Windmill: Cozy Stories
Windmill: Cozy Stories Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Brief Description
Participants become storytellers who invent short stories based on their secret cards with colourful illustrations. On your turn you tell a story, and the others try to work out which of the open cards it refers to. But the best stories are not always the most obvious...
The more participants guess wrong, the more victory points you earn when someone finally guesses your card. But if nobody guesses which card you meant, you lose a victory point!
Goal of the Game
The player who scores the most victory points by the end of the last round wins. You earn points by telling stories that other players understand correctly, and by solving their own stories.
Components
- 5 player pawns
- 1 first player token
- Storyteller deck (25 large cards)
- Guess deck (25 small cards). Each small card corresponds to one large card.
- 1 windmill card
- 1 scoring board
Setup
Example setup for 4 players.
- Lay out the guess cards face up in the centre of the table in a 5 by 5 grid. This is the guess field.
- Shuffle the storyteller deck and place it face down next to the guess field.
- Place the windmill card so that all players can reach it.
- Place the scoring board next to the guess field. Each player chooses 1 pawn and places it on the first space of the scale (marked 0) on the scoring board.
- The eldest participant receives the first player token. This token stays with them until the end of the game.
Game Process
The participant holding the first player token becomes the first storyteller. They invent a story based on a random card, and the other players take turns trying to guess which card on the guess field matches that story.
So that the storyteller earns as many victory points as possible, their story should hint at the correct card without pointing at it too obviously. However, if nobody guesses their card, the storyteller loses 1 victory point.
Depending on the number of players, you play 2 or 3 rounds, and in each round every participant becomes the storyteller once:
- 3 or 4 players: 3 rounds
- 5 players: 2 rounds
Story Phase
When it is your turn to be the storyteller, take the top card from the storyteller deck and look at it without showing the other players. The card you took will match one of the cards on the guess field.
Then invent and tell a short story connected with the illustration on your card. Your story must not last longer than 30 seconds. If you do not have a stopwatch, you may limit your story to 3 or 4 sentences.
Example story: "I wandered through the night, and cheerful little lights lit my way to a cozy shelter. Soon I reached the place. But even wrapped in warmth, I could not shake the feeling that someone was watching me from the darkness."
When you have finished the story, place your card face down on the table. Now the other players try to guess which card matches your story.
Note: once you have placed your card on the table, you may not add details to your story or give new hints.
Guessing Phase
Starting with the player seated to the left of the storyteller and continuing clockwise, the participants take turns trying to guess the storyteller's card.
On your turn, choose 1 card from the guess field that you think best fits the storyteller's story. Place this card in front of you.
- If your guess is correct, the storyteller turns over their card and the guessing phase ends with scoring.
- If your guess is wrong, the turn passes to the next player. They will choose a card from those remaining on the guess field.
This continues until someone guesses the card, or every player (except the storyteller) has made 1 turn.
Note: if all players agree, you may use a 30-second timer to limit thinking time.
Scoring Victory Points
Victory points are awarded depending on the number of players who guessed the card.
- If you were the first to guess and guessed the card straight away, you and the storyteller each receive 1 victory point.
- For each subsequent guessing player, add 1 victory point.
Example: if the card was guessed on the 4th turn, the player who made that turn and the storyteller each receive 4 victory points.
Mark the points gained by moving the pawns of the storyteller and the guessing player along the scoring scale by the corresponding number of spaces.
If all guessing players have made their turn but nobody has chosen the correct card, the storyteller loses 1 victory point. If they have no points, they lose nothing.
Windmill Card
On your turn you may take the windmill card in an attempt to "catch" the story and earn 1 additional victory point.
If you are sure which card the storyteller chose, take the windmill card and place it in front of you before you take a card from the guess field.
- If your guess is correct, you receive 1 additional victory point, and the storyteller receives no points at all (you have "caught" their story).
Example: the third guessing player takes the windmill card and their guess is correct. They receive 4 points (3 points for going third and 1 point for the windmill). The storyteller receives no points.
However, if you make a mistake after taking the windmill card, you immediately lose 1 victory point. Then return the windmill card to the centre of the table. The remaining players may use it in this phase if they wish.
Note: if nobody guessed the storyteller's card, the storyteller loses 1 victory point, even if someone used the windmill card.
Note: players who have no victory points cannot use the windmill card. Therefore nobody can use it in the first guessing phase, when no one has any victory points yet.
End of the Guessing Phase
After all earned and lost victory points have been marked on the scale, return the guess cards to the guess field, and return the windmill card to the centre of the table (if it was used). Players may use it again in this round.
Then shuffle the storyteller's card back into the storyteller deck. It is possible that someone will draw it again in this game, but it will be a completely different story.
The participant seated to the left of the current storyteller becomes the new storyteller, and the game continues.
Variant: "Endless Story"
Note: this variant suits both experienced players and newcomers. It does not add any new ways to earn victory points, but it helps players stretch their imagination even further.
At the end of the guessing phase, do not shuffle the storyteller's card back into the deck. Instead, place it face up on the table next to the guess field. Do not return the guess card that matches it to the guess field; set it aside.
The next storyteller takes a new card from the deck and tells a story that continues the story begun by the previous storyteller.
At the end of the round, shuffle all the storyteller cards that have been used back into the deck and return all the guess cards to the guess field. In this way, throughout the whole round the participants tell one common story.
New Round
When every player has been the storyteller once (and the participant holding the first player token is again due to be the storyteller), a new round begins.
End of the Game
When the required number of rounds has been played (3 rounds with 3 or 4 players, or 2 rounds with 5 players), the game ends. The participant with the most victory points wins.
If there is a tie, the tied contenders share the victory.