10 Great Oral Storytelling Games for Adults

I love playing games: board games, card games, etc. I also love storytelling. Once in a while, I come across new oral storytelling games for adults. Let me share the ones I have found already.

At least half of the games below I own or have played with storytelling friends. All storytelling games I recommend below are oral storytelling games for adults.

Wing It: The Game of Extreme Storytelling

I haven’t played this game yet.

My first impression? A cool title for a cool little game. Easy to take with you. Easy to learn. Great fun!

This game has everything for a good time of hilarious stories. Provided you can get people with at least a mild sense of humor together.

Every round starts with an absurd funny situation, a problem the players need to solve. Players need to come up with a solution using their resource cards.

Spark: The Magic of Storytelling

I haven’t played this game yet.

I love the app with all the story music that comes with this game.

Choose a plot, start a playlist, and let your story flow as the music changes. The music is controlled by another player, which, I think, will result in subtle changes in telling.

There are cooperative, competitive, and solo variants of playing Spark. This is a game I would love to play with my fellow storytellers! I think the music adds something unique, I haven’t seen it in other storytelling games for adults.

Once Upon A Time

I own this game and like it.

Before all other storytelling games, before Rory’s cubes, before the plethora of storytelling card games, there was ‘Once Upon A Time’. The wise granddaddy of the storytelling games.

This game is great for adults that love fairy tales and fantasy. You work together, which cooperative people will love, but also try to bring the story to a given ending.

Worried that it will be boring after a while? That’s why there are many expansions to this game!

Stuffed Fables (An Adventure Book Game)

I own this game and love it.

When I learned about this game, I was immediately sold. I tell fairy tales to children and to adults. When I do it well, the adults listening for a little while feel a childlike joy and wonder again.

This is a board game where you play different adventures with stuffed animals, rescuing a little girl. This game certainly understands the stories that shape little children and still influence us as adults. It appeals to our wonder, imagination, and playfulness.

The amount of actual storytelling (not story reading) will depend on how much the players talk and share their own feelings and stories during the game. Oral storytelling is not the main driver of this game, however story is.

The Awkward Storyteller

I haven’t played this game yet.

There are many storytelling card games designed to get a group to talk and have a good time together. This seems one of the better ones.

I like the idea of the storyteller starting with a line and then building the story from the questions others ask. Basically true improv. This kind of game usually works best in groups of 4-8 people.

Rory’s Story Cubes

I own many of the different sets of Story Cubes and use them a lot.

No game review of storytelling games is complete without at least mentioning one of the classics: the Story Cubes.

They are great with adults who want to have fun improvising a story. I don’t think they will give birth to the best stories, but they are excellent for 5-10 minutes short in-between games.

Untold: Adventures Await

I haven’t played this game yet.

I like Rory’s Story Cubes. However, I don’t think it’s easy to produce great stories with them. Some structure to build a story around is missing.

Untold solves this problem by structuring the storytelling session. You can choose a genre, and every story is divided into five parts, which gives it a clear structure. Setup, cards, and Story Cubes bring randomness to the game. It’s even possible to craft more stories around the same characters.

I don’t think this game is a good fit for every adult. It is a bit childlike and needs some adult players not afraid of showing their inner child.

Vertellis

I haven’t played this game yet.

Maybe your goal is not to entertain or have fun. Maybe you really want to connect to each other and share parts of your life through stories. If that’s the case, Vertellis might be the game for you.

‘Vertellis’ has a Dutch origin (I’m a little proud), and there are different versions of this game. One for couples, one for the holidays with family, and one for groups of friends.

Dixit

I own this game and have played it.

Dixit is branded as a storytelling game and is quite well known. However, it almost didn’t make it to this list.

While I think it is a great game, and the cards truly spark my imagination, I don’t feel the game leads to storytelling. Usually only to words, sayings, or fragments of stories.

So, a good game to develop your imagination and creative thinking, not a game if you are truly looking for oral storytelling.

Before There Were Stars

I haven’t played this game yet.

Have you ever read a collection of ancient myths and wondered where they came from?

One way to find out is to compose some ancient myths together with a group of people and the game Before There Were Stars.

You’ll find out how it all started, how society formed, how legends arose, and how it all will end. If you’re lucky, you will feel some tingles as your own created ‘old’ mythical legends take form.

More oral storytelling games for adults?

First, in these storytelling games, you will talk, listen, whisper, and shout. They get better the more lively your interaction. I love storytelling (it’s my job) and it’s great to do it in a game.

Second, it means that these storytelling games are not designed or only interesting to children. They are great for adults too. Most of them are either storytelling board games or storytelling card games. I have not included the massive amount of role-playing games in this list.

Do you know a game that is widely available and involves a lot of storytelling? Let me know and if it fits these criteria (oral storytelling games for adults), I will try to include it.

Many games on the list above I found because somebody enjoyed them and told me about them. Some games on this list I discovered by asking The Dutch Storytelling Academy Network Group on Facebook. Members shared their favorite storytelling games.

I wish you a lot of fun with these storytelling games!

Photo credits: Alexa from Pixabay