Why Nostalgia is in the deck
Nostalgia is card 47, in the Self cluster. It holds two feelings under one word. For some players it’s warm: a good memory that still gives something. For others it’s sad: a past that makes the present feel lonelier.
The word is also strong with objects. An essay on the nostalgia of ordinary objects, written by people who left Iran and India, gathers small things kept from home: a broken lamp, rusted keys, a sewing machine. They’re ordinary things, and each one holds a place.
Read from different places
That’s why the card works on both sides. Nostalgia pulls toward a time. Key pulls toward a door. Together they can end up in the same house.
If you came looking for nostalgia conversation questions, Thesis gives you a word and a die, plus three follow-up questions on the rule card. The memories come from the players.
Nostalgia sits in the Self cluster with Belonging, Regret, Joy and Beauty.
The other side: Key
The other side is Key. It was chosen for belonging. On a Mumsnet thread, adult children describe keeping a key to their parents’ house as a sign they still belong there. Being asked to return it can feel like rejection. The rusted keys in the essay above come from the same place.
How to play this card
Draw it. Choose a side: Nostalgia or Key. Roll the die. Look at the word from that side. Say as much or as little as feels right.
From the rule card: Has it always meant that to you?
Keep going
- Belonging · card 44
- Regret · card 09
- Joy · card 05
- Beauty · card 04
- Thesis: the game · Play online · Research