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, SheperdessCharacter 3rd: Dragon, Guard, Old personEvent 2nd: A trap, DreamEvent 3rd: Found, Imprisoned, Lost, Making mischief, Returned, Sleeping, This comes aliveItem 2nd: BoatItem 3rd: A trap, A well, Cauldron, Clothes, Stairs, WallPlace 2nd: At sea, Chapel, Island, Prison, Stairs, TownPlace 3rd: Church, City, Dungeon, Garden, In the sky, SwampAspect 2nd: Evil, Insane, Lost, Sleeping, Stupid, This animal can talk, This item can talkAspect 3rd: Brave, Crazy, Foolish, Healed, Sad, This can talk, WickedThe 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.

Really fun to play, but we did modify the rules a bit to create our own version. My two daughters (8 and 12 yrs old) didn't like the idea that the storyteller could have their story "taken away" from them, so when we play, we make it so one person is the storyteller and just use one Ending card. The other players can play their cards at the usual times, but they don't "interrupt" or take over the storytelling role; the storyteller just has to incorporate that element into their story. They found this more satisfying, so we just take turns being the storyteller.These cards would also work great for creative writing "warm ups" or prompts. I've also played with a whole classroom full of people using the proper rules, and that was fun as well.The cards themselves are sturdy and the art is lovely. Plenty of combinations available to keep playing this for a long time.My one suggestion would be to have a better tray or box to keep them in. The packaging comes with a cardboard tray you slide out of the box, but it's just three equally sized wells to hold the cards. It'd be great if there was a way to separate out the Interrupt and Ending cards (of which there are many fewer cards) from the rest of the deck in a tidier way. But that's a minor thing, so I wouldn't take off a star for that.