I’ve already admitted to the fact that I can’t draw a stick figure to save my life. I do, on occasion however, like to tell a good story. My stories tend to be overly exaggerated, so much so that even a Klingon warrior wouldn’t believe me. “Sketch & Story”, a “clever game of storytelling and sketching”, allows me to exercise the latter while wholeheartedly enjoying the former. Before we begin I’m required by FTC regulations to note that I was paid to cover this game, however any and all opinions are my own. As always, the only thing paid for here was my time.
My Deluxe copy of “Sketch & Story” came with 8 Dry Erase Tiles, 8 Dry Erase Markers, 8 Erasers, 24 Scenario Cards. 12 Song Cards, 2 Dice, a Sand Timer, a Score Sheet, and a Pencil. You can see more about these in detail by checking out my accompanying video below.
“Sketch & Story” comes with four different ways to play:
1. Storytelling without scorekeeping
2. Storytelling with scorekeeping
3. Story Singing without scorekeeping
4. Story Singing with scorekeeping
Players will decide which mode / format they enjoy the best. The nice thing about “Sketch & Story” is that the game is incredibly flexible. Players can easily adopt a mode of play for one round, then swap out to another style. Perhaps round one could be a practice round of sorts without the scorekeeping, while round two incorporates the scorekeeping. It’s completely up to you and your group.
“Sketch & Story” is appropriate for 2-8 players, however the rules vary slightly with 2-3 players. While there are four different modes of play, the general premise and flow of play is the same. Each player gets a dry erase tile, non permanent marker, and eraser. The song and scenario cards are shuffled separately and placed near the sand timer. Players decide to play as individuals or in teams. If playing in teams, folks have the option to assign sketcher / storyteller roles but it’s not required.
Typically, players roll a dice to determine who will be the “announcer”. The announcer will draw a card from the appropriate deck, depending on whether players have chosen to sketch or sing. That player rolls a dice and the number rolled determines what topic the announcer must sketch/sing.
From there the rules get a little different, depending on whether or not scorekeeping is involved. To keep things flowing I’ll briefly outline the “storytelling without scorekeeping” ruleset below.
All players are given 15-30 seconds to plan their sketch, then one minute via the sand timer to draw it. No discussion is allowed. Once time is up, everyone passes their sketches to the announcer who lays them out in any order on the table. When ready, the player to the announcer’s left must come up with a story using every single tile on the table within one minute, linking tiles with “so”, “and”, “but”, and so on. Then, going clockwise, the next player comes up with a story. It’s usually a good idea for the announcer to rearrange tiles before each new story to avoid repetition.
Play continues until each player has had a turn as the announcer.
The above doesn’t cover every single rule found in the rulebook, but should give you an idea as to how the game is played.
Games like “Sketch & Story” are admittedly a dime a dozen. “Apples to Apples”, “Scattergories”, “Say Anything”…the list of family friendly party games where human beings alternate as some sort of judge goes on and on. That being said, there’s a reason why these kinds of games are so successful. They appeal to the masses as being incredibly easy to learn and appropriate for players of all ages. While heavy euro-games are meatier, they often scare off the easily intimidated.
In the case of “Sketch & Story”, I love its flexibility. Four different modes is nothing to balk at. Players are free to alternate these modes at will, so if one player hates to draw, they can opt to sing instead. Even if players opt to draw but are terrible at it, players are encouraged to use their imagination to fill in any missing gaps. For example, when required to draw something about “super powers we would like”, one can draw numbers and hopefully someone will incorporate the ability to do calculous in seconds into their story. Unlike games like “Pictionary”, I didn’t feel as pressured to be good, skilled, and/or accurate.
Regarding other optional variations, players can give themselves more time by simply flipping the sand timer a second time. If you want more of a challenge, draw blindfolded or with the opposite hand…though one should be careful with the markers / furniture. If only two to three players are playing, each player are encouraged to draw two sketches each in order to fill out the story a bit better.
The singing part of this game didn’t appeal to me, but I consider myself an introvert at heart. I was also initially concerned by the limited number of scenario cards, but then I saw that there are 11 topics per card. In addition, “Wild” appears a number of time on each, meaning topics can be whatever players want. Of course, there’s nothing to stop players from simply choosing whatever they want every single time…like I said earlier, this game oozes flexibility.
My only real complaint was the box the product came in. While unique, it didn’t really stack well with the rest of the games in my collection. The dimensions are definitely oddball compared to the majority. The website lists four different packages ranging from $30-60. It would have been nice if there was a quick spreadsheet or chart listed on the site easily comparing the versions. I didn’t see a difference in amount of scenario cards, more so the components themselves and their quality. Even at the lowest end of this range, I feel $30 is a bit much compared to your other options on the market for similarly themed games.
All in all, “Sketch & Story” does more good than bad and does what it sets out to do rather well. If you can deal with the higher than average price, then I recommend giving it a shot. My copy was the Deluxe Edition.
Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)
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