The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This card game comes in an odd package, a flat 8.5x11" box. Inside are the 3 page rules and 2 decks of cards. I deck contains story endings, and are called "Happy Ever After" cards. The larger deck is made up of the people, places, things and events that make up medieval fantasy stories. The object is to use up all the cards allotted to you.

To follow the rules, a single player starts telling a story discarding a card whenever its subject is mentioned. They try to guide the story toward the particular "Happy Ever After" ending they are given (each player has one). The remaining players try to jump in and take over when a subject is mentioned that they have a card for. This looks like great fun, and takes advantage of an old writers trick, but with an unfocused crowd of players it will probably fall flat.

My own suggestion for involving every player would require the players to tell the story in sequence, one card each. Each player adding to the previous players' single subject card inspired phrases with a subject card and story addition of their own. Players without the ability to logically (subjective measure) add to the story have to pass an loose a chance to remove a card from their hand.

Another suggestion involves the cards themselves. To fit the intended genre, the art is all line drawings in a woodcutting style. With the current trend toward collectable card games, reformatting this to more appealing art might help sales (this was done for the 2nd edition). Making it a collectable game could help its popularity. Maybe even expanding into other genre: scifi, cartoon, gumshoe, horror, etc.

At $12 new and requiring an imaginative group of extroverts to play well, I can't see recommending this game. At $7 or less, using my above rules option to jump start a dead crowd, enough fun will be had to justify the purchase. Also, the cards could be used to create adventure plots by purposefully or randomly dealing them out and recording their subject matter.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

ONCE UPON A TIME, 1st edition
Author: R Lambert, A Rilstone & J Wallis Category: Card Game, GM resource Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Line: na Cost: $12? Page count: na Capsule Review by Papyrus on 08/10/99. Genre tags: Fantasy Diceless	This card game comes in an odd package, a flat 8.5x11" box. Inside are the 3 page rules and 2 decks of cards. I deck contains story endings, and are called "Happy Ever After" cards. The larger deck is made up of the people, places, things and events that make up medieval fantasy stories. The object is to use up all the cards allotted to you. To follow the rules, a single player starts telling a story discarding a card whenever its subject is mentioned. They try to guide the story toward the particular "Happy Ever After" ending they are given (each player has one). The remaining players try to jump in and take over when a subject is mentioned that they have a card for. This looks like great fun, and takes advantage of an old writers trick, but with an unfocused crowd of players it will probably fall flat. My own suggestion for involving every player would require the players to tell the story in sequence, one card each. Each player adding to the previous players' single subject card inspired phrases with a subject card and story addition of their own. Players without the ability to logically (subjective measure) add to the story have to pass an loose a chance to remove a card from their hand. Another suggestion involves the cards themselves. To fit the intended genre, the art is all line drawings in a woodcutting style. With the current trend toward collectable card games, reformatting this to more appealing art might help sales (this was done for the 2nd edition). Making it a collectable game could help its popularity. Maybe even expanding into other genre: scifi, cartoon, gumshoe, horror, etc. At $12 new and requiring an imaginative group of extroverts to play well, I can't see recommending this game. At $7 or less, using my above rules option to jump start a dead crowd, enough fun will be had to justify the purchase. Also, the cards could be used to create adventure plots by purposefully or randomly dealing them out and recording their subject matter. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

ONCE UPON A TIME, 1st edition