Guide for the Grown-Up · Wander & Tales

New here? This is everything you need. Read it once and you will be ready for any kit in the library. It takes a few minutes.

What this is

If you have never played a game like this, picture a bedtime story that your child helps to steer, a little like a choose-your-own-adventure book acted out loud together. That is really all it is. You play it with a child, or a few children, out loud, with a printed kit and a few things from around the house. There is no app and no screen. You read a little story, the children say what they want to do, and together you get past little challenges with a roll of the dice. You are all on the same side, helping each other along, never one against another. The only goal is to have fun together, and every idea is a good one. You need no experience at all: if you can read a bedtime story, you can run this.

What playing actually looks like

Here is a whole turn, so you can picture it. You read a line, a child answers, and a roll of the die adds a pinch of surprise:

You read: "The vine gate is knotted shut. What do you do?"
A child: "I ask my owl to peck it open."
You: "Lovely idea. That is a Normal challenge, so give the die a roll." They roll a three. "The owl tugs hard and one knot springs loose. One more good idea and you are through."

That is the whole engine: a question, an idea, a roll, and a "yes, and" that keeps the story moving. No one can fail their way out of the fun; a low roll just means you find another way. The story tells you when to roll, the Tale Book gives you the answers, and this Guide does the rest.

Worlds, stories, and kits

The library is built from worlds, stories, and the kits you print.

A world is a setting with its own places, characters, and look: a cluster of floating islands, the sunlit hills of Greek myth, the snowlit fjords of the north, and more, with new worlds added over time.
A story is one self-contained adventure inside a world, with its own path of stops and its own puzzles. A world holds several stories, and you can play them in any order.
A kit is everything you need to play one story. You pick a world, pick a story, and print that kit. Each story comes at a reading level to suit your children's age, and in more than one language.

You never need to read a whole world to begin. One story is one evening.

What is in a kit, and what to print

A kit arrives as a few short PDFs. You do not have to print them all.

The Tale Book. The one you read and run the game from, and it is yours, not the children's: the story to read aloud, how to run it, and the puzzle answers. Read it from a screen or print it, and keep it to yourself so the surprises stay surprises. It comes at two reading levels (a simple one for ages 3 to 8, a rich one for 9 to 12).
The Atlas. The map, a picture for each place to show as you arrive, and a blank adventure sheet at the back. This is the only part the children see. Print it, show it on a screen, or make your own (see below).
The World Book (optional). A "who's who" of the world's characters and creatures, plus a bank of extra ideas, for when you want more. Nice to have, never needed.
Example heroes (optional). A page of ready-made heroes, already filled in, to show your children what a hero can look like.
This Guide (read once). What you are reading now. After this you are set for every kit in the library.

The shortest path: open the Tale Book and read it aloud, showing each Atlas picture as you reach that place, and give each player an adventure sheet.

No printer? No problem. You never have to print everything. You can read the story from a screen, and the map and the adventure sheets are easy to make by hand: a child can draw their own hero sheet on any paper, and the map can be sketched, or simply built on the table with coins and buttons. Making them together is a lovely first part of the adventure.

The adventure sheet, and making a hero

At the back of the Atlas is an adventure sheet, where each player makes their own hero. Everyone takes one, you included. A player writes a name, then fills in "I am a hero of...", which means this world, not their town or family: "a hero of the Sunlit Hills", "a hero of the Floating Isles". Then they give the hero three strengths (or, in a magic world, three magics), draw a quick picture, and list the few things they carry.

One or two strengths is plenty, and there is no wrong choice. A strength is just a way this hero likes to help, and "what it does" is one short line in the child's own words. Offer a few and let them invent their own:

Imagination: "I dream up a new idea."
Courage: "I go first when it is scary."
Kindness: "I make a friend of almost anyone."
Curiosity: "I ask the one good question."
Patience: "I keep trying when it is hard."
Strong arms: "I carry and lift and hold the gate."
Quick feet: "I run ahead and fetch."
A good memory: "I remember what we saw."
A kind voice: "I calm a frightened creature."

The magic is in the choosing, so let the child surprise you. The five energy stars are coloured in as they are spent during play, so use a fresh sheet for each player and each new adventure (draw your own on any paper if you like). The example heroes show what a finished one looks like. Making a hero takes a couple of minutes and is part of the fun, so do not skip it.

Before you begin: a five-minute setup

Read the Tale Book once, so you know the story, the rules, and the answers. You do not need to memorise anything; the pages prompt you as you go.
Have the Tale Book open on a screen or printed (for you), and the Atlas ready to show or print, plus an adventure sheet for each player (or paper to make your own).
Gather a single six-sided die (one is enough for any kit), a pencil each, and a small handful of tokens, coins, or buttons to stand in for the players and to mark the energy stars.
Settle somewhere comfortable, with no screens and no rush.

