Once upon a time

About

Once upon a time is a single player action game. It was developed by Bruno MARTIOL and was released on September 24, 2017. It received negative reviews from players.

« Once Upon A Time » is an adventure game in which a young woman, finds a magic book and is instantly teleported inside. Each chapter of the book is one single tale in which you will have to solve riddles in fairy tale designed settings. Magic and nature will be friends and foes.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

32%Audience ScoreBased on 38 reviews

music1 positive mentions

gameplay3 negative mentions

The game features decent or visually appealing graphics, especially considering its age.
Some players find the concept and puzzles inventive or interesting.
The game is free to play and offers easy achievement completion.

Controls and camera mechanics are frustrating, slow, and near unplayable, causing motion sickness for some players.
The game feels incomplete, unpolished, and poorly optimized with glitches, bad UI, and confusing gameplay without clear instructions.
It lacks polish and proper game design, resembling an asset flip with mismatched assets and no customization options, leading to a poor experience.

gameplay
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
62%
38%
The gameplay is widely criticized for poor mechanics, clunky controls, and frustrating camera handling, which overshadow some interesting puzzle elements. Overall, it feels unpolished, unoptimized, and difficult to enjoy, making the experience more frustrating than engaging.
- “This is, I guess at least a well-intentioned asset flip. The developer grabbed a bunch of assets from the Unity Asset Store and tried to make an adventure game with them. Of course, the result is a mangled mess with inexplicable demands to use a console peasant toy gamepad, utterly annoying controls, and pure jank in terms of gameplay. It's thoroughly unoptimized and barely runs on any gaming rig.”
- “Mechanics aside, some of the menus look rather unfinished, as well as the camera being an absolute nightmare to turn as it moves too slowly, then will sometimes jump around.”
- “The puzzles were interesting; however, they were made unenjoyable due to the horrible mechanics.”
story
5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
20%
20%
60%
The story centers on a young girl transported to a magical fairytale world, but it is poorly conveyed due to technical issues and lack of coherence. Critics found the narrative weak, with unclear guidelines and frustrating gameplay mechanics that detract from the overall storytelling experience.
- “An incoherent game, with no story or guidelines, horrible clunky controls and camera work...”
- “No story or guidance throughout the game.”
- “The story is non-existent and fails to engage the player.”
graphics
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
25%
50%
The graphics are generally seen as decent and one of the game's stronger points, though they are not cutting-edge and reflect a console-style quality. While the artwork starts off well, it may not sustain interest throughout the game.
- “While this is on PC, it has all the hallmarks and deficiencies of a console game, from the clunkier than needed control scheme to the less than cutting edge graphics.”
- “Once upon a time had a decent premise with puzzles and the artwork for it looked decent, but after part one, the player may meet only a dead end as its reward.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game suffers from numerous glitches, particularly with controls, making actions like picking up items difficult. Improvements to camera and mouse responsiveness could enhance stability and overall gameplay.
- “There are so many glitches that I struggled so much just to pick up a book I need.”
- “If some small changes are made so that the camera and mouse controls can be easier and quicker, then all the other glitches might also go away and the game will then be really good.”
music
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The music is considered tolerable and not particularly impressive, standing out as one of the few acceptable elements in an otherwise poorly received game.
grinding
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users indicate that grinding requires additional effort or resources, such as a second life, suggesting it can be time-consuming or challenging.
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor is described as hilariously disastrous, suggesting it is intentionally chaotic and amusing in a playful, over-the-top way.