How to play Consequences: the rules of the fold-over story game

Step by step

1. Give everyone a sheet. Each player takes a sheet of paper and a pen. Everyone writes on their own sheet at the same time.
2. Write the first line: who. Write a name, real or made up. Fold the paper over so the line cannot be seen, and pass it to the next person.
3. Write who they met. On the sheet you were handed, write the name of the person they met. Fold it over and pass it on again.
4. Write where they met. Write a place, starting with in, at or on. Fold and pass.
5. Write what the first one said. Write something said out loud by the first person. Fold and pass.
6. Write what the other one said. Write a reply from the second person. It does not have to make sense. Fold and pass.
7. Write the consequence. Write what happened next. Fold and pass.
8. Write what the world said. Write a last word from everyone else, then fold the paper one last time.
9. Read the stories out loud. Unfold each sheet and read the whole story, one after another.

What you need

• Two to eight players. More than eight makes the wait between rounds too long.
• A sheet of paper and a pen each, or a phone or computer each if you play online.
• Ten to fifteen minutes.

The seven lines

The classic order is the one most people know. Each story gets one line of each kind:

• Who. A name, real or made up.
• Met. Another name.
• Where. A place.
• What the first one said. A line of speech.
• What the other one said. A reply.
• The consequence. What happened next.
• What the world said. A last word from everyone else.

Rules that make it better

• Do not look at the rest of the paper. The game only works while the stories are hidden.
• Write for the line you are asked for, not for the story you imagine. You cannot see the story anyway.
• Do not try to be clever. The best stories come from lines that did not know about each other.
• Read slowly. The pauses are where the laughs are.

How it works online

In the online version, each player has a sheet and the game rotates them. In round one you write on your own sheet. In round two you are handed the next player’s sheet and see only its last line, and so on until every sheet has seven lines.

You can play it on one device passed round the room, or on many devices, with everyone writing at once. When it is done, the host opens each story one line at a time.