Game: Once Upon a Time: Dark Tales

Thread: Re: Review

grumbletweezer — 2008-07-11T14:37:49+00:00

That highlights my one complaint about the expansion - it's not quite as dark as I would have expected.

Have to agree that despite trolls, wraiths and stewed children (YUM) being mentioned on the pack, they are not actually in it - and the cover illustration isn't on any card. I guess it's a fine line for the designers to tread, but I'd be more than enthusiastic for an 'Even Darker Tales' expansion.

Thread: Haystack fire and jumping food

daw65 — 2007-12-29T08:20:58+00:00

We started with a request. Danielle remembered the story telling game from earlier in the year, and asked if I had brought it. I had. Jim was busy with the kids, so it was just Jeff joining us for a game of Once Upon a Time.

Since he hadn't played before, Jeff started the story...

It was a story of a child and his brother. One was kind of stupid and decided while out playing one day to set fire to a haystack out in a field. His brother disagreed, and they had an argument with one another But eventually the "evil" one won out, and they set the haystack ablaze. A shepherdess noticed the flames from a distance, and came to investigate. The "evil" brother pulled a vial of gas from his pocket...

At this point Danielle and Dave looked at each other. Vial of gas? That's silly! So Jeff gave up control of the story to the next player in turn, Dave. Dave continued...

It was apparent to the children that the shepherdess was from a foreign land. The kids were frightened, and ran home, while the shepherdess called after them, vowing to get revenge. When they reached home, only one parent was there, but Mom had made dinner, and asked how the day had gone. The kids lied, saying it was a boring day. But as they sat down to eat, the "evil" kid had problems. Every time he picked up some food, it proceeded to jump off his fork! What was happening? Mom had figured it out. Her son was cursed!

Jeff interrupted here with an aspect interrupt, and so continued the story...

The boy tried to explain. "There was a fire, yes, but we didn't do it! It was set by a bad man, in disguise. He tried to set fire to everything, but a storm came, and put out the fire."

At this point Jeff was just stumped. He couldn't figure out where to go next with the story, given the cards he had left. So he passed, and again control passed to Dave. And Dave continued...

Mom interrupted. "I don't believe you! We've had no rain. The sky has been sunny and clear. And besides, you are still cursed! You must get the curse removed. You must go to see an old man, far away."

Danielle interrupted here, because she had the far away card in her hand. It was finally Danielle's turn to contribute to the story. So she began...

So the kids left, and travelled to the ancient ruins where the old man lived.

Well, that was brief, wasn't it? Jeff's last card was an interrupt, so he, well, interrupted. And he had a plan...

They found the old man, who recognized the curse as some sort of demon that had possessed the kid. He did some funny rituals, and exorcized the demon from the boy. With that the boy saw how evil he had been, so he went back home with his brother, and reunited with his family. So everything was restored to its former glory.

I was psyched that Danielle suggested this one. I had nearly given up hope that it'd come out again here. It was a fun story, too. And even though I lost, I still like my food hopping off of the fork.

Thread: Re: Little Bits of Darkness

She-Wolf — 2007-11-30T04:19:36+00:00

Osiris Ra wrote:
The expansion turns the game into a storytelling game more in keeping with the original tales that the Brothers Grimm collected from the dark corners of Germany.

Excellent point.

Thread: Little Bits of Darkness

Osiris Ra — 2007-11-30T02:36:53+00:00

This is not a stand-alone game, but an excellent expansion to the enchanting Once Upon a Time. That being said, it is certainly possible to play the game with just these cards, though the game would be a lot more limited than the full version.

If you like-to-love the original game, then this expansion is a must. Everything fits well into the overall concept, making it a hand-in-glove fit, though it is a glove filled with blood and holding a weapon that just butchered the innocent. The expansion turns the game into a storytelling game more in keeping with the original tales that the Brothers Grimm collected from the dark corners of Germany.

HIGH CONCEPT
Darkness, evil, and deception walk the villages and palaces, and between the woods and the rivers and the mountains. Witches cast spells to raise the dead and make dread demands of the living. A much darker turn to the fairy tales we all grew up with.

THE BITS
If you are familiar with the original game, the cards included here follow the same format. They are high-quality and will stand up to years of play.

The "Once Upon a Time" cards are similar to those included with the original game; they are People, Places, Things, Events, and so on. A few are additional traditional fairy-tale elements, but most have a distinctly darker cast. Cards like death, fiend, insane, night, dying, cursed, grave, poisoned, and so on. These are the "meat and potatoes" of doom and evil that adds those nightmarish elements to the game.

The "Happily Ever After" cards are aptly and ironically misnamed here. Every one of them leads the story toward someone's unhappy doom. Cards like: and they were struck blind for the rest of their days; he will haunt that place until she forgives him; it could not be removed for the rest of her days; so he learn to be vary of his traveling companions. These drive the stories told into darker twists and turns.

