Atlas Once Upon A Time 3rd Ed, Multi-Colored, Kid Game

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.

Great game. I've played a handful of games with different crowds. You'll notice a tendency for people to merge story elements together that repeat, but other than that it is a fun challenging game. We typically spend about 30 minutes a game to finish unless someone gets a nice story going and no one can interrupt. The premise of the game is really simple. You get some story elements: Places, People, Aspects (Think adjects, describing words) Things, and Events. You start telling your story, with the cards you have... and no cheating and using three cards at once. Its one part of the story, per card. What is nice is the interrupts, because everyone is aiming to get their "Ending Card" so they have to shape the story their way... so at times when you are trying to cure the prince from a curse, you get interrupted and the prince ends up dying... that puts a damper in your plans. Very fun game, and I see many people recommend it as a great games to teach English skills, but it also is a great family game. Everyone gets involved and silly, and my church youth also have a blast telling wacky stories. If I had to complain about anything, it would have to be the lack of a card holder. So many cards and the box they are in doesn't keep them organize, and they bounce around in there. I'd like maybe a box or something smaller and more compact to hold the cards in. For now, rubber bands will do. Also, the artwork is top notch. Really nice touch to the story elements is the colorfully drawn art on the cards.

I will admit I have not gotten fully used to this style of gameplay. At times we end up in tricky situations where we don't remember some detail or went on some difficult tangent. I think with more careful moderation and adherence to the rules, we will be past that. It is still fun, even playing and explaining the rules to my 5 and 9 year old children as we play. There is just enough chalnenge in the rules, I think, to keep it from feeling boring or a waste of time to someone who is goal oriented. I would highly reccommend this to anyone liooking to use your imagination to create a fun experienc with your kids, friends, or family!

I usually don't write reviews but I absolutely felt obligated to do so for this game. To give you a little history on me I am quite the board and card game player ranging from your simple games like clue to more intricate games like dungeons and dragons; I am 25 years old and play with friends ranging from ages 21 to 29 every Tuesday. I bought this because it sounded intriguing and thought "hey, it's only 18 bucks if I don't like it." Well, I got the game and like usual when I get new things I was eager to play so I gathered a few friends and we gave it a shot. After about midway through the first game the feeling was mutual throughout the table, "This Game is Incredible!" It started off with only three of us playing by the time we got to our second game we had a group around the table of about 10 just observing and enjoying the game. I've only been playing it for a little while but this game's enjoyment level was higher than any game I have ever played. This game is a great creativity builder for kids and adults because the story is up to you; you can make it as PG or X rated as you want to because you tell the story. There are a few game that I have on a "Must have" list and this clearly has made this list because this game is absolutely one hundred percent incredible.

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.

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.

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

An excellent game to help imagination and to develop storytelling - especially if the focus is on enjoyment and not only on competition