That is all the preparation a kit ever needs.

Your jobs, and you get to play too

You are the Game Master, which is just a few small jobs at once. You are also a fellow adventurer at the table, not a referee standing apart: you play on the children's side, helping them find the way.

The narrator. Read the story parts aloud, warmly. Do a silly voice if you fancy it. Pause at the questions and let the children answer.
The gentle referee. When the players try something, you decide how it goes, always leaning towards yes. The puzzle pages give you the answers, so you are never caught out.
The biggest fan. Cheer every idea, especially the odd ones. Your delight is the engine of the whole game.
A fellow adventurer. Take a hero of your own and play along. You have read ahead, but you do not have to act like it: let yourself be surprised, wonder out loud, and discover each turn with the children. Helping them through is the whole point, not being the one who knows.

Introducing it to the children

Open with the promise, build a hero each, then begin.

Make the promise first. Tell them the one rule before anything else: "In this game nobody loses. We are all on the same side, and if something does not work, we just find another way." That single sentence frees a child to be bold.
Build a hero each. Hand out the adventure sheets and make your heroes together, you included. Let them pick a name and one or two magics or strengths, and draw their picture. The example heroes are there if anyone wants a model.
Set the scene. Read the opening of the story aloud, slowly, and ask the first question. From there the story carries you both along.

Then play on, following the rest of this Guide. You are all adventurers now.

The one golden rule: yes, and

Whatever your child suggests, try to say "yes, and..." rather than "no". If they want to befriend the monster, talk to the river, or fly on a borrowed cloud, let them, and add a little twist that keeps the story moving. "Yes, the vines pull back, and as they do you spot something glinting underneath." Saying yes keeps a child leaning in. Saying no, again and again, is the one sure way to lose them.

Nobody loses, ever

This is the heart of every kit: a failed roll is never a defeat, only a detour. If a dice roll comes up short, do not stop the story. The players can spend an energy star and try again, combine their strengths, accept a helpful nudge from a friendly creature, or simply find another way round. Treat a miss as a funny surprise, not a failure. No child is ever knocked out, left behind, or made to feel they have let the team down.

How a challenge works

A handful of simple rules, the same in every kit. Each story's own page only adds what is special about it, so once you know these you know them all.

Difficulty bands, not dice. A challenge is Easy, Normal, or Hard, never "roll a twenty". The kit's small dice-band table turns the band into a number to meet or beat with whatever dice you own, and a single ordinary die is always enough.
Energy stars. Each hero has five. A player may spend a star to try again after a miss. Stars come back when you move on to the next place and when players help each other, so no one ever runs dry for long.
Two together. Once at each place, a pair of players may join two of their strengths (or magics) to get past a challenge with no roll at all.
The helping hand. At any moment one player may help another instead of acting alone. On a success the challenge is passed for both, even if the first try missed, and it tops up a star. Helping is generous, so cheer it.
The twist of fate. At each place, once, the players may roll for a little twist: you read the matching line from the story's own table, a small piece of luck, kind or silly. Use whatever die the dice-band table gives you.

That is the whole engine. A failed roll is never a defeat: spend a star, join forces, take a hint, or simply find another way. Nobody loses.

When they get stuck

Sticking is normal. Reach for these, in order:

Offer a friendly hint through a character ("the cat nudges a loose vine...").
Lower the difficulty one band, or let the helper roll carry it.
Let them combine their strengths for an automatic success.
If all else stalls, just let them succeed. Momentum matters more than rigour. A child who feels proud of their ideas will play for an hour; a child who feels stuck will wander off.

Keeping a young child captivated

Do voices for the characters; it is half the magic.
Hand them the dice and let them roll. Holding the dice is holding the story.
Offer choices ("do you knock, or do you peek?") rather than open silence.
Keep scenes short and end on a small win.
Follow their excitement. If they love the talking fountain, linger there.
Take breaks. A kit is happy to be played across several sittings.

Silly or impossible answers

These are a gift, not a problem. If your child says the door opens because "a dragon eats it", grin and run with it: "the dragon gulps the gate down, burps, and trots off, and now the way is clear." If an idea truly cannot work, let the world answer kindly: "the rock is too heavy to lift, but look, there is a gap you could wriggle through." Never just block them; always offer a door.

Pacing and length

Aim for fifteen to thirty minutes at a sitting, less for little ones. You may skip a puzzle, shorten the reading, or stop early and pick up next time. There is no clock and no score. The best ending is a child asking to play again.

A handful of ready phrases

Keep these on the tip of your tongue:

"Yes, and..."
"Ooh, what a great idea. What happens next?"
"You can absolutely try that. Let us see..."
"That did not quite work, so what else could we do?"
"You did that with kindness and your own good ideas. Well done."