Without even Boba Fett's intent known to them, they set a trap, and captured him directly upon arrival. The Stormtrooper, too, was captured, for even as a worker without malicious intent, they were a clone, and therefore not respected by the Ewoks. It is a hard truth. In fact, the Ewoks denied the existence of these fabricated humans. They wouldn't kill the intruders, for to take someone's life, it must have a life, they thought. Instead, they were sent to the Cloud City, suspended between the clouds of the planet Bespin, a human-made infrastructure for these clones to reflect on the virtue of artificiality. 

I find these cubes in interesting product. Not only is their purpose concise and wholesome, and are they quite elegantly designed, but I think they hold a lot of power as a tool for conversation. What if we allow other players to change cubes as the story unfolds? Or if players need to alternate in contributing to the story? Or what if instead of Boba Fett, this icon would represent me, and I were to tell a story about myself? Or others about me? This is not unsimilar to exercises I've seen used in therapy. These cubes make me wonder about their potential in fostering conversation where and for whom it might sometimes be difficult. With the recent conception of Forked Dialogues, I wonder if they can be used for playtesting feedback.

When I see these cubes, I can't help but think: wow, would this not have been a perfect graduation project?