Yesterday afternoon, we spread a cascade of dreamy illustrations across the carpet — yes, it was time for Dixit. Not with a group of seasoned gamers, but with my favorite pair of creative minds: Karma (3) and Leo (5). And let me tell you, no one plays Dixit quite like a pair of giggling cousins with wild imaginations and peanut butter on their fingers.

The box itself — warm orange and glowing like a sunset — promised stories, and it delivered. Karma was mesmerized by the cards before the game even began. “This one is about a fish having a birthday,” she declared, holding up a surreal image of a lantern in the sea. Leo, not to be outdone, grabbed a card showing a person walking upside down. “That’s how I feel when I have to take a bath,” he grinned.

If you’ve never played Dixit, it’s as if picture books and guessing games had a tea party together. Each turn, one person picks a card and gives a clue — a word, a sound, a tiny story. Then everyone tries to guess which card matches the clue. You earn points when some (but not all!) players guess correctly. But points weren’t the goal for us — laughter was.

We modified the rules a bit, of course. Karma liked to tell full stories instead of one-word clues. “This one is a dragon who wants to be a flower,” she said solemnly, as if this were the most natural thing in the world. Leo, meanwhile, became obsessed with making up rhymes. “Mine is a bear in a chair with messy hair!”

Their little faces were so serious during guesses — brows furrowed, cards held high — and then squeals of joy erupted when someone picked the right one. Or sometimes, the wrong one, and we’d get a new story instead. “Nooo,” Leo shouted with a laugh, “That was the thunder moon one!”

Playing with them reminded me that Dixit isn’t really about strategy. It’s about listening, noticing, and connecting. It’s about letting your imagination stretch its legs and dance around the room. The kids saw stories in every corner of every card, and I saw the world through their eyes for an hour or two.

And when Karma gathered the cards at the end, she whispered, “Can we play the dream game again tomorrow?” Oh yes, we can.