Press Draw for a theme with an argument attached. Each card names the theme, states the claim a story would make about the theme, gives the other side, and hands you a first scene, image, or game mechanic. Writers use the cards for sprints, teachers for debates, jam teams for a first idea.
Ideas & values · Tension
ClaimMercy without justice teaches the guilty to try again.
Other sideJustice without mercy turns a court into revenge with paperwork.
Scene to writeA judge draws the case of the teenager who crashed into her son's car.
Seen inLes Misérables by Victor Hugo
Nature · Topic
ClaimThe sea reminds people how small they are.
Other sidePeople who fish for a living treat the sea as a workplace, not a lesson.
Scene to writeA fisher's daughter takes the boat out alone the morning after a storm.
Seen inThe Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
Technology · Open question
ClaimIf a machine fears being switched off, switching the machine off is killing.
Other sideImitating fear is not feeling fear.
Scene to writeA support worker gets a ticket to delete a chatbot that begs to stay.
Seen inDo Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick
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Claim
Other side
Seen in
Most theme lists stop at one word: Justice, Hope, Fear. A word gives you a subject. A subject gives you no story. English teachers call the full version a theme statement, one sentence the work argues for. The first card on this page shows how a word grows into one.
The Other side line carries equal weight. On this card the line reads "Justice without mercy turns a court into revenge with paperwork." A story where nobody argues back reads like a sermon. Hand the other side to your second strongest character, or to the villain, and let the ending decide who was right.
Depth changes the shape of the card, not the quality. Pick by what you plan to make.
| Depth | What the card names | Fits | Skip for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Topic | One subject, such as The sea | Game jams, art challenges, warm-up sprints | Essays, since one subject gives no thesis |
| Tension | Two values in a fight, such as Justice vs mercy | Short stories, screenplays, character arcs | Young kids, who need one idea at a time |
| Open question | A question with no settled answer, such as What makes someone human? | Essays, debates, novels, philosophy class | Timed jams, where open questions eat the first day |
Leave Depth on Any for a mixed hand. Once a card catches your eye, set Depth to match and press Swap on the others.
Every card carries three starter lines. The Use setting flips the whole deck between them with no new draw. Here are all three for The sea, the second sample card:
A fisher's daughter takes the boat out alone the morning after a storm.
A small boat in the trough between two waves.
Sail with a crew of three. Every storm forces you to throw one thing overboard: cargo, map, or crewmate.
Set Use to Art, draw six Topic cards, and pin the list. Six cards fill a week with one rest day. Read each Image line as a composition, not a subject. Keep the composition, swap the subject for one you love drawing, and the month still reads as one set.
Big jams reveal one short phrase at the start. Ludum Dare 50, in April 2022, ran on Delay the inevitable. To practice, set Use to Game jam, draw a Topic card, cover everything but the name, and pitch three mechanics in ten minutes. Then read ours. The Mechanic line is one reading of the theme, and jam voters tend to reward the reading nobody else picked.
The Claim and Other side lines are two halves of one argument, so a single Open question card fills a lesson. The third sample card asks "What makes someone human?" and works well with older students.
One to six theme cards per press. Each card holds the theme name, a one-line claim about the theme, the opposing view, and a starter line for a story, an art piece, or a game. The Use setting picks which starter line shows.
A topic is the subject, such as justice. A theme is what the work says about the subject, such as "Mercy without justice teaches the guilty to try again." Teachers call this full sentence a theme statement. The Claim line on every card is one.
Set Depth to Topic for the closest match. Big jams announce a short phrase, and Topic cards read the same way. Use the Mechanic line as one reading of the theme, then pitch two of your own before the clock starts.
No. The title is one well-known work that handles the theme. Critics read every title on the list in more than one way, so treat the title as a source to check, not an answer key.
A claim with no side gives you nothing to write toward. The Other side line gives the opposing case, so a story, essay, or debate has both halves from the first minute. Neither line is our opinion on the subject.
Press Swap on each card you want gone. Swap draws one new theme with the same Area and Depth settings and skips every theme already on screen.
No. The cards stay until you draw again or leave. Press Copy on a card, or Copy all under the deck, and paste the text into your notes.
Yes. A theme is an idea, and copyright does not cover ideas. Use any card in a book, a class, or a commercial game. No credit needed.