GAME PLAY
Just like with the original game, one "Once Upon a Time" can be played per one or more sentences. Other players try to interrupt you by using their own "OUaT" cards in order to take the story over. The goal is to use up all your "OUaT" cards and play your "Happily Ever After" card in a way that makes sense.

WINNING
Most players who enjoy storytelling games would rather participate in a fun, interesting story than in "winning" the game. Still, the "Happily Ever After" cards do add their own impetus to try to drive a story into a particular direction.

OVERALL
"Dark Tales" adds a heretofore missing element to the original game, turning a fun little tale of castles and fairies to one where killers and demons wait in dark alleys and forbidden forests to plunge their gleaming scalpels into the hearts of unsuspecting victims, and then eat those hearts with some magic beans and a nice mulled wine.

If you liked the original, get this expansion. You will not be disappointed.

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ArtEmiSa64 — 2007-03-03T14:03:30+00:00

Box Back (High Resolution Scan)

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ArtEmiSa64 — 2007-03-03T14:02:36+00:00

Box Cover - High Resolution Scan

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ricardochriste — 2006-08-20T18:33:00+00:00

Sample items of damnation

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ricardochriste — 2006-08-20T18:00:11+00:00

Trouble is brewing

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ricardochriste — 2006-08-20T17:47:24+00:00

Harsh endings

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Graek — 2005-09-16T02:03:25+00:00

Once Upon A Time: Dark Tales Expansion (Back)

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Graek — 2005-09-16T02:03:25+00:00

Once Upon A Time: Dark Tales Expansion (Front)

Thread: Review

robartin — 2005-06-10T14:06:13+00:00

Once Upon a Time: Dark Tales is an expansion for the Once Upon a Time storytelling card game. The expansion contains about 60 new cards packaged in a small tuck box. As in the base game, you get a selection of story element cards and a selection of story ending cards. The expansion doesn't introduce any new gameplay elements.

Instead, this set of cards takes the fairly light and innocent base game down a darker path. Story elements that might hearken back to the original German versions of fairy tales are included. There are cards like Death, Gravestone, and Revenge. There are endings like And she placed cherry blossoms on her children's graves every year. These are examples of some of the darkest cards included.

There are also some puzzling additions like Farmer. I'm not sure how that is "dark". That highlights my one complaint about the expansion - it's not quite as dark as I would have expected. There are quite a number of normal story cards as well. But a game like this always benefits from added cards so the expansion is a definite success in that regard.

Overall, if you like the basic game I recommend picking this expansion up. It's small and inexpensive, and adds some interesting cards. It also makes the game a bit more engaging for an adult audience that might be put off by the fluffy topics in the original game.

Thread: Re:Spanish version

Betote — 2005-04-12T08:07:10+00:00

¡Saludetes!

I don't think so. Martínez-Roca, the company that published 'Once upon a time' in Spanich, doesn't do games anymore.

Such a pity, as it's one of my favourite games

Thread: Quick Comments

Milarky — 2005-04-05T17:08:09+00:00

I'd say these cards are must to make much more exciting stories to your original deck,

they have the a better standard of art work and much more interesting Keywords to add in to a story, to give you a more action fantasy adventure

From spooky grave yards, dark haunted houses and evil spirts and monsters as well as new more heros like the guard and weapons and treasure they can wield.

over the orginal decks cook! how many stories can you make with a cook!.

the game still suffers from the need to get each person to speek up and know when and to forcefully interupt but its enjoyable once this concept is grasped.

Thread: Re:Card backs...

Ermordung — 2005-01-20T16:46:05+00:00

GeoMan (#45640),
My cards are the same color. the only problem is that there is not a single distinction (in the front) that allow me to separate the cards, nor a list with the new cards.
Before I shuffle them, I will make a list with the Dark Tales cards.

Thread: Re:Spanish version

Ermordung — 2005-01-11T15:27:38+00:00

Gabusan (#46790),
You can tape a paper with the transaltion in the card, or prepare a sheet with the english name and the translation so all the players can consult it.
That's all the ideas I have...
Ojalá encuentres una solución satisfactoria.

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BilboAtBagEnd — 2004-09-07T22:23:18+00:00

Story cards

Thread: Spanish version

Gabusan — 2004-07-26T09:38:47+00:00

Does anybody know if there will be a spanish version for the expansion? Some people in my group have no idea of english and it would disrupt the flow of the game if they were to draw a card in english from the expansion.

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GeoMan — 2004-07-19T22:03:39+00:00

Box and cards

Thread: Card backs...

GeoMan — 2004-07-18T01:34:40+00:00

The card backs in "Dark Tales" are much darker compared to "Once Upon a Time".

I don't know if it is a feature (so you can seperate the cards from the main set easily) or a bug (bad printing)!