Your New Favourite Party Game Is Coming From Canadian Crowdfunding Darlings

Cision Canada

9 hours ago

From the award-winning mind behind Rock, Paper, Cynic, Dungeon Tryouts has launched on Kickstarter.
TORONTO, July 15, 2025 /CNW/ - Wildly successful Canadian Startup - The Story Engine is thrilled to announce their newest project. Dungeon Tryouts is officially live on Kickstarter! Kickstarter is a crowdfunding platform with a focus on building community and forming connections with funders. Connecting with their community has been the key to their success
Introducing Dungeon Tryouts - the ultimate party game of fantasy misadventure. It plays like Apples to Apples meets Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) and feels like being in an episode of Whose Line Is It Anyway? with your friends. It's the perfect way to break the ice - or help party-goers come out of their shell.
Peter Chiykowski, is the Halifax-area based mind behind the award-winning webcomic Rock, Paper, Cynic and the crowdfunding sensation The Story Engine Deck. Through The Story Engine, he has raised $2.5 million in crowdfunding ventures with his friend-turned-business partner Miroki Tong. Their newest venture is hoping to bring their creativity to an even larger audience.
In Dungeon Tryouts, imagine you are trying to hire someone for an epic quest - and you have received the worst applicants possible.
Your heroes all have quirks that make it hard to finish the job. They aren't exactly the cream of the crop - but neither are the gigs you have for them. It's the player's job to flex their creative muscles by pitching their hopeful heroes at quest auditions, spinning their weaknesses as strengths in the hopes of scoring them the job. You'll need to use some creative thinking to convince the quest giver that your "dwarf who was born in a mosh pit" really is the best choice to exorcise a haunted musical theatre full of singing ghosts!
"Our first playtest was unbelievably fun. We were laughing like it was a D&D session gone off the rails in the best way possible, except the rules were simple enough that the non-D&D players were having just as much fun," says Dungeon Tryouts creator Peter Chiykowski. "Our decks help creative people tell memorable and amazing stories. Dungeon Tryouts does that in a whole new way!"
Dungeon Tryouts is developed by Peter Chiykowski and The Story Engine creative team, while every card features original artwork by AC Stuart (CollegeHumor, Your D&D Stories, Awoo!). Wannabe adventurers are invited to visit the campaign page to learn more about the hilarious party game.
About The Story Engine
The Story Engine is an independent Canadian publisher best known for making decks of creative prompts for writers, RPG players, and educators. The Story Engine was co-founded by friends-turned-business-partners Peter Chiykowski and Miroki Tong. The company has raised $2.5 million across three previous crowdfunding campaigns for its products. You can find out more at storyenginedeck.com.
Peter Chiykowski is an award-winning author, cartoonist, and game designer. His webcomic Rock, Paper, Cynic won two Aurora Awards for "Best Graphic Novel" from the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association, and he has written for the EMBERWIND TTRPG and the video game FRACTER, amongst other ventures. He has published 6 books and run 10 successful crowdfunding campaigns. His comics, memes, and social media shenanigans have been covered by Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, , Buzzfeed, and The Huffington Post.