#3 Frances & Ġorġ: How to Play Camp Make-Believe (and a Guide to Storytelling with Kids)
So far in this series, we’ve walked you through our journey of designing a TTRPG for kids, from our early research to hands-on playtesting.
Read Blog #1: How Do You Design a TTRPG for Kids?
Read Blog #2: Playtesting With Kids: What We Learned
Now, our game is ready, and we’re just days away from launch on August 7th on BackerKit!
But maybe you’re wondering:
“How do I actually play this game with my kids?”
Let’s walk you through how Frances & Ġorġ: Camp Make-Believe works, what makes it different from other games, and how to make storytelling sessions fun, imaginative, and meaningful for young players.
What is Camp Make-Believe?
Frances & Ġorġ: Camp Make-Believe is a beginner-friendly, educational tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) for kids aged 5 and up, and their grown-ups.
Each quest teaches a gentle lesson, like empathy, patience, or courage, through magical stories, imaginative choices, and fun activities. Kids earn adorable sticker badges for completing quests and learning something new.
It’s beginner-friendly, with no prep needed for the adult. All you need is the book, some printed sheets, a few dice, colouring tools, and your imagination.
To play, you’ll need one adult (that’s you!) as the Camp Leader, and any number of kids as players. Really! Just print enough character and activity sheets for each child. You could play with an entire classroom if you want to.
Here’s how it works:
1. Pick a Quest
Choose one of 8 illustrated quests, each themed around a core value like kindness, bravery, gratitude, and more. Quests are packed with silly challenges like goblin invasions, pirate contests, and dinosaur parties.
2. Create a Camper
Each kid gets a character sheet and creates their camper. They fill in a few details and colour in the illustration to make it their own.
3. Read and Explore
You guide the story by reading aloud from the book, like a mix between a storybook and a game.
Each page gives you:
What to say
When to ask kids to roll dice
What choices to present based on dice rolls
Kids roll dice, learn the outcomes, and act out their decisions in response.
4. Varied Activities
Each quest includes two built-in activities. Some use dice rolls, while others involve drawing, colouring, or simple physical challenges. These varied activities keep kids engaged and give them space to express themselves in different ways.
Some kids might want to colour for 20 minutes, others may race ahead. The flexible structure makes it easy to adapt to different attention spans.
Play a single quest, or return to Camp Make-Believe again and again. It’s perfect for weekly sessions, classrooms, birthday parties, or rainy days.
5. Reflect and Reward
At the end of every quest, there’s a short debrief with a few open-ended questions to help kids reflect on what they experienced and learned.
Then, it’s sticker time! Kids receive a badge to mark the lesson they completed, like the Bravery Badge or Kindness Badge, and stick it onto their sheet to celebrate their journey.
Sticker Badges & Digital Goodies
The game comes with physical stickers included. Every copy also includes a PDF version, so you can print the quests, badges, and character sheets again and again.
If you’re playing with a classroom or a large group, feel free to print the sticker badges and let kids glue them onto their character sheets!
Try It Now — For Free!
Want to try it out before the launch?
You can download a full quest for free and see how it works.
Tips for Playing TTRPGs and Storytelling Games with Kids
Whether you're playing Camp Make-Believe or another storytelling game, here are our top tips for playing a storytelling game with kids:
1. Let Kids Co-Create
Encourage kids to shape the world. If they want to befriend the goblins instead of fighting them, let them try! There's no "right" path.
2. Embrace the Silly
Use funny voices. Make sound effects. Act things out. Kids love when adults fully join in.
3. Go With the Flow
Some kids might want to colour for ages, others want to speed through. That’s fine! Follow their lead and let the story unfold at their pace.
4. Keep It Tactile
Props matter. Our game includes dice, drawing tools, and stickers. Even better, add extra art supplies, glitter, craft paper — anything that makes this most fun and tactile.
5. Use Reflection Prompts
Our quests end with questions like:
“What will you do to spread kindness outside the game?”
“How did it feel to tell the truth every step of your adventure?”
These gentle prompts help build emotional literacy and deepen the experience.
You can even use this technique with any TTRPG. Just add a few questions at the end to help lessons stick.
Final Thoughts
Frances & Ġorġ: Camp Make-Believe is more than just a game. It’s a joyful way to connect, imagine, and grow together.
Whether you’re an experienced GM or a first-time guide, this system is welcoming, magical, and easy to run. Plus, it’s just really fun.
So gather your campers, sharpen those crayons, and prepare to save a kingdom or dance with dinosaurs, all in a day’s quest.
Join the launch on August 7th and help us bring the magic of TTRPGs to little adventurers everywhere!
This project is supported by Arts Council Malta.
