Narrative board game in solo or cooperative, in a post-apocalyptic saga with giant insects !
Latest Updates from Our Project:
đŠ Once Upon a Line - Daily Reveal đ #12
almost 2 years ago
â Sun, Jan 29, 2023 at 06:59:26 AM
ÊÄÉ ââââ± Version Française - voir plus bas â°âââ ÊÄÉ
âIf the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left.â- A. Einstein
It's been nearly a dozen days since we've been gradually revealing the scenarios contained in Splendor & Degradation. However, these completely independent stories have their roots in scenes well anchored in the main saga The Butterflyâs Breath.
Through a few regular updates, we let you glimpse the soul of this little world that we have modestly built. Many of you have been in comments and on the networks to ask us if the content would be provided in the game boxes.
We are therefore very happy to announce that we have indeed planned to include in each box of the main saga The Logbook entitled: Voyages Through the Lands of Kell - by Lukane the Elder.
đŹ The authors' note:
âYou play as heroes of ancient Greece, from the small fishing village of Asklepieros. The village elder comes to you all out of breath, PYTHIA asks for you, she has an important message to send you. You know that she resides in a TEMPLE on top of a HILL. Scratch in a straight line from space I18 to S18 and reveal the corresponding card.â
Here are the very first words born from the very first adventure of Once Upon a Line. The file dates from November 25th, 2020, the day after our mechanics were discovered. We needed to experience the potential of this narrative game by immersing it in a universe conducive to a real test. Armed with an Excel file to blacken and reveal letters, we had our very first adventure in the middle of ancient and mythological Greece.
Several elements of the game were still shaky, the story quite wacky, the material resources really precarious... the magic worked however! We had both become heroes of antiquity in search of a sword and a shield to free Asklepios from the terror imposed by a fearsome minotaur.
So, if this political intrigue in a world of anticipation under insectoid domination has caught your attention, follow our upcoming productions because we still have dozens of universes to invent.
 đ New content:
It is therefore to Lukane the Elder that will return the role of narrator, guiding you, as he has already done in previous news, through the World of Kell.
The form of this document is still to be defined (size, number of pages, orientation, etc.) but we already know what function it will fulfill in this game box. In addition to a presentation of the major and minor guilds, a presentation of the functions and characteristics of some insects, we want this booklet to be both an immersion support but also a little memo to help you during the adventure so that you don't need to have advanced entomological knowledge to be able to understand details that the story offers.
If there's anything you'd really like to see in this universe document, let us know in the comments. We will be happy to study this...
đđ The winner in this Logbook!
As planned, voting closes today at 8 p.m. CET for our contest.
This is your last chance to vote for your favorite proposals. The winner will see their idea included in the Voyages Through the Lands of Kell by Lukane the Elder in each box of Once Upon a Line - The Butterflyâs Breath!
So go quickly to vote if you haven't already done so:
For as long as I can remember, I have always been fascinated by the world around us. Even today, it sometimes happens that I sink into the limbo of my thoughts, my feet dredging the bottom of the river, directly above a gypsum cliff or at the bend of the paths of my garden. At each solstice, each equinox, my ancestors brought us together, my sisters and I, to sing to us the history of men, when they were still living happy days, settled on the summit of the modern world.
I only remember from this past the hazy stories, borrowed by intrusion from a collective memory and which wither with the seasons. I thought of my life as a journey, only stopping to immortalize the beauty of this Earth. I am Lukane the Elder and this is my travel journal through the lands of Kell.
Illustrations : Alexandre Gimbel, Leandro Di Terlizzi
Making-Of & Insect Research
ÊÄÉ ââââ± French Version starts here â°âââ ÊÄÉ
Alors, si notre intrigue politique dans un monde dâanticipation sous domination insectoĂŻde a su piquer votre attention, suivez nos productions Ă venir car nous avons encore des dizaines dâunivers Ă partager.â
Illustrations : Alexandre Gimbel, Leandro Di Terlizzi
Making-Of & Recherches sur les Insectes
Merci et Ă demainâŠ
Dan & William
đŠ Once Upon a Line - Daily Reveal đ #11
almost 2 years ago
â Sat, Jan 28, 2023 at 07:57:26 AM
ÊÄÉ ââââ± Version Française - voir plus bas â°âââ ÊÄÉ
« Don't weep, insects
Lovers, stars themselves,
Must part. »
Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828)
The veil is now well lifted on this astonishing scenario in two distinct parts. Two grids certainly, but combine them cleverly to get to the end of the adventure. Whether you start with one or the other, you will need both to unravel the mystery of Get Butterflies.
