The fable game
(Il gioco delle fabole. El juego de las fábulas. おはなしづくりゲーム)
By: Enzo Mari
Published: Edizioni Corraini, Italy, 1965 (Our edition a reprint by the same publisher from 2004).
Format: 6 die-cut plates in a cardboard envelope
Build your own silent book
As the title suggests, The fable game is not a traditional book to be read or leafed through. It's a book where you can build your own story, a never-ending adventure to make and unmake, that is re-invented every time it is used due to the endless possibilities at hand.
The "book" consists of six large die-cut plates in black, orange or white, with illustrations of different animals and nature elements. All cards are printed on both sides, so there are 12 different scenes to be slotted together. The player is free to decide in what order, and how the final shape of the "book" will look. On the cards you will find around seventy different motivs: 45 different animals, the sun and the moon and several interesting objects like an umbrella, trees, an apple, a cage...
Both the style of the illustrations, and the way the pieces fit together, is typical of Enzo Mari's elegant style, and creates a framework to stimulate the imagination of both young and adult players.
A game that needs no instructions, to be played alone, with a friend or by the whole family or class. The construction is sturdy enough for countless new fables and years of storytelling fun.
Enzo Mari has recieved countless awards and accolades for his groundbreaking work. The silent books he made, alone or together with his wife Iela Mari, are classics that are still being reprinted. Mari described The fable game as: "A compositional game, animals with animals, animals with plants, animals with stones, stones with animals."
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