Spindlewheel

Physical Deck Available Here!

WHAT IS THIS GAME?

Spindlewheel is an interpretive tarot-like storytelling game where you weave together a story from card to card.

WHAT’S THE OBJECTIVE?

The objective of the game is to tell a satisfying story. Your Character might win wealth and respect and come away from the adventure a better person; they might crash and burn, and end the story as a warning to others. Both of these are victories if they fit the arc of the story you’ve told, and bring satisfaction to you as a storyteller.

HOW DO YOU PLAY?

Spindlewheel’s fundamental verb is interpretation.

Each card’s text evokes an idea.  The upright and inverse text are different. Sometimes they’re diametrically opposed; often, they’re two sides of the same coin.

Use the card as an anchor for the part of the story that you’re telling.

A card can be a person, an event, an attitude, or a physical object. Use as much as the entire card, or as little as a single word. A card is interpreted twice: once when it enters your hand, and again when you play it. It does not have to be the same interpretation.

FOR EXAMPLE: I might draw the Hearth card and Reflect that I feel like people closed their doors to me; but I might Engage that card later, declaring I won’t do the same to someone else, and play it to invite someone into my home.

Spindlewheel is a loom on which you weave stories, placing cards like threads to intertwine and complicate the tale. It’s also genre-agnostic: The deck might give you a Princess, a Plague, a Witch with a Cursed Sword, a Trickster, and a Tin Penny; whether it describes the fate of a kingdom or a bizarre encounter at a bus stop, is up to you!

WHAT DOES THIS INCLUDE?

• Classic Spindlewheel Deck for print-and-play
  • + Bonus kickstarter expansion deck featuring:
    • art by Caro Asercion, Coey Kuhn, Monarobot, Michael Ornelas Teller, and josie robo!
    • writing by Caro Asercion, JAC Clark, Janie Jaffe, Takuma Okada, and Ray Carter!
• Digital files for playing on playingcards.io!
• Full rules pdf for Longform and Festival modes
  • + Bonus guide to hacking and making your own Spindlewheel games and cards!

WHERE CAN I ORDER A PHYSICAL DECK?

Right over this way!

If you're looking for the legacy deck, print and play it for free forever here.

Or, play it on roll20, Tabletop Playground, and TableTop Simulator!