Once Upon a Time Slots is a fable themed game that looks a little wonky but for the most part sings on all fronts and shows a lot of love. It combines Dreamworks level visuals with classic gameplay mechanics and decent payouts for a fun time if you’re into things like this. We thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent with it, mostly wishing that the character renderings had been a little more expressive. We really do like this game, however, making these all very minor gripes for an otherwise great game. If you like stories and Disney movies, you can go ahead and skip this review and give this game a spin. Even if you’re not a big fan of things with this style of art, we still think you’ll enjoy it in the same way most people like Shrek.
Premise
The premise of Once Upon a Time Slots is fairy tales of old, mostly the ones Disney has used. It’s no single tale in particular, but a bunch of elements from things of that genre, potentially to avoid copyright issues even though Disney didn’t invent any of that. It makes for a medieval knights and dragons and princesses theme that works really well and shows a great attention to detail in every pixel.
Presentation
Graphics in Once Upon a Time Slots are wonderful. Everything is crisp, clear, colorful, and compelling to look at, which makes your time spent playing all the easier because of how easy they are on the eyes. The UI in particular, in a way we have never said before, looks great. It actually looks so good it overshadows the game. That’s how you know they cared. Nobody does that. And nobody will likely ever do that again.
3d renderings form the basis of the game, each done with a lot of texture and color that makes it all sing and look nice. The expressive quality of the faces is where things falter a bit, but it’s by no means bad. Imagine a Newspaper cartoon level of detail there and you are imagining this game.
Mechanics
Gameplay in Once Upon a Time Slots is as classic as the source material. At 5 reels and 30 pay lines, it does not break the mold there, chosing instead to keep things classy in ways we can respect.
Betting here ranges from two pennies to $15, making this an accessible slot that anyone can jump into in hopes of winning a lot of money without worrying about necessarily breaking the bank in the process. Max bets cap out at low, which tends to be how we rolled when we played it a bunch for our review. The jackpot at max is 12,500, which is pretty decent, and had us feeling hopeful the entire time we played.
Likes
+ Great graphics
+ Lovingly made
+ Attention to detail
+ Best UI in the slot genre
+ Solid and classic play mechanics
+ Decent payouts
Dislikes
- Gameplay is not very innovative
- Can be a little addicting at times for obvious reasons
Who is this Game For?
This game is suitable for players of all types. In particular, it should appeal to:
* Players new to digital slots and looking for something relatively accessible
* Moderate intensity players that have gotten their feet plenty wet in the online slots world and are looking for something a little more involved
* Jaded slot vets
* People that mostly want to win a bunch of money playing digital slot games
* Players looking for slot nostalgia for the similarities and differences this slot has to other games
* People more used to normal video games that are looking to get their feet wet in the world of online slots
Who is the Game NOT For?
Although we enjoy this slot, it is not for everybody. In particular, it may not be your cup of tea if this describes you in any fashion:
* Averse to winning money online
* Looking for something truly innovative in the genre
* You find the theme in any way offputting
Is it Buggy?
In the time we spent playing this game, we did not encounter any bugs, problems, or errors. The same cannot be said for all slots of this genre, so we commend the developers for a job well done on that. We also encountered no issues in processing winnings or payments, and everything ran very smooth just like you would expect across many varied devices in a variety of ecosystems and operating systems.
Conclusion
Once Upon a Time Slots is kind of like Shrek in slot form. It takes similar elements from old folk tales and combines them all together with decent 3d rendering and jackpots for a time that no one will regret having spent on it. We really enjoyed it, only wishing they had spent more time on the faces. There aren’t many bonuses, bells, or whistles to speak of, but they hit the fundamentals hard, and ended up with a compelling package that anyone can enjoy. We recommend it to players of all ages and types, even though it may seem like this is skewed younger. It’s not like kids play these games, however, so rest assured adults can still enjoy it much like a good Pixar movie.
