Atlas Games Once Upon a Time Third Edition Card Game

This is a very clever game, and great for teaching kids and adults all sorts of useful skills. Performance, imagination, communication, creative writing, team spirit and cooperation. It can take a little effort at first to get kids into the spirit in which this game is intended to be played, but once it clicks you can have hours of fun making up awesome fairy tales and stories. The game mechanics are pretty simple and flexible too which makes it a breeze to play. I played it with a friend and her ten year old and we had a whale of a time.

I bought this to play with my 10 year old to improve his storytelling - he usually struggles to think what to write. It has worked a treat. He’s having fun coming up with stories and trying to play all his cards and work towards his ending. The only down side I’ve noticed is that it does really depend who you play with. Some people try to lay all their cards too quickly and it takes some of the fun out of the game, where the aim is a great story. I’d definitely recommend it, though.

This game is excellent and well designed. It encourages creativity and improvisation as you try to makes up a coherent story that ties you cards together. Easy to pick up and enough cards, combined with the different combinations, means you can play this for years before you ever feel like you've heard it before. What's more it's transportable as all you need are the decks of cards. A must have for tabletop fans

Upfront I'd like to point out that I had heard of this game on Will Wheaton's "Table top" web programme. I thought the concept was sufficiently intriguing to give it a spin. You get a vast deck of cards with key words aimed at guiding players towards creating a story. This is a collaborative game, and the more players you have at the table, the more fun the game gets. Your ultimate aim, if at all possible, is to table all your cards and complete the story being narrated. There are few rules to learn which I think adds to the charm of this game. The only negative comment I would like to make is that I think that the game comes in way too big a box for what is essentially a deck of cards. Maybe future versions could have smaller, sleeker boxes which focus on holding just the decks. The rules could be written on the back of a card of the same size as the rest of the deck, or if one is not enough a fan-fold manual could be used. Other than that, great game and one I would recommend to anyone fond of word or story games.

You'll need a few friends that have an imagination and willing to get stuck in, this is a game where you fight to finish your story. You have a number of cards that includes certain attributes, locations, events, items or people and an ending card you all play co-operatively to tell a story that includes the cards you hold in your hand. If someone else mentions a card you hold, then you can interrupt that person and continue to tell the story you win if you play all your cards and drive the story to your ending. Some of our stories have been surreal but so far have been really enjoyable to play and there was enough of us that when someone rambled or went off the story path we where able to pull them back on in often very numerous debates.

This game is easy to play and lots of fun for all. It's straight forward to follow the rules but you can change the rules to suit the age groups playing as necessary. You simply all get cards and have to tell a story incorporating the pictures or words on your cards. If you say a word on another players cards you end your turn. First player to use all their cards wins. My daughters have enjoyed playing this game lots.

This game is so much fun. I love storytelling and had a blast coming up with crazy tales with this game. Works really well 2 player and can imagine it works brilliantly in groups too. Infinite replay-ability because there are no limits to your imagination.

The game is excellent - justly winning the awards that it has earned and the artwork is wonderful. Highly recommended for kids and especially girls (the instructions use "she/her" throughout). Game play is a little subjective, but quickly finds it's own level and really works. The only thing that I have against the game is the box - it is really just an advertising platform for the game and the artwork - with no thought of protecting the game in an accessible way. It is certain to get damaged and torn and would definitely have benefited from a more traditional game box approach. So - great game - dreadful box. (This review is for the 3rd Edition).

Really nice to see that it is exactly the right version as shown on the page, the 3rd edition with the great artwork. I am very happy with this one.

Wonderful game, very creative, easy to learn, and extremely easy to simplify so you can play with little ones. I've been playing with my 7 year olds, and though we're lax on the rules, we've never had any issues at all.

La idea es bonita y las cartas son preciosas, muy épicas y de fantasía. Las uso para las clases de inglés con los adolescentes de nivel B2 :)

Excelente, lo compre para hacer mas dinámicas las clases y a mis alumnos les encanta, lo recomiendo para iniciar y mejorar la practica del inglés hablado en los estudiantes y como forma de entretenimiento para los hablantes del idioma

This is a game of telling stories. Each person has a hand of plot points and an ending, and someone starts telling a story. Players can use their cards to take over the storytelling. The first to fluidly incorporate their plot points into the story, and then to get to their ending wins that particular story round. In the games I've played, the stories are so entertaining that I sometimes can't break the flow with one of my cards, because I'm more interested in how the story is going than in winning. That's one of the keys to winning -- be a fantastic storyteller. If a story starts rambling, then people are more likely to take control. I've reviewed previous versions of the game, so I'll start with a comparison of versions. The art is very good in both versions: 2nd has bolder art, and the 3rd is softer with more emphasis on color than line, more storybookish. The card layout is much better in the 3rd edition, with the card type and name in the upper corners. These cards are easier to play with. Here are the changes to the main decks, listing the cards that were replaced or changed in the new edition. I approve of all of these changes. Some of them make the game more friendly. or more in tune to fairy tales. Character 2nd: Bird, Old man, Old woman, Sheperdess Character 3rd: Dragon, Guard, Old person Event 2nd: A trap, Dream Event 3rd: Found, Imprisoned, Lost, Making mischief, Returned, Sleeping, This comes alive Item 2nd: Boat Item 3rd: A trap, A well, Cauldron, Clothes, Stairs, Wall Place 2nd: At sea, Chapel, Island, Prison, Stairs, Town Place 3rd: Church, City, Dungeon, Garden, In the sky, Swamp Aspect 2nd: Evil, Insane, Lost, Sleeping, Stupid, This animal can talk, This item can talk Aspect 3rd: Brave, Crazy, Foolish, Healed, Sad, This can talk, Wicked The second edition had 23 ending cards, the 3rd edition has 51 ending cards (such as "Which meant they would become king and queen in the course of time"). The box looks much nicer, but it's also about three times larger than it needs to be, which makes the game less portable. If you have a previous edition, these are all factors to think about when considering whether to upgrade. I recommend all editions of this game. The cards are better in the 3rd edition, but the box is unnecessarily huge, and thus won't be brought to as many conventions.