The Stories We Tell Ourselves is an exploratory card game with content sourced from a set of real data. We trust data as a single source of truth, but how much can the truth be bent when we take away context?
The project is part of my 4th year thesis work at OCADU, a year-long self-directed study on making data more human. Read more about my research and process here.
This project also received an honourable mention from the RGD Student Awards 2017.
1. Draw 3 King and 3 Queen cards into your hand.
2. Draw a Story card and place it face up.
3. As indicated on the Story card, pick King and/or Queen cards from your hand and place them down to complete the story.
4. Repeat for each player using the same Story Card.
5. Compare stories.
1. Combine the King and Queen cards and shuffle.
2. Draw 2 cards and place them face up.
3. Take a blank Story card for each player and write the rest of the story. You may place the Story card before, between, or after the drawn King and Queen cards.
4. Compare stories.
The King and Queen cards in this game are text messages sent between a couple over their first 6 years as friends. Every instance of “You are ...” ever said to each other was extracted. The King and Queen's illustrations feature 5 different faces depending on the card's text.
The Story cards are imagined scenarios. They appear twice in the deck with the genders reversed.
The blank Story cards are for you to create your new version of the truth.