Story Remix
Retell a simple, everyday story in a surprising style — as a weather forecast, a sports commentary, a bedtime story — and let the group guess the style.
- Players 3–10 (best with 4–8)
- Play time 15–30 min
- Materials No materials
- Movement Seated
Quick rules
- Agree on a plain base story everyone knows — "making a cup of tea".
- Each storyteller secretly gets a style, such as "nature documentary".
- They retell the base story in that style for up to a minute.
- The first listener to guess the style scores, and so does the storyteller.
Set up
- Choose a base story — an everyday sequence of four or five steps that everyone understands, such as catching a bus or washing a dog.
- Say the steps of the base story aloud once, so that everybody has the same version.
- Decide how styles are handed out: the host view on a phone, shown privately to the storyteller, or whispered by the player on their right.
- Choose the first storyteller — a volunteer, ideally.
How to play
- The storyteller receives a style in secret.
- They retell the base story in that style. All the steps of the base story should still happen, in order.
- The storyteller may not name the style or use its most obvious giveaway word — a sports commentator cannot say 'commentary' or 'match'.
- Listeners stay quiet until the storyteller finishes or one minute has passed, whichever comes first.
- Listeners then call out guesses. The first correct guess earns that listener a point, and the storyteller a point too.
- If nobody guesses within three attempts, the storyteller reveals the style and no points are scored.
- The correct guesser becomes the next storyteller. If they have already had a turn, play passes to the left.
How the game ends
Play until everyone has told the story once. Change the base story after four or five retellings so that it stays fresh. The highest score wins, though most groups stop counting after the first round and simply ask for more.
Playing seated
Storytellers perform from their seats. Standing up for your turn is optional theatre and is never part of the rules.
Tips for the host
- Go first yourself with an easy style — a bedtime story — to demonstrate that thirty seconds is plenty.
- Offer nervous storytellers a choice of two styles.
- Keep the base story extremely simple. The humour comes from the gap between a dull task and a grand style.
- Styles should be kinds of speech, not impressions of particular people. Imitating accents or individuals is off the table.
Variations
Change one thing. Instead of a style, each storyteller changes a single element — the setting becomes the Moon, the main character becomes a cat, everything happens backwards. Listeners guess what was changed.
Team remix. Teams of three or four perform together, each person taking one step of the base story in the shared style. The format suits large groups, and people who would rather not perform alone.
Starter ideas: Base stories
- Making a cup of tea
- Catching a bus
- Washing a dog
- Making a sandwich
- Posting a letter
- Changing a light bulb
- Hanging up the washing
- Finding a lost sock
Starter ideas: Styles
- A nature documentary
- A sports commentary
- A bedtime story
- An airline safety announcement
- A weather forecast
- A cooking programme
- A detective story
- A museum audio guide
Times are editorial estimates, not test results. Editorially checked for clarity and consistency. We do not claim group playtesting for this page.