Game Review

Once Upon A Time (2nd Edition)
Atlas Games
PO Box 131233 Roseville, MN 55113
$15.95
reviewed by Alan Irvine

When everyone is ready, the storyteller begins. "Once there was a brother and sister," she says, laying down a card with a picture of a brother and sister on it. "The two of them had a secret. They owned a magic ring." She lays down a card for a ring. "One day, while doing her chores, the sister looked up and saw a hideous troll watching her. She ran and hid in the cellar. She stayed down there for many hours." "Aha! Time Passes!" exclaims one of the other players, slapping down a card for that and stealing control of the story. "You see, she slipped because she saw..." and the game is off and running.

The game is Once Upon A Time, described as a "the storytelling card game" by the publisher. A fuller description might be "a wildly fun, mildly addictive, competitive, crazy, multi-teller storytelling event." The game consists of two decks of beautifully painted cards. Once Upon A Time cards each portray some element of a story: an event (Something is Revealed), an item (Sword), a character (Old Man), a place (Forest), or an aspect (Stupid.) The deck also contains Interrupt cards which allow you to interrupt the current teller and steal control over the story. Happy Ever after cards contain an ending for the story: "So the riddle was finally answered," "The curse was lifted as had been foretold," or "True love had broken the enchantment." You start the game with a hand containing several Once Upon A Time Cards and one Happy Ever After card. You begin by telling a story, playing a Once Upon A time card when you mention the event, character, item, place, or aspect illustrated on the card. Once you have played all these cards, you wrap up the story with the ending on your Happy Ever After card and win the game. Except...

Every other player is waiting for a chance to steal the story away from you by playing their cards, and once they control the story, they start to steer it towards the ending their card so that they can win the game. Except...

You actually have two objectives in the game. Not only do you have to play all your cards to win the game, you also have to tell a reasonably coherent story in the process. When you steal the story, you can not simply ignore what has gone before, you have to continue that tale, adding your bits to it. When you play a card, that element has to play a part in the story; no fair having a witch suddenly appear and disappear again just so you can lay down your Witch card. And when you end the story, you have to properly wrap up the existing plotlines, and use only what has gone before to get to your ending. No deus ex machinas allowed. So you have to pay attention to what has gone before (who was the Old Man revealed to be?) You have to listen closely to what the current storyteller is saying (is he going to give me a chance to play this Interrupt card and steal the story?) You have to figure out how to fit your elements into the story (how do I get a wolf into the King’s dungeon?) And you have to plan ahead, setting up the story so that your ending will fit (I need to make sure there is a riddle in this story because my ending says "so the riddle was finally answered.") Not too different from telling a regular story, when you think about it. Except that in this game the other players are constantly trying to upset your carefully laid plans.

If that sounds complicated; it is not. The rules take 5 minutes to learn, 10 if you study the rule book very intently. Play goes fast and easy. Any disputes are simply settled by a vote of all players not directly involved in the dispute. My seven year-old nephew picked up on the rules well enough to play, though a few of the fine points about interrupting eluded him. My nine-year old niece mastered the rules at once. So did all of the adults. The game is also wonderfully flexible and friendly. The rule book repeatedly emphasizes that the primary goals are to tell a good story and have fun doing so. Winning at all costs is frowned upon. We played the game over Christmas holidays in all sorts of combinations: groups of kids, groups of adults, groups of all ages. We played in small groups and large groups. Playing the game does require some reading and a general sense of plot, but other than that, anyone can play. (Younger children might need an older player to help them with some of the fine points, and with explaining any of the cards they don’t recognize.) Because of that, and because of the interaction the game requires, it is excellent for families.

Will you have an advantage because you are a storyteller? Don’t count on it. Will you create any new stories to add to your repertoire? Probably not. When you get five different tellers all tugging the story in five different directions towards five different endings, you tend to end up with a story filled with enough bizarre twists and absurd turns to confuse even Lewis Carroll. (Although I can see ways you could use the cards on your own to create stories.) Will you have fun? Absolutely.

—published WIP Winter 1998