Got on Board: Rory's Story Cubes

Rory’s Story Cubes is a creative game that allows even the most uninspired players to come up with exciting tales. It began life when Rory O’Connor, an Irish trainer in creative problem solving, had placed images on a Rubik’s cube. Getting other trainers, coaches and therapists to scramble the Rubik’s cube up, he would then ask them to tell a story using only the images provided on one side of the cube. When his invention accidenally found its way into a teacher’s creative writing class, O’Connor knew he had something special. Unable to access the licence to use the Rubik’s cube, Kate Jones of Kadon Enterprises suggested nine individual dice-sized cubes and in 2005 Rory’s Story Cubes was born.

Each of the nine cubes hosts six images, resulting in over 10 million combinations. With any amount of players allowed, the storytelling possibilities are endless. There is no specific set of rules, rather guidelines of how you could play. They roughly consist of the first player rolling one or more dice and beginning the story with “Once upon a time…” before adding the image(s) to the story in any interpretation their imagination sees fit. The story continues through the outrageous ideas and inevitable laughter that consume the group and finishes when the ninth cube has been rolled.

Despite an extremely basic premise the game’s nature goads players into being more daft and outrageous on each roll, and it’s sure to put a smile on everyone’s face – although it could potentially fall short of entertaining a group of adults or anyone in for a serious gaming night. Board game publisher Gamewright was created by four parents looking for better games to play with their kids. With its cartoon images and family-friendly content, this is indeed a game for children, played with or without the grown-ups.

Rory’s Story Cubes doesn’t just stop at the one main pack. There are many additional cubes to buy, such as clues, mythic, animalia, and intergalactic, adding to the depth of the wacky fables. They are also standalone licensed packs such as Batman, Doctor Who, Adventure Time, and even the Moomins. You are sure to find lots of fun in these little cubes, which could have the children happily putting their tablets down and using their imaginations.