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Once Upon a Time (game)
Encyclopedia
Once Upon a Time is a card game
produced by Atlas Games
, originally released in 1994
with a second edition published in 1995. One object of Once Upon a Time is to tell a fairy tale
as a group.
While the story is developed by the whole group, the competitive aspect of the game is that each player has an individual goal of using all of the "Storytelling" cards he or she has in hand, and finishing the story with their own special "Happy Ever After" card.
Only one player at a time is the current storyteller, giving him or her a chance to play their Storytelling cards, while the other players have a chance to "interrupt" the story and become the storyteller if, for example, the storyteller mentions something on one of the interrupting player's cards.
One player at a time is the storyteller. (The rules suggest the starting storyteller could be the "player with the longest beard", or any other method upon which the players agree.) Whenever a story ingredient is mentioned, if any player has a Storytelling card for that ingredient, he or she can play it and become (or continue being) the storyteller. A player may be required to draw extra Storytelling cards (for example, when they are the storyteller and are interrupted by another player who becomes the new storyteller, or if he or she hesitates for too long while telling the story). If the storyteller ends the story with the ending on their Happy Ever After card, and is out of cards, he or she wins. Players are expected to cooperate (to some extent) in order to avoid contradictions in the story as it develops, for the story to make sense, and (according to the rulebook) that any ending to the story is "satisfying".
s under bridges" and evil mothers-in-law. One reviewer stated that when using this expansion "fiends stalk the deck, and characters are haunted or followed by murderers".
These cards, or a subset of them, are intended to be shuffled into the original deck. Decks of blank cards are also available, for people to add their own story elements.
stated that Once Upon a Time is "one of the best ways [he had] ever found to grab a non-gamer by their imagination and fling them into our world".
Once Upon a Time was named to Games magazine's Best Family Card Game section in the 1997 Games 100
list.
In 1999 Pyramid
magazine named Once Upon a Time as one of The Millennium's Best Card Games and also as one of The Millennium's Most Underrated Games. Editor Scott Haring stated "the game's just as good for kids as it is for adults." Commenting on the second edition, reviewer Derek Pearcy said the game "is a brilliant example of what we should be getting in this new game market" and "not only is this game easy to learn, not only is it fast, fun, and an Idea Whose Time Has Come, but ... girls think it rocks" commenting upon "the occasional insulting lip-service [many game companies have paid] to their female readership."
Card game
A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...
produced by Atlas Games
Atlas Games
Atlas Games is a company which publishes role-playing games, board games and card games. Its current president is John Nephew.Games published include:...
, originally released in 1994
1994 in games
This page lists board and card games, wargames, miniatures games, and table-top role-playing games published in 1994. For video and console games, see 1994 in video gaming.-Significant games-related events in 1994:...
with a second edition published in 1995. One object of Once Upon a Time is to tell a fairy tale
Fairy tale
A fairy tale is a type of short story that typically features such folkloric characters, such as fairies, goblins, elves, trolls, dwarves, giants or gnomes, and usually magic or enchantments. However, only a small number of the stories refer to fairies...
as a group.
While the story is developed by the whole group, the competitive aspect of the game is that each player has an individual goal of using all of the "Storytelling" cards he or she has in hand, and finishing the story with their own special "Happy Ever After" card.
Only one player at a time is the current storyteller, giving him or her a chance to play their Storytelling cards, while the other players have a chance to "interrupt" the story and become the storyteller if, for example, the storyteller mentions something on one of the interrupting player's cards.
