Once Upon a Jester

Equal parts original, absurd, goofy, clever, catchy, and sincere, Once Upon a Jester is a gem of creativity that uses hilarious writing and a wonderful soundtrack to punch well above its weight.

90%Game Brain Score

music, humor

99% User Score Based on 227 reviews

Critic Score 71%Based on 4 reviews

Platforms

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About Once Upon a Jester

Once Upon a Jester is a single player casual platformer game with drama, comedy and kids themes. It was developed by Bonte Avond and was released on November 9, 2022. It received mostly positive reviews from critics and overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

Travel the kingdom as Jester with his best friend Sok to improvise theatre shows and perform on stages far and wide. Sing your hearts out, crack jokes and impress audiences to become the stars of the famous Royal Theatrical Spectacle! They embark on a grand adventure across a fantasy kingdom, meeting tons of wacky characters, performing improvised shows and singing their hearts out. Along the way…

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Reviews

99%Audience ScoreBased on 227 reviews

music47 positive mentions

Charming and cozy with a unique improv theatre gameplay, offering a heartwarming and hilarious experience.
Delightful original soundtrack with catchy musical numbers and top-notch voice acting that enhances the whimsical atmosphere.
Engaging characters with witty dialogue and varied story paths provide replayability and emotional depth.

Gameplay can feel repetitive due to limited mechanical complexity and few different plays.
Short overall length may leave players wanting more content and deeper story arcs.
Some minor technical issues like unskippable cutscenes, occasional glitches, and lack of mouse or touchscreen support on some platforms.

