Once Upon a Line

About this board game

Once Upon a Line is a narrative game for 1–5 players, played in chapters over approximately 180 minutes. Take control of talented beings known as the Zephyrhymes and work to stop Tragedies that threaten the balance of the universe.

In The Butterfly’s Breath, the story unfolds on Earth in a not-too-distant future. A pandemic has decimated most of the human population, allowing insects to become gigantic. The survivors use these insects’ prodigious abilities to construct a new world—but that fragile achievement may soon crumble.

Each chapter combines storytelling with discovery. Embody heroes and use their actions on a board covered in scratch-off ink. As you uncover hidden words, take the corresponding cards to reveal the next part of the story and discover new words that may help accomplish your mission.

• Scratch-off exploration: Reveal hidden words on the board as the adventure progresses.
• Chapter-based narrative: Let each discovery uncover more of the unfolding story.
• Puzzles and traps: Elude riddles, anagrams, palindromes, and other challenges.
• A race against tragedy: Complete your Quest before scratching off the last square on the Line of Tragedy.

Designed to create a personalized adventure, Once Upon a Line invites you to become immersed in a strange future shaped by catastrophe, survival, and extraordinary insects. Every revealed word connects the physical act of scratching to the next step in the narrative, making progress part of the mystery.