The first word of this scenario takes you on board at the very moment which will see a part of Noctide's life change forever, whatever the outcome of this scenario.
So, our dear Noctide was comfortably installed in his chenille leather armchair enjoying a honeydew liqueur when a courier discreetly knocked on the knocker of his front door. On the doorstep, an old gentleman, worn out by the weight of the years, handed him a carefully wrapped package. But neither the caress of the gentle wind nor the evanescence of this moment prepared Noctide for one of the greatest shocks of his life...
đŹ The authors' note:
âA hundred times on the loom, hand over your work, wrote Boileau. Creating a world is indeed a perilous exercise. On each page of the story, the credibility of the entire work is at stake and, through it, that of the authors!
Geography, meteorology, laws, politics, fashions, customs⊠each part of Kell's life must respond to a coherent and structured whole. If the rough and main framework will have been our first project - all in all quite easily validated - we will have had to go through decisive milestones to anchor a credible story, and supported by a common frame of reference. Who says apocalypse, says migration. Who says migration, says survival. Who says survival, says temperate climate.
Because we have traveled little outside of Europe, we chose to put Kell's suitcases in Florence, Italy. A city that we visited and which immediately reminded us of a whole Mediterranean style of living, from gastronomy to music, architecture to painting. Due to its geographical position, this city offers us the comfort of being able to rely on dreamlike vestiges, an advantageous topography, maritime proximity, and equatorial seasonalities conducive to creating all kinds of atmospheres.
Historically, we have decided to freeze history at the great pandemic (in 2067) which marked the beginning of the era of the Great Arthropods. Then going back along the path of the ball to 2410, in the City of Kell as you discover it. Focused on this corner of the world, we voluntarily ignore the rest of the planet, allowing us at leisure tomorrow to imagine dozens of other forms of new societies, but that is another storyâŠâ
Plot Opening:
When Noctide opened the package that day, he immediately felt the blood rush from his being. Within that ordinary looking box sat a long lock of black hair; its peppery scent filled the room. The olfactory signature was that of the one he loved: Cigadelia. At the bottom of the box was a ransom note, written on a wing of mayfly. It asked for an exorbitant amount, even for a surgeon of his renown.Â
The news reverberated like a cyclone in our man's heart... and in his head. After the amazement came the anguish, after the anguish came the guilt, after the guilt came the rage. But Noctide had learned over time to keep his feelings in check. He then dominated his mind, forcing himself to pull himself together, because he knew that the survival of his beloved depended on his composure. He decided to go to the brewery in town square the next day at noon precisely, as the instructions indicated. With a steady hand, he slipped his small scalpel case into the inside pocket of his immaculate white coat.
Illustration : Guillaume Weber
Thecreation of the visual for the MISSING card:
Important: The number of cards in each scenario could increase or decrease (likely by a maximum of 3 cards) when the whole game is finished in order to harmonize and balance the contents and the duration of the game.
đđ Once Upon a Line THE CONTEST
Don't forget to vote for the 10 selected!
Choose the best proposal that you think deserves to be in Once Upon a Line - The Butterfly's Breath!
đŠđ Once Upon a Line - Special Update#3
almost 2 years ago
â Sat, Jan 28, 2023 at 03:37:15 AM
ÊÄÉ ââââââ± Version Française - voir plus bas â°âââââ ÊÄÉ
It was barely 43 years ago⊠A deadly summer followed by a plague of processionary caterpillars had plunged Kell into great distress. Chaos whipped through Kell like wildfire and gave rise to the Great Divide between Scars and Aphideers. In the meantime, the Skeeter Faction began to emerge as an opposing power, boosted by the hands of the oppressed and needy.
The famines of yesterday may only be a distant memory in the collective consciousness, Â but Kell carries the stigmata of its past. Little by little, the dreary anger carried by the peasants is growing, fueling a violent blaze festering in the lower districts...
