Muse

Welcome to Muse's official home on the Internet.

Muse lets you tell any kind of story, across all of time, space, fiction and non-fiction. If you like stories, and you like hanging out with friends, then you'll probably like Muse.

Muse is a storytelling game where players collaborate and compete with each other to tell an enjoyable story. Before starting, players will brainstorm a Story Sheet upon which the story will be based. Players will generate Questions that will be answered as the story unfolds. Next, players will take turns narrating the story, with play passing from one player to the next in clockwise order. No-one knows in advance how the Questions will be answered, so the story's twists and turns are an exciting mystery to everyone. The game ends when the story's Crisis Question is answered in a final Showdown. The winners get to tell the story's Epilogue.

Learn How to Play Muse

I've made this tutorial video to offer you a fun way to learn the game. My friends and I will entertain you with a story, and you'll learn how to play Muse as we go along!

Download Muse

Muse is available for free download using a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. The Free Edition is available in PDF format, and uses a simple layout.

Buy Muse

If Muse looks like something you'd like to own in book form, then you're in luck! The Deluxe Edition is available in print only, has a professional layout, and features full-colour illustrations from various artists.

Muse is available for sale online at DriveThruRPG.com.

If you live around Montreal, Canada, you can also buy a hardcopy of Muse at Crossover Comics!

About Muse

Muse has quite a few interesting features that I hope will make it appealing to you. Here are a few of the most important:

1. Muse is pick-up and go: Like with any board game or card game, there is no special preparation required before you can start playing Muse. You can easily let new players join a game session in progress, or leave if they need to be elsewhere.
2. Muse plays quickly: A typical game of Muse will last about 2-4 hours. Perfect for anyone with a busy schedule!
3. Muse has no idle time: When you're playing, you're either telling the story or listening to it. Every player is always participating.

For those of you well-versed in gaming, Muse is in some ways like a Role-Playing Game (RPG) except that it differs on several important points:

1. There is no single Game Master (GM) or referee, instead all of the players take turns assuming this role. Hence, no-one is singled out as having to do more work and everyone participates equally.
2. Player Characters (PCs) and Non-Player Characters (NPCs) are shared amongst the players rather than each character being exclusively held by a single player or GM. So if one person can't show up one day, it doesn't mean that you can't play.
3. The central focus of the game is not to play a role, but instead to tell an interesting story. This is why Muse is best described as a Storytelling Game (STG).

Additional Materials

Additional Muse materials are available to help you play:

• Muse Quick Reference (PDF | ePub): all the goodness of the Muse rules distilled to only 4 pages. That's 1625% more awesomeness for the same low, low price of $0 CAD.
• Muse Story Sheet (PDF): the official Story Sheet that you can use when setting up a Muse game.
• Muse Answer Sheets Cut-out (PDF): a cut-out containing ideal-sized Answer Sheets for a Muse session. Just print out the pages (without using your PDF viewer's shrink to fit option if possible) and cut on the dotted lines.
• Muse Vassal Engine Module (Download | Tutorial Video): a module for the free Vassal Engine virtual desktop software, that will allow you to play Muse online with friends.

Changes In The Last Editions

There have only been minor changes in the current 2017 edition:

• Updated the examples of play to make them full colour
• Charlie is now female
• The PDF rules have adopted a two-column format
• Updated the license to version 4.0 International

There were a few important changes in the 2016 edition:

• Added Brainstorming section
• Added KISS principle in Taming the Chaos
• In Showdowns, now both sides keep their lowest card
• Fixed typos and clarified text