music
118 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
40% positive mentions, 57% neutral mentions, 3% negative mentions
The music in "Once Upon a Jester" is widely praised for being catchy, charming, and emotionally resonant, with many reviewers highlighting its variety, humor, and ability to enhance the storytelling. The original soundtrack, featuring 35 tracks, often feels like a character in itself and is celebrated for its indie charm and heartfelt performances by the developers. Overall, the music is a standout feature that deeply enriches the game's playful, cozy, and theatrical experience.
- “The music often feels like a character itself, enhancing the storytelling and deepening immersion in the theatrical world.”
- “I think you guys did absolutely amazing, this game is awesome, I love it dearly and let me just say that the songs are bangers. I've been listening to most of them on repeat; my favourite is definitely 'Wendy the Wendigo' (it made me really really really happy), but also shout out to 'Inside/Outside', 'The Gloom', and the main music 'Once Upon a Jester'.”
- “Equal parts original, absurd, goofy, clever, catchy, and sincere, Once Upon a Jester is a gem of creativity that uses hilarious writing and a wonderful soundtrack to punch well above its weight.”
- “My only disappointment is that I never got to listen to Hak's finished song and the soundtrack only has his demo.”
- “The only things that I can see wrong with the game is that sometimes there's a minor glitch (for example, in my case the wizard Rainbow color sort of glides to Merl during the 1st meet, I thought it was his way of walking but later on he can walk normally), but they're not huge that will hinder the game, and also you can't skip the cutscenes or songs (I played the game again to try collect all the stickers).”
- “Let's be honest, it never was about the music.”
humor
98 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised for being quirky, quirky, and deeply charming, blending dry wit, absurdity, and heartfelt moments that often evoke genuine laughter and warmth. Players appreciate its unique improv-style comedy, clever dialogue, hilarious songs, and whimsical characters, making it a consistently funny and uplifting experience. Overall, the game’s humor is seen as fresh, authentic, and richly entertaining, comparable to classic animated comedy styles with a modern, playful twist.
- “The humor in this is just perfect and I laughed a lot more than most comedy games nowadays.”
- “Its humor and unrestrained creativity reminds me of the old MGM and Warner Looney Tunes animations. Everything about this game makes it authentic, and playing it brings me genuine joy.”
- “The dialogue is hilarious, filled with dry humor, weird characters, and funny (Dutch) names.”
story
65 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31% positive mentions, 63% neutral mentions, 6% negative mentions
The story in "Once Upon a Jester" is a charming, humorous, and heartwarming adventure blending improvisational theater with musical performance, creating a lighthearted and memorable experience. While relatively brief and straightforward, it offers wholesome themes of following dreams and redemption, supported by excellent voice acting and lively characters. Though some find the linear narrative limits exploration and the gameplay repetitive, the witty humor, engaging dialogue, and musical elements make the story a standout feature that resonates warmly with players.
- “Once Upon a Jester, developed by Bonte Avond and published by Crunching Koalas, is a uniquely charming adventure game that stands out by combining storytelling, improvisational theater, and musical performance into a seamless and heartfelt experience.”
- “This improvisational feel is enhanced by the game’s dialogue and narration, which adapt dynamically, giving the player a genuine sense of shaping the story with their own flair.”
- “The music often feels like a character itself, enhancing the storytelling and deepening immersion in the theatrical world.”
- “Additionally, the narrative, though charming, is relatively brief and straightforward, which might leave some craving more elaborate story arcs or deeper character development.”
- “The unskippable plot was so annoying.”
- “It's nice that there are a few different locations to explore, yet the game was very linear about moving through them; I couldn't choose the place to go because the plot fluency depends on the chronology of visiting places.”
emotional
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The game delivers a consistently heartwarming and wholesome emotional experience, blending silly humor with heartfelt storytelling and charming theatrical performances. Players often describe it as funny, uplifting, and cozy, with memorable music and touching moments that evoke genuine warmth and optimism. Overall, it’s a creative and delightful adventure that inspires hope, friendship, and joy through its playful yet meaningful narrative.
- “Once upon a jester, developed by Bonte Avond and published by Crunching Koalas, is a uniquely charming adventure game that stands out by combining storytelling, improvisational theater, and musical performance into a seamless and heartfelt experience.”
- “When I started to play this game, I was in a very depressing mood. It was one of those days where you can see all the ugliness the world and the people living in it can carry, so I wanted to just shake away the stress of these feelings and take a breather. This game knocked me to tears with the Ferris wheel song. I was playing around, making some silly posters with a billion stickers, laughing at Sock and Jester's friendship, exploring around and then bam—the Ferris wheel song hit and I cried a lot. It made me feel less stupid for believing in people and that yes, there is good out there. It's alright to hope even if there's a lot of bad out there.”
- “Because these interactions are open-ended, each performance can feel different, allowing players to experiment with various tones—whether it’s lighthearted humor, heartfelt emotion, or playful silliness.”
gameplay
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
29% positive mentions, 62% neutral mentions, 9% negative mentions
The gameplay is delightfully simple, cozy, and humor-driven, focusing on creative expression and improv-style storytelling rather than traditional challenges. While mechanics are innovative and charming, they can become repetitive over time, though the engaging humor, quirky characters, and catchy music keep the experience enjoyable. Overall, it offers a fresh, family-friendly adventure that prioritizes mood, creativity, and performance over complexity.
- “The gameplay is actually fun, not boring but not hard (you can crank up the difficulty if you want to, but it's just not for this game), the style also is very fitting.”
- “It invites players into a colorful fantasy world where the emphasis is less on traditional gameplay challenges and more on creativity, expression, and connection with the game’s quirky cast of characters.”
- “What makes the gameplay particularly engaging is the freedom it grants players to explore their creativity.”
- “The gameplay, while innovative, can become repetitive after extended play sessions due to its limited mechanical complexity.”
- “Once Upon a Jester is very original in its concept, and although the mechanics get a little tired towards the end, it was an inspirational, and often very amusing adventure based around the theater.”
- “I had a lot of fun even if a lot of things bother me to have one, and I believe that if creators make the game more dynamic and put more gameplay into it, it would be worth its price.”
optimization
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13% positive mentions, 87% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
Optimization-wise, the game runs smoothly without any bugs or performance issues, providing a stable and enjoyable experience. While the performances are short and not highly complex, the varied dialogue and open-ended choices help keep the gameplay fresh and engaging. However, some repetition in events may occur over time, though the overall execution remains polished and responsive.
- “I haven't seen any bugs, performance or stability issues.”
- “It's great to experiment with the theatre performances you put on to see what silly things you can make the characters do.”
- “If you're into achievements, go for the one where you collect all the stickers -- it basically guarantees you'll try every type of performance, and that adds a lot to the experience.”
graphics
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43% positive mentions, 36% neutral mentions, 21% negative mentions
The game's graphics feature a vibrant, hand-drawn, cartoonish art style that perfectly complements its quirky and humorous tone, with basic yet expressive animations that bring characters and environments to life. Users consistently praise the visuals as fitting, charming, and reminiscent of beloved styles like Night in the Woods. Overall, the art style enhances the inviting atmosphere and is well-supported by strong audio elements, making the graphics a standout aspect.
- “The hand-drawn art style is vibrant and expressive, with characters that pop with personality and environments that feel alive and inviting.”
- “The artstyle and animations are very basic, but that actually fits the game perfectly.”
- “Graphics, as everyone can see, are styled and very fitting for this game.”
- “Art style is reminiscent of Night in the Woods in the best way possible.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 25% negative mentions
The game offers strong replayability due to its diverse choices and unique outcomes, providing multiple distinct playthroughs. While the experience is engaging and humorous, some users noted limited replay value and the presence of bugs that may affect repeated plays. Overall, it encourages multiple play sessions despite minor issues.
- “Plenty of replayability with all the different choices and outcomes for the plays, and the writing is quick and witty; I was definitely laughing the whole way through!”
- “The game will take around 3-5 hours to complete, but since each play is unique, there is plenty of replayability on offer.”
- “And definite replay value.”
- “[Limited replayability, some bugs.]”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50% positive mentions, 50% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
Character development in the game is solid and contributes well to the overall narrative, though the story is relatively brief and straightforward, potentially leaving some players wanting more depth and complexity.
- “As an adventure, it works well, with a decent story and good character development.”
stability
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The game demonstrates excellent stability, running smoothly on the Steam Deck without issues.
- “Runs great on Steam Deck.”

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Critic Reviews

71%Critics’ scoreBased on 4 critic reviews

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Play Times

5h Median play time

5h Average play time

5-5h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Once Upon a Jester is a casual platformer game with drama, comedy and kids themes. Common tags for Once Upon a Jester include indie, 2d, choices matter, relaxing, cartoon and others.

Once Upon a Jester is available on Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 5 and others.

On average players spend around 5 hours playing Once Upon a Jester.

Once Upon a Jester was released on November 9, 2022.

Once Upon a Jester was developed by Bonte Avond.

Once Upon a Jester has received mostly positive reviews from players and mostly positive reviews from critics. Most players liked Once Upon a Jester for its music.

Once Upon a Jester is a single player game.

Similar games include Later Alligator, Frog Detective 1: The Haunted Island, Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime, Wandersong, BAD END THEATER and others.

Once Upon a Jester

Platforms

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Reviews

music

humor

story

emotional

gameplay

optimization

graphics

replayability

character development

stability

Critic Reviews