Game Rules

At its core, Morbid Curiosity is simple: draw a card, respond to a question, and see where the conversation goes.

The two types of cards serve different rhythms. Trivia helps get people out of their heads, and keeps the game flowing with curiosity and momentum. Conversation cards often slow things down and open space for story, deeper sharing, and playfulness. We created room for those who love facts and quick thinking and those who are drawn to stories and meaning. The rules stay simple on purpose, so the focus stays on each other, not the structure. The night becomes what you bring to it.

three kinds of Cards

• Black Trivia Cards
  These cards include questions drawn from history, science, mythology, language origins, culture, and other death-adjacent curiosities. Most are multiple choice, with some true/false questions to keep play moving. Everyone can answer the trivia question. The correct answer is on the bottom of the card.

• Black All Play Cards
  These cards invite players to think creatively, make lists, or offer irreverent and imaginative responses. They add a bit of collaborative and fast-paced play.

• White Discussion Cards
  These cards are personal, intimate, reflective, and sometimes unexpected. They often slow the pace of the game and open space for deeper conversation. Anyone may pass on a question at any time.

Group Play

• Place the White and Black decks side by side on a table.

  Your goal is to collect 7 cards. (You may want to lower this number for larger groups, as play can go on for quite a while.)

  Choose a player to go first—we suggest starting with the person wearing the blackest black.

  That player decides which deck to draws a card from and reads it aloud for the group to respond to. Black cards are trivia or white cards are discussion.

• Play continues clockwise.

Scoring (Optional)

Play is intended to be playful, collaborative, and conversational. The goal, to be the first player to collect 7 cards/points becomes the night’s “Most Morbid” player.

Points are less about accuracy and more about engagement, creativity, and presence in the group. Here’s how to award them:

• Trivia cards are awarded 1 point for a correct answer.

• Conversation cards are awarded 1 point by the card reader to the most unique or touching response.

• “All Play” add a bit of collaborative and fast-paced play and are awarded 1 point to the most entertaining or unique answer.

If experience is any guide, you’ll quickly find the competition dissolves into storytelling, laughter, and curiosity about each other rather than winning.

Alternative ways to play

• Couples Play: This is less “let’s play a game” and more “what do we actually talk about when we’re not distracted?” Couples draw cards together and let each prompt do its job—open doors, start tangents, and occasionally say the quiet thing out loud.

• Let Fate Decide: Shuffle the decks and let fate choose the next question. No planning, just whatever comes up.

• Surprise Each Other: Draw a card and text it to your partner during the day, adding a small moment of curiosity, reflection, or humor to everyday life, and continue the conversation later in person.

• Dinner Party: Leave a card on each plate for dinner parties…

• Fast Paced: Set a timer and see how many trivia cards you can get through in a set amount of time. Keep it moving, keep it light.

• More Competitive: Trivia cards points are awarded only to the first person to answer correctly. Speed matters.

• Highly Competitive: No multiple choice is read out—just the question. Trust your instincts, or don’t. Really great if you are with a bunch of death workers or goths.

As we're fond of rule breakers, we encourage you to make up your own rules and share them with us.