The rules, step by step
- Everyone takes a turn as the storyteller: pick one of your cards and say something about it, a word, a song lyric, a film title, a feeling. You have 45 seconds; stuck, ask the house to whisper an idea.
- While they think, look at your own cards and star a favourite or two.
- Then everyone else plays the card from their hand that best fits the clue, face down.
- The cards are shuffled and laid out. Vote for the one you think was the storyteller’s (never your own).
- Some find it, some don’t: the storyteller and everyone who found it score 3. Everyone finds it, or nobody does: the storyteller scores 0 and everyone else 2.
- Every vote your own card fooled is +1 for you. After a story each, the most points wins (or play the long game, first to 30).
Scoring and the fiddly bits
The two scoreless rounds
A unanimous vote and an empty one pay the storyteller identically: nothing, and two points to every other player.
Votes drawn to your card
Every player but the storyteller takes one point per vote their own card attracted, on top of whatever the round paid.
The cards are reshuffled
Played cards are laid out in a seeded shuffle rather than the order they arrived. The storyteller plays first every round, so insertion order would give them away.
Hand of six
You hold six of the sixty-four illustrations and draw back up after every round. The discard is shuffled back in when the draw pile runs short.
Two ways to end
The first player to the target score ends the game, with a round cap as a backstop. The defaults are thirty points and eight rounds.
Questions about Picture Stories
Is Picture Stories free?
Yes. It is free to play, with no adverts. An optional Plus membership opens bigger tables and extra packs.
How many people do you need for Picture Stories?
Between 3 and 8. Below 3 there are not enough of you for the game to work.
What do we need to play?
A phone or laptop each, with a web browser. One person opens a room and everybody else joins by typing the room code on their own phone. There’s also an iPhone app if you’d rather.
Can we play Picture Stories over a video call?
Yes. Share the room code in the chat and play with the call running — everything private stays on each player’s own phone.
Play Picture Stories online
Free, in the browser, with everyone on their own phone.