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.

Once upon a time is an extremely clever game of collaborative story-telling, in which you and the other players around the table are attempting to cash in the narrative beats represented in their hands whilst simultaneously driving the story towards a conclusion that is unique to you. The problem is, every time your story intersects with the cards in an opponent's hand, they can take control of the storytelling and start driving the tale towards their own ending. It's fast, wickedly funny, astonishingly creative, and designed with such generosity of spirit that it can make you feel genuinely clever simply through playing.Very highly recommended.

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.

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

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.

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.

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).

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.