TEXT: Th e Color 
  Game
  by Emily Care Boss
  
  Th e old woman drank her           
  amethyst wine and  thought of all the 
  things she had seen and done...
  Th e woodcutter left his small earthen home and set 
  oﬀ  into the forest, just as a snow storm began, seeking 
  wood to keep his home warm and safe in the winter..
  Th e small sandy bird said to the wood cutter, “My 
  feather is a token of our friendship. It will show you the 
  way when you are lost. But if you should ever cut down a 
  tree with my home in it, then it will crumble into dust.” 
  Th e young girl’s mother pulled the straps tight on the girl’s 
  emerald green dress. “Settle down and be serious, you 
  can’t daydream your whole life away!”
  A 
   phoenix emerged from the 
  small, speckled egg, and said, “Th ough you have 
  broken your word, you have fulﬁ lled the bonds of 
  friendship, I gift you with this feather of 
   
  that will keep you eternally warm.”
  
  In the 
  , two players help eachother create interlocking 
  short stories, based on a Color and a Th eme.  Th e game takes about 
  15 minutes to play.
  Th e goal is to tell two very short tales, weaving together themes and 
  colors chosen by the players.  
  To Begin Play, have each player choose a 
  .  
  Th is is the story’s Home Color. Th e person who chooses the color 
  is that color’s Home Player.  Th ey will use this color in the stories 
  to be told.  Th ese are distinguised from the Other Color and 
  Other Player.
  Each player chooses a related word for the Other Color through 
  free-association.  Write this down, and connect it word-web style to 
  the other player’s Color.  If you can, use colored ink.
  For Emily’s Green, Elizabeth adds Spring 
   
  For Elizabeth’s Purple, Emily adds Wine
  Th e words are connected by a line like this: 
  For example: 
   
  Emily chooses Green
   
   
  Elizabeth chooses Purple
  Purple          Wine
  Green              Spring 
  
  Th e original player adds a Theme to their Home Color.  
  Th emes are issues or ideas that a story can be about. 
  Example Th emes:
  Love, Desire, Homecoming, Friendship, Family, Hope, Regret, Conﬁ -
  dence, Pride, Courage, Travel, Despair, Cycles, Wisdom, Growth, Inno-
  cence, Mercy, Togetherness, Isolation, Community, Ingenuity, Creativity, 
  Longing, Redemption.
  Write the Th eme beneath the Color.
  Green           Spring 
  Purple          Wine
  (Hope)
  (Pride)
  Th is is the Home Theme.
  Th e Th eme may be inspired by the Color and the ﬁ rst Word.  How-
  ever, it should not be limited by them.  Choose easily and quickly. 
  Th e Th eme is not connected to any other word by a line.  However, 
  it is paired with the Color.  Whenever that Color appears  in a story, 
  what happens in that part of the tale expresses this Th eme as well.
    
  
  Once the Th emes have been created, Play can begin.
  Players take Turns telling parts of the stories.  
  Each word web around a color represents the thread of the tale, with 
  its own characters and action.  So in a given game there will be two 
  strands of story line.
  Th ere may be overlap. For example, an old woman in one part of the 
  story turns out to be the same person as a young girl in another; in 
  this case, one thread is a ﬂ ashback for the other.  Th e stories begin 
  separately, however, and need not connect explicitly ever.
  In each Turn a Player makes a Move.
  Each time a player makes a Move they tell part one of the stories, by 
  doing the following:
  1) Choose a Move to make on one of the Stories. Th e Move chosen 
  determines the nature of this part of the story. (see page 5) 
  2) Use the appropriate Color in your description of an element of 
  the story, a person or thing that appears.  Color is determined by the 
  Move made. (see page 5)
  2) Incorporate one of the words already written down on the ap-
  propriate word web into that part of the tale. Write it near the old 
  word used. 
  3) Write a new word on the page that was just used in the story. 
  4) Connect the old word to the new with a line and the appropriate 
  symbol for the Move made.  (see page 6)
  
  Types of Moves, and Color used:  
  Th e Moves expresses diﬀ erent aspects of the story.
  Each Move is associated with a Color and its Th eme.
  Advancing a Th eme -- Home Color: 
  Th e story begins or continues and expresses the Home theme.  
  Something described is some variant of the Home Color.
  Blocking a Th eme -- Other Color:
  Th e characters encounter an obstacle or complication that challenges 
  or distracts the characters from the home theme.  Th e Other Th eme 
  can be incorporated or evoked by the Block.  Something described is 
  the Other Color.
  Supporting a Th eme -- Other Color:
  Th e story progresses and the Home theme is advanced, but the 
  Other theme and the Other Color are involved. 
  Echoing an Element -- Home Color:
  A word found in the Other word web is used as the new word in the 
  this one. Th e Home theme is expressed.  Something described is the 
  Home Color. 
  Ending a Story -- Either Color: 
  Th e story is brought to an end, an element of either the Home or the 
  Other Color is descibed. 
  
         Th e Moves and their Symbols: 
   
  Advancing a Th eme 
  Blocking a Th eme
  Supporting a Th eme
  Echoing an Element 
  Ending a Story
  Each Move is associated with a certain Symbol which is written on 
  the line connecting it to another word.  Th ese are shown below.
  Anyone can do any move on their turn, though the players should 
  confer before ending the story.  
  
