A tool for organizing world modeling exercises and supporting creative critical thinking.

The Collaborative Worldbuilding Deck was designed specifically to work with Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers, though the system is intuitive enough to be used for any worldbuilding project. It consists of three types of cards: category cards, numeric cards, and trending/stable cards. There are four broad structural categories (Governance, Economics, Social Relations, Cultural Influences) and 14 substructures beneath them. The deck allows you to randomly generate a world by shuffling and dealing out the numeric and trending cards, one for each subcategory. Your worldbuilding group then discusses how they interpret the categories and values, describing how the world functions and identifying points of tension within the society. The deck also features additional category cards, numeric cards, and trending/stable cards that can expand your worldbuilding possibilities.

The deck features original artwork by Paolo Orso-Giaconne and graphic design by Stephen Slota. Professionally-printed copies can be purchased through The Game Crafter, or you can download a FREE print-and-play version via our Resources page.

Reach out via the Contact page to share how you’re using the worldbuilding deck in your own teaching and learning environment!