Put a puppet on stage
Pick any of the sixty felt puppets from Pull the Strings, put them somewhere, and the marquee bills the show. No rules to learn.
Pull the Strings
Everyone’s a puppet. Only one pulls the strings.
A card game for rival puppet masters. Draft a cast of felt puppets, build three little shows, and perform them for the table.
- 2 to 5 players
- Ages 10+
- 30 to 45 minutes
The box is in rehearsal. Opening soon.
Can’t wait for the box? Play it free in your browser (opens in a new tab)Just curious? Put a puppet on stageFive puppet masters. One stage. No supervision.
Draft Puppets, Settings and Plot Twists from a shared row of cards, combine them into shows, and try to finish three before anyone else does.
105 cards, five genres, and a quick performance every time you finish a show.
The house is open. Admission is free.
The digital edition of Pull the Strings is free to play in your browser, with the same cast and the same shows as the card game. There’s nothing to shuffle, set up or buy.
Play it free (opens in a new tab)playpullthestrings.com
The boxed edition is still in development.
Sixty puppets. Thirty settings. One very small stage.
Pick a puppet, pick a place, and the marquee will tell you what is playing. Every one of them is in the box.
Take the stage
Showtime!
When you finish a Plot, you get to perform it.
Lord Darkcloak arrives at Grimwood Manor. “I have returned.” Sparkles the Unicorn trots in behind him. “The mortgage is due.” Long pause. “...I know.”
You get fifteen to thirty seconds on stage. Use your puppets’ names, your setting, and your plot title. Give everyone a voice. The sillier, the better.
Every Plot card has a Showtime tip to get you started.
Four cards face up. Take what your show needs.
The Spotlight is a row of cards in the middle of the table that everyone drafts from. Take one and the deck fills the gap, so there’s something new to choose from every turn.
Draft one and see.
A short break while the crew resets the stage.
Get word when tickets go on sale, plus the occasional real news from the studio in between. No spam, and you can leave any time.
Thirty shows, from Matinee to World Premiere.
Each Plot tells you what your show needs and what it is worth. Meet the Base Goal and it is yours. Stretch for the Bonus Goal if you think you have the time.
- Matinee
- Evening Show
- Opening Night
- World Premiere
Step closer for a better look.
Escape the Alien Planet
The rescue signal worked. Unfortunately, everyone heard it.
Vampire's Ball
Formal attire. No garlic.
Rescue Mission: Oops
The hostage has started giving the orders.
Roast of the Dark Lord
He conquered seven kingdoms. He was not prepared for this.
A turn, briefly.
Two actions a turn from these three, even the same one twice. Showtime itself costs nothing.
Set the stage.
Start a Plot from your hand. You can run two at once.
Draft.
Take a face-up card from the Spotlight, or draw blind from a deck.
Play your cards.
Attach Puppets and Settings to your Plots. Or spring a Plot Twist on someone who deserves it.
Showtime. Free of charge.
Meet a Plot's Base Goal whenever you like, perform it, and lock it away where no Twist can touch it.
The first player to lock three shows starts the final round. Most Puppet Points wins.
One box. A great deal of felt.
- 105 Main Deck cards. 60 Puppets, 30 Settings, 15 Plot Twists.
- 30 Plot cards across four difficulty tiers.
- 16 Director cards. Secret objectives, revealed at the end.
- 5 Featured Genre cards. One is drawn per game.
- 5 Quick Reference cards.
- 1 Intermission card.
- 1 rulebook. Twenty pages, five minutes to teach.
Production notes.
Printer proofs, playtest nights, and whatever else happens between here and opening.
The digital edition is live
Pull the Strings is now free to play in your browser. The boxed edition is still in development.
Still in rehearsal
The prototype is on the table most weeks, getting played and picked apart. Nothing is final until the notes stop coming.
Be here for opening night.
Hear first when the Pull the Strings box goes on sale, and when there is real news before that. Now and then, a note about what else Stagehand Games has in rehearsal. Never spam.