Choosing Your Best Page

Lately, at my Writer's Group we all had a chance to submit the best page we wrote from last year. Trying to do this can be difficult since it's like trying to pick your favorite kid out of the bunch. You can put a lot of work into each chapter so choosing your best work out of multiple pages isn't easy.

I was finaly able to settle on one that was a character piece. Will, the boss in my novella chews out Chris while in the work van. It sums up Will's flaws in a simple back and forth scene as well as Chris's oversight.

Untold: the Game That Keeps Giving

Recently, I've had the chance to play the make-a-story game Untold. Amazing game here's why: you can either create a character or use a well known character, say James Bond, then you make a setting, where the story takes place. In Bond's case, it could be Spectre's Headquarters or something. You roll Rory's Story Cubes to interpret what's going on in the setting and you can ask questions by pulling a card for an answer to that question. It'll be green for yes or red for no. So you mostly ask yes or no answers each round.

    As more game board cards are flipped over, more story dice are put on the board to help or hinder your antagonist all the way to the last board card which is the finale of the story episode. Dice previously put on the dice board can be moved over for later stages in the game.

Even if your character looses end the end, it might make for a more interesting story. Just like reviewers are saying, this game is about story and not whether you 'win' or 'lose'.

    I had a great first game playing as my superhero bear hero Rage. He stumbled upon a farmer in Ireland who had his daughter kidnapped by an ancient sheep beast. He went on the hunt and found that the daughter fell in love with the strange beast. After some fighting and a failed rescue attempt all Rage could do was make a deal with the monster to never come back to the village. I'm sure the daighter's father took the news real well!

    This could be use as a great educational game, since the players must grasp or learn the concepts of character and setting and it encompasses the basics of storytelling.

The board game with it's pieces. Two dice fit in the cut outs...

Comes with the original set of storycubes...

The cards you pick to see if you succeeded after you ask your question...

I made my own Twin Peaks: The Return story cubes from a bag of small wooden dice...