2021William Aubert, Dan Thouvenot
- Videos
- 1
- Creators
- 1
2 - 4 players35 - 45 minMedium weight

2024William Aubert, Dan Thouvenot
Mostly reviews. Once Upon a Line is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 18 reviews, 3 how-to-play guides, 5 recorded sessions, and 1 other video.
From BoardGameGeek
Since the dawn of time, YOU, the Zephyrhymes, take control of talented beings in order to stop Tragedies that threaten the balance of the universe. The Butterfly's Breath On Earth, in a not too distant future, a pandemic has decimated most of the human population, leaving room for insects to become gigantic. The survivors exploit the insects' prodigious abilities to construct a new world. But all that may soon crumble. Once Upon a Line is a narrative game played out in chapters. Embody heroes and use their actions to play on a board of scratch off ink. Uncover hidden words and take their corresponding cards. This will reveal the next part of the story as well as new words to find in order to accomplish your mission. Fully immerse yourself in a personalized adventure. Elude traps (riddles, anagrams, palindromes, etc.). Complete your Quest before scratching off the last square on the Line of Tragedy. -description from the designer
Once Upon a Line has 27 videos from 24 creators: 18 reviews, 3 how-to-play guides, 5 playthroughs and 1 other video. They date from 2022 to January 2026.
To learn the rules, start with "All the Games with Steph: Once Upon a Line - Tutorial" by Steph Hodge, which runs 1 h 14 min. For a quicker teach, "How to play Once Upon A Line board game - Story of a game | s4 e1" by Boardgame Stories runs 6 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Crossword Scratch Off - Once Upon a Line Preview & Playthrough - Boardgame Brody" by Meeple Mountain. 15 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "Once Upon A Line | Game Overview & Gameplay" by Rolling Solo, one of 5 playthroughs.
If you like it, try RagnaRok Star, also by William Aubert, or Nanolith, Cantaloop: Book 1 – Breaking into Prison and Divinity Original Sin: The Board Game, which share several of its mechanics.
8 of 24
2021William Aubert, Dan Thouvenot
2 - 4 players35 - 45 minMedium weight
2024Marc Schwämmlein, Maximilian Witt
1 - 4 players60 - 120 minHeavy weight
2020Friedemann Findeisen, Grzegorz Kobiela
1 - 2 players300 - 720 minMedium weight
2023Noah Cohen, Kieron Kelly, Kat Kruger, Brian Neff
1 - 4 players45 - 120 minHeavy weight
From BoardGameGeek:
Since the dawn of time, YOU, the Zephyrhymes, take control of talented beings in order to stop Tragedies that threaten the balance of the universe. The Butterfly's Breath On Earth, in a not too distant future, a pandemic has decimated most of the human population, leaving room for insects to become gigantic. The survivors exploit the insects' prodigious abilities to construct a new world. But all that may soon crumble. Once Upon a Line is a narrative game played out in chapters. Embody heroes and use their actions to play on a board of scratch off ink. Uncover hidden words and take their corresponding cards. This will reveal the next part of the story as well as new words to find in order to accomplish your mission. Fully immerse yourself in a personalized adventure. Elude traps (riddles, anagrams, palindromes, etc.). Complete your Quest before scratching off the last square on the Line of Tragedy. -description from the designer
Designers
William Aubert, Dan Thouvenot
Artists
Bastien Boulai, Alexandre Gimbel, Adrien Gion, Romain Mottier, Vincent Ptitvinc, Adrien Rives, Leandro Di Terlizzi, Guillaume "GYAx" Weber
Publisher
Perte & Fracas
Categories
Mechanics