The Aphideer Community
More than a guild, the Aphideer form a community close to the land and living to the rhythm of the seasons. Settled in small hamlets on the outskirts of Kell, these simple people are mainly herders and farmers.
Under SquadrAnt Legion protection, this rural community interacts little with Kellian society. Nearly 300 SquadrAnt Legion are assigned to the security of these very exposed agricultural regions, operating daily maneuvers to protect Kell's granary.
In return, the Bucerons pay a tax for access to market places every week.
Farming
Aided by a temperate climate conducive to abundance, the land outside the city is remarkably fertile and allows the cultivation of cereals, fruits, and vegetables in all seasons.
The life of the Aphideer is punctuated by the dance of the seasons and hard, daily work. At each solstice, however, a large peasant fair brings together all the Aphideer in a village, and during which a symbolic King of the Aphideer is elected for a few months. Without real political weight, this ephemeral and folkloric monarch is an essential popular valve to their hard life of work.
Breeding
Ten kilometers around Kell extend the green pastures largely hydrated by the rivers which meander there. Here, mealybug and leafhopper larvae graze peacefully. While honeydew serves as a less expensive sugar than Alioptera honey, the creatures are also highly prized for their succulent flesh, which inevitably ends up on the tables of the finest restaurants.
In the meadows, riders of giant leafhoppers constantly beat down wandering creatures, equipped with huge pikes and sometimes assisted by a few ants to maneuver the most recalcitrant.
Logging
In the minority, but nonetheless crucial, the loggers are the guardians of the teeming hillsides on the outskirts of the city. They prune and cut relentlessly. In recent years, agriculture has intensified, the water level has become insufficient to transport the wood by floating, but the centipede lords made available by the authorities were quick to solve the problem. They thus supply the Scar Tribe, responsible for shaping and treating the wood for the construction sites.
Insects & Major Guilds
The Aphideer are undoubtedly the main users of the Large Arthropods which assist them in their daily tasks. However, this dependence makes them weak and manipulable. Peasant anger is brewing and the entire guild is looking for ways to gain autonomy from Kell.
The Skeeter Faction
The growing impoverishment, the abandoned inhabitants of Kell gradually turned away from the Major Guilds to join the Outcasts or even sometimes the The Skeeter Faction.
Present wherever poverty is rife, this self-proclaimed clan brings together all the outcasts, scoundrels, and crooks. A veritable city within the city, the slums have their codes and their rules, and rare are the SquadrAnt Legion who dare to venture there. And yet in the kingdom of chaos blows a little wind of freedom.
Within the group, entities driven by common interests have formed to the point of structuring very distinct sub-layers, but all responding to the allegiance made to a supreme and particularly adored leader. In the Lakeside Quarter, a few steps from the shipyard is the heart of the faction, a conglomeration of dives and gambling dens in which the house liquor pours in streams under the frenzied cries of the gamblers in the fights of clandestine insects.
Beggars
It's an art to beg in Kell and our wretches have understood it well. Provided by âtrainersâ (in truth talented actors), an unstoppable method is taught to apprentice tramps. Often accompanied by some cockroach or woodlouse, the seasoned beggar detects the slightest flaw in the smug armor of the petty bourgeois.
The Thieves
When a beggar shines with his talent, it is not uncommon for him to rise to the most remarkable rank of thief: pickpocket, armed robber, fence, blackmailer... dozens of professions are associated with this house.
But the most famous are undoubtedly the burglars, dressed in camouflage tunics made of grasshopper or stick insect skin. They are the phantom terror of high society.
The Assassins
For some Kellians, killing is second nature. From sophisticated murder to intimidating butchery, assassins all have in common a talent recognized for the effectiveness of their action. To each their own tools, but the remains of insects are generally their trademark and the rudimentary but noticeable style sometimes earns them a few arbitrary arrests ⊠often forgotten thanks to the payment of a discreet bribe.
The Spies
True virtuosos of homotypy, spies must act preferably during the day when the attention of their prey slackens. With huge wardrobes and a reserve of accessories provided by their fellow receivers, they are able to have lunch at noon at the table of a large lepidore restaurant before joining a crisis cell at the SquadrAnt Legion garrison.