Gameplay
Each player is dealt a hand of cards that represent story elements: objects, people, events, and "aspects" often involved in fairy tales (for instance, there are cards for "crown", "key", "stepmother", "a death", "time passes", "sleeping", et cetera). These "Storytelling" cards represent ingredients of a fairy tale, i.e. words or phrases that are likely to appear in fairy tales. From a different deck of cards, each player is also dealt a single "Happy Ever After" ending card, to be kept secret from other players until it is used. The object of the game for each player is to use their cards in telling a story, finishing the story by using their Happy Ever After card.One player at a time is the storyteller. (The rules suggest the starting storyteller could be the "player with the longest beard", or any other method upon which the players agree.) Whenever a story ingredient is mentioned, if any player has a Storytelling card for that ingredient, he or she can play it and become (or continue being) the storyteller. A player may be required to draw extra Storytelling cards (for example, when they are the storyteller and are interrupted by another player who becomes the new storyteller, or if he or she hesitates for too long while telling the story). If the storyteller ends the story with the ending on their Happy Ever After card, and is out of cards, he or she wins. Players are expected to cooperate (to some extent) in order to avoid contradictions in the story as it develops, for the story to make sense, and (according to the rulebook) that any ending to the story is "satisfying".
Expansions
Dark Tales is a set of extra cards featuring 'darker' plot elements, such as "trollTroll
A troll is a supernatural being in Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore. In origin, the term troll was a generally negative synonym for a jötunn , a being in Norse mythology...
s under bridges" and evil mothers-in-law. One reviewer stated that when using this expansion "fiends stalk the deck, and characters are haunted or followed by murderers".
These cards, or a subset of them, are intended to be shuffled into the original deck. Decks of blank cards are also available, for people to add their own story elements.
Awards and critical reception
In his essay on the game, British author and game designer Marc GascoigneMarc Gascoigne
Marc Gascoigne is a British author and editor.He is the editor, author or co-author of more than fifty books and gaming related titles, notably various Fighting Fantasy gamebooks, Shadowrun novels and adventures, Earthdawn novels and adventures, the original Games Workshop Judge Dredd roleplaying...
stated that Once Upon a Time is "one of the best ways [he had] ever found to grab a non-gamer by their imagination and fling them into our world".
Once Upon a Time was named to Games magazine's Best Family Card Game section in the 1997 Games 100
GAMES 100
The Games 100 is an annual feature of Games magazine, a United States magazine devoted to games and puzzles. The Games 100 first appeared in the November/December 1980 issue as an alphabetic list of the 100 games preferred by the editors of the magazine...
list.
In 1999 Pyramid
Pyramid (magazine)
Pyramid is a gaming magazine, publishing articles primarily on role-playing games, but including board games, card games, and other sorts of games. It began life in 1993 as a print publication of Steve Jackson Games for its first 30 issues, though it has been published on the Internet since March...
magazine named Once Upon a Time as one of The Millennium's Best Card Games and also as one of The Millennium's Most Underrated Games. Editor Scott Haring stated "the game's just as good for kids as it is for adults." Commenting on the second edition, reviewer Derek Pearcy said the game "is a brilliant example of what we should be getting in this new game market" and "not only is this game easy to learn, not only is it fast, fun, and an Idea Whose Time Has Come, but ... girls think it rocks" commenting upon "the occasional insulting lip-service [many game companies have paid] to their female readership."
See also
- The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Münchhausen - Another story-telling game, also designed by James WallisJames Wallis (games designer)James Wallis is a designer and publisher of tabletop and role-playing games. In 1994 he founded Hogshead Publishing, a now-defunct company specialising in role-playing and storytelling games, and ran it until its sale in 2003...
. - TalecraftTalecraftTalecraft is a Philippine based story-telling card game developed by Ria Lu. It aims to promote the creation of stories by means of randomly picked cards that decide the key elements of the author's narrative. It is currently being published by Komikasi Enterprise.-Game mechanics:The card set is...
- A story-creating card game with some comparable game mechanics. - Nanofictionary - Another story-creating card game; created by Looney LabsLooney LabsLooney Labs is a small game company based in College Park, Maryland, USA. It is named after its founders, Andrew Looney and Kristin Looney.- Card games :...
, the creator of FluxxFluxxFluxx is a card game, played with a specially designed deck. It is different from most other card games, in that the rules and the conditions for winning are altered throughout the game, via cards played by the players.-History:...
.
External links
- Once Upon A Time homepage at Atlas Games