Once Again Upon a Time

(designed and produced by: Jiyoung Kim, Sam Quinan, and Rahul Roy)

Once Again Upon a Time is a 2D side-scrolling platformer with 3D elements in which gameplay, narrative, and aesthetics coalesce to create a uniquely conflated fictive world that taps into the player’s knowledge of children’s fairy tales, but is informed and haunted unceasingly by reality. This Game Design Document describes the game concept and offers visual mockups. The game features a dual-narrative structure in which an interior “game-narrative” situates the player as Little Red Riding Hood as she embarks on a journey to Grandma’s house and back, traversing a rich, forested fantasy realm articulated as a seemingly linear platformer and populated by characters pulled from both the well-known tale of Little Red Riding Hood and other classic fairy tales (e.g. The Three Little Pigs); while an overarching “meta-narrative” framework situates the player as a jaded, single father character struggling to keep his broken family intact during difficult times through the simple ritual of tucking his daughter into bed with a bedtime story of his design starring the daughter’s favorite character, Red.

For more, see: Once Again Upon a Time Game Design Document