Insects & Guild:
If most of the Skeeters cannot afford the support of Great Arthropods, they have on the other hand been able to take advantage of the waste left by the city, willingly recycling the legs of young praying mantis or the stings of wasps to constitute a gigantic arsenal in the service of the rebellion.
ÊÄÉ ââââââ± French Version starts here â°âââââ ÊÄÉ
đŠ Once Upon a Line - Daily Reveal đ #10
almost 2 years ago
â Fri, Jan 27, 2023 at 07:13:21 AM
ÊÄÉ ââââ± Version Française - voir plus bas â°âââ ÊÄÉ
 "And I lie down to sleep, proud of having lived and suffered in others"
(The Windows - C. Baudelaire)
Since she stopped working, Mrs. Dori enjoys her favorite pastime every day: watching and dreaming about the lives of thousands of people. At the corner of Hanneton Avenue and Chitine Street, an astonishing outer life has been taking place before her eyes for several months now. Middle-aged men and women push the wrought-iron gate to the sound of chimes to enter the rich Baroque house. The actors of this surprising ballet always hide well under large hoods and nod their heads in shame and complicity.
đŹ Authors' note:
"The human race is beautiful because it is rich and complex. In 2023 we know how to travel in space and invent machines that can reproduce themselves, but we still ignore so many things about the functioning of our body and our brain. And that's one of the things we're committed to in Once Upon a Line.
In the manner of the Walking Dead, where the living dead are only a pretext to deal with relationships between individuals in a geopolitical context, here we have a great opportunity to deal with rare, taboo, or even divisive topics through invented stories. And we believe that this is the greatest strength of a board game: to freeze time and moral system in order to commit to a story and a character that will belong to us only for the duration of a game. At the game table, you can say or do almost anything, and that's probably why we, homo-ludens, like to play so much.
So, we sought to create a diverse gallery of characters, not to satisfy a balance of genders, colors or ages, but because we see something unique in the personality of each of our Heroes that makes them beautiful in our eyes."
đ€ New Hero:
The twin brother of Deciton, the brilliant Noctide has chosen a very different destiny from his brother. After studying medicine at the Apiloptera Academy, he specialized in reconstructive surgery. Noctide is fearsomely gifted in the handling of the scalpel, and he was quickly poached by the dean of the academy, who desired to sculpt for herself a newly youthful face and body. Soon, Noctide was overwhelmed by the demands and had to stop his studies to open his own private practice. All the big shots come here to pamper themselves with a rejuvenating treatment, even if they have to pay a lot for it.
But surgeon as he is ... Noctide is unable to tame his heart, which is beating wildly for one of his most prestigious clients.
Illustration: Leandro Di Terlizzi
Attention: this character can only be played in this scenario, you cannot play him in The Butterfly's Breath saga!
Making-of the visual for Noctide
 đđ Once Upon a Line THE CONTEST
The 10 selectedare waiting for your vote to encourage them.Â
Choose the best proposal that you think deserves to be in Once Upon a Line - The Butterfly's Breath!
đđ Once Upon a Line THE CONTEST
almost 2 years ago
â Thu, Jan 26, 2023 at 01:51:28 PM
ÊÄÉ ââââ± Version Française - voir plus bas â°âââ ÊÄÉ
93 is precisely the incredible number of proposals we received and we can say that you have bluffed us by your humor, your precision and your creativity.
Foreword: The choice was extremely difficult as you pushed all the limits.
Sometimes several proposals were very close in the idea, we then decided to keep only the richest and most coherent proposal in the universe.
Important : As everyone does not have the same level of knowledge of the universe, we decided to rewrite each proposal by anchoring it more precisely in our world and in a credible way in front of all the other texts that we have already written, broadcasted or not.
Each proposal has been synthesized in a shortened form and accompanied by your anonymized e-mails.
You can find each proposal in detail in the description associated with the image.
đłïž How to vote?
1ïžâŁ These 10 proposals will be submitted to the public vote on several platforms (BGG, Facebook, Instagram, CWOWD...)
2ïžâŁ It will be up to the public (and you too) to evaluate the quality of the proposals by putting a đ or â€ïž
3ïžâŁ End of counts Sunday night at 8pm CET. The proposal with the most votes will be declared the winner and illustrated by Alexandre, one of the talented artists of the team.
