by Peter Chiykowski
The Story Engine has helped over 15,000 writers and storytellers break through writer's block and tell their story. But which deck should you start with, and which deck should you buy as a gift for the writer in your life?
The Story Engine system includes 3 core decks, 21 expansions, and 12 boosters designed to turbo-charge the writing process and solve common blocks that writers face while creating their stories.
Don't worry, we've got your back! Here's our gift guide to help find the perfect deck for every writer.
For the writer who keeps things simple: The Story Engine Deck
If you're starting out or not sure which deck to begin with, The Story Engine Deck is your best bet.
For the writer who creates their own settings: Deck of Worlds
Deck of Worlds is our deck of worldbuilding prompts that raised over $800,000 on Kickstarter and has helped thousands of worldbuilders create settings that their readers LOVE. The deck doesn't just help you create settings in a way that's fun, fast, and nuanced—it helps you create settings that drive your story forward.
If you or the writer in your life sets their stories in original worlds, Deck of Worlds will be an invaluable creative tool (and a lot of fun to boot)!
For the writer who loves creating original lore: Lore Master's Deck
Lore Master's Deck is our latest release and it's both an incredibly versatile and super addictive creative tool for writers who LOVE creating original lore for their novels.
While Deck of Worlds helps you create original locations and assemble them into a world map, Lore Master's Deck helps you create interconnected webs of lore that link your setting's factions, characters, locations, historical events, objects of importance, material resources, and flora/fauna.
We love Lore Master's Deck because you can custom-build just about any element you need for your novel, and also visualize how that element connects meaningfully to the most important threads of your story. For help recording all of your creations, add in the Lore Master's Journal.
For the writer who loves writing nuanced characters: Backstory Expansion
Humble Roots and Epic Origins: Backstory Expansion for The Story Engine Deck is a unique collection of prompts that reveal not just the moments that define your character's origins, but how their past may come back to haunt them in a gripping new tale.
It's catnip for writers who love exploring their characters in depth and crafting stories where characters can never fully escape their past.
For the writer who really likes [insert genre here]: Genre Expansions and Boosters
We curated the most powerful recurring elements of our favorite genres and packed them into specialized expansions and booster sets.
The Story Engine Deck has expansions for fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery, as well as 12 boosters that get into the details of popular subgenres like post-apocalyptic fiction, eldritch horror, westerns, and more.
Deck of Worlds also features a block of expansions for fantasy, science fiction, and horror worldbuilding, as well as expansions designed for arctic, desert, and coastal climates.
For the worldbuilder who could moonlight as an anthropologist: Culture Keyholes Expansion
For the writer who loves creating settings with rich and complex world cultures, we have a very special expansion.
Shared Hearths & Common Creeds: Culture Keyholes Expansion is packed with worldbuilding questions designed to unlock larger truths about the cultures of your world. Whether dreaming up local delicacies and regional fashion to funeral practices and multi-generational family structures, these cards ask questions that tell you what it’s really like to live in your world.
For the writer who loves adding quotes and illustrations in their stories: Lore Fragments Expansion
Some writers love mixing real songs, stories, quotes, and artwork from their world into the story. It's a great way to suck your readers in and tease them with the depth of your lore: give them a thematic in-world epigraph to open a chapter, or the perfect crest that embodies each noble house, or the quirky drinking anthem that the local tavern belts out on the regular.
Fresh Ink & Ancient Song: Lore Fragments Expansion is full of prompts to help you fill your world with original songs, stories, poems, chronicles, recipes, tall tales, textbooks, speeches, art, and theater.
For the indecisive writer: Bundles!
We know choosing is hard, so we've grouped together our most popular combinations of decks and expansions and offered big bundle discounts.
In additional to bundle discounts, we offer free shipping in the US, the UK, and the EU on orders over $150, £120, or €235! See our shipping page for the latest free shipping countries and details.
Whatever kind of writer you are (or you're shopping for), we've got something for you!
And if you're not sure, feel free to contact us to tell us about your writing and ask for a recommendation.
You can also see many of our decks in action on our YouTube channel and YouTube shorts.
