Story cubes are physical or digital dice bearing images rather than numbers. When rolled, the random combination of images serves as a generative prompt for storytelling, scenario creation, or lateral thinking. In design workshops, story cubes are used as a creative warm-up, as a technique for generating unexpected user scenarios, or as a way to break the cognitive fixation that sets in after a team has been discussing the same design problem for too long. The randomness is the point — it forces the brain to make connections it would not choose on its own.
What It Is
The Rory's Story Cubes game, which popularised the format, uses nine dice each bearing six illustrated faces. Rolling all nine produces a unique combination of forty-five images. In design practice, the images are used as starting points for user stories, journey scenarios, or lateral brainstorming associations. The method sits at the intersection of play and professional creativity — the playful format lowers inhibition, the associative challenge builds creative muscle.
How to Run It
- Roll the story cubes and display the results — physically on a table or digitally on screen.
- Ask each participant (individually, then sharing with the group) to build a short user scenario that incorporates at least three of the visible images.
- Alternatively, use specific images as forced associations for ideation: 'How might this image relate to our design challenge?'
- Capture any scenarios or ideas that emerge from the exercise on sticky notes for potential use in the main design session.
- Use the warm-up as a transition activity before a formal brainstorming or ideation session.
- Debrief briefly: which associations felt most interesting? Which were surprising?
When to Use It
Story cubes are most effective as creative warm-ups before ideation sessions where the team needs to shift into generative mode, as energisers in long workshop days where creative energy is flagging, or as a technique for breaking through early-session inhibition in groups that are unfamiliar with each other or unused to creative workshop formats.
Tips for Success
- Keep the exercise short — ten to fifteen minutes maximum — to preserve its function as a warm-up rather than the main event.
- Embrace absurdity: the most useful story cubes outputs are often the most unexpected connections.
- Connect the exercise to your design challenge after participants are warmed up, asking them to use the same creative association skill on the real problem.
- Use custom image sets relevant to your design domain for more focused lateral thinking.