  Tips for Starting a Story:
  Always begin by Advancing your own theme.  When beginning a tale, 
  start with a character in a situation that strongly evokes the home theme.  
  Th e initial action may be simple. Th e opening situation may be implicit. 
  Succeeding turns will elaborate on how the theme develops.  
  Go with your ﬁ rst instinct. Trust yourself and your imagination.  
               Alexis chooses Brown
   
   
  Shreyas chooses Red
  Brown           Wood
  Red                Stop Light
  Telling a Story with the Color Game, An example. 
  Th ey choose a Word for one another. 
         For Shreyas’ Red, Alexis adds Stop Light 
        For Alexis’ Brown, Shreyas adds Wood
  
  Red                Stop Light
  (Friendship)
  Brown           Wood
  (Homecoming) 
  Th ey choose their Home Th emes.
             Alexis chooses Home Coming
                Shreyas chooses Friendship
  Now they begin telling the tale....
  Alexis:  A woodcutter walks through the forest seeking wood to keep his 
  house warm.  Th e brown handle on his axe glistens in his hand, polished 
  from long use. 
  Alexis is advancing her Home Th eme.  She used the word 
  “wood” from her  web, and used the color brown.  She adds a 
  word and writes in the Symbol for Advancing:
  Brown           Wood            Forest
  (Homecoming) 
  
  Shreyas takes his turn.  He begins a separate tale, based on 
  his word web. 
  Shreyas:  As a woman drives down the road in her red car, she stops at a 
  stop light thinking of a friend she hadn’t seen in many years.
  He adds to his word web. 
  Red                Stop Light           Car   
  (Friendship)
  In her next turn, Alexis decides to Block Shreyas’ theme.
  Alexis:  Th e cars slow down, and she ﬁ nds that a chocolate brown cadil-
  lac got into an accident.  Th e traﬃ  c jam means that it will be a long time 
  until she gets home. 
  Shreyas supports Alexis’ theme. 
  Red                Stop Light           Car          Accident  
  (Friendship)
  Shreyas:  As he walks through the forest, the wood cutter sees a beautiful 
  crimson ﬂ ower.  He picks it to bring to his neighbor back at home. 
  Brown           Wood            Forest          Flower
  (Homecoming) 
  
  Red                Stop Light           Car        Accident  
  (Friendship)
  Alexis now sees a way to block in her own story.
  Alexis: After he takes the ﬂ ower, all goes dark as murky red clouds choke 
  the sky. A blizzard begins to fall and the wind howls around the wood-
  cutter as he tries to forge on.  
  Brown           Wood            Forest          Flower
  (Homecoming) 
  Blizzard 
  Alexis advances her Home theme. 
  Alexis: Th e snow of the blizzard falls and falls.  Th e woodcutter begins to 
  wonder how he will ever get home.  Just then a small brown bird ﬂ ies up 
  to him.  It speaks to the woodcutter and says “I can help you get home.” 
  Brown           Wood            Forest          Flower
  (Homecoming) 
  Blizzard 
  Bird
  Shreyas returns to his story and advances it.
  Shreyas: Long delayed, the woman ﬁ nally drives home in her car. At 
  home, she takes out her old high school year book.  Th e red cover has 
  faded to pink with age, and she looks for a picture of her friend. 
  Year Book 
  
   
  Shreyas supports her theme. 
  Alexis decides to go back to Shreyas’ storyline, and Echo. 
  Alexis:  As she sits reading the year book, the woman suddenly the 
  woman hears a ﬂ uttering and banging on her window.  She goes to it and 
  sees a small red bird battering itself against the window.  She opens it to 
  try to get it to stop, and the bird ﬂ ies inside. “It says to her I can help you 
  ﬁ nd your friend.” 
  Shreyas:  Th e bird goes on,“If you promise to harm not the home of any 
  bird or beast of the forest by the strokes of your axe, I will give you a to-
  ken of friendship that will always lead you home.” Th e woodcutter agrees, 
  and the bird gives him a feather.  As the bird ﬂ ies away, the woodcutter 
  wonders, because the feather is red.
   Brown           Wood            Forest          Flower
  (Homecoming) 
  Blizzard 
  Bird
  Feather
  Red                Stop Light           Car        Accident  
  (Friendship)
  Year Book 
  
  Tips for Ending a Story:
  At a certain point, the themes will have been explored and the conﬂ icts 
  introduced will have been resolved.  Wrap up each story in turn when 
  you feel this happen.  Th ese a small tales.  Th e game can be played in 
  ﬁ fteen minutes all together.  Allow the stories to wrap up when you feel a 
  satisfactory conclusion has been reached. 
  When you think a story is over, on your turn mention this to the other 
  player.  Ask them if they’d like one more turn.  As you complete the tale, 
  you may wish to look for ways to connect both the stories if they have 
  been separate, or perhaps to make parallel stories take diﬀ erent paths.  
  Follow what the other person has introduced in the story.  Trust your 
  sense of what is right. 
  In the examples, one story ended like this:   
  Alexis:  As the woodcutter watched the mighty oak fall, he realized that 
  there was a nest in its branches, with a tiny brown egg within.  Th e 
  feather in his hand fell into dust. With a cry he ran toward it, too late. 
  {Th e theme of Homecoming is Blocked, by destroying the nest.}
  Shreyas:  He crept among the branches and miraculously found the egg, 
  untouched.   But as he cradled it in his hands, it blackened and crumbled, 
  and--burst into ﬂ ame from the inside. A phoenix emerged from the small, 
  speckled egg, and said, “Th ough you have broken your word, you have 
  fulﬁ lled the bonds of friendship, I gift you with this feather of 
   that 
  will keep you eternally warm.” 
  {Th e theme of Homecoming is Supported by using the Color Red, and 
  the Th eme of Friendship to end the tale.}
  Alexis asked if she could end it.  Shreyas asked for another 
  
  a game published by Black and Green Games
  www.blackgreengames.com
  June 2008, revision Solstice 2009
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Collaborative & Peer & Gm-less & Shifting GM/The Color Game.pdf