Once Upon A Time: Man Review

Learning can be great fun as many games have ably demonstrated over the years. Once Upon A Time: Man is one such title to add to that selection. It's an interactive board game that requires its players to answer questions about various periods of history. It's simply done yet quite entertaining and educational.

Once Upon A Time: Man is designed to play gathered around the iPad with moves taken with a virtual dice (or DICE+, for those with the relevant equipment). Players take turns to move around the game board, solving questions and ultimately completing quests. Such questions are often fairly simple, given that they're aimed at a younger market, but can still trip up a few adult players at times. Coins are earned for completing questions correctly, with more coins earned for harder questions. These coins can then be used for power-ups and boosts.

Quests often involve having to go from point A to B, or escorting another character somewhere. Really, it's just a simple way in which to extend the game's length but they do affect success as the first player to complete all their quests wins the game. There are battles too, with thugs that can slow one's progress down quite significantly - although again, these are solely connected with dice rolls rather than anything more interactive.

At times it's a slightly strange mishmash of elements. For instance, for the most part one doesn't usually have to worry about the power-ups. Instead it's possible to solely focus on getting questions right, but it kind of works. As an educational tool, it's handy - even more so when one buys an in-app purchase or two, thereby unlocking more historical questions. Perhaps more importantly, it's fun and the kind of thing that the family could easily gather around the iPad to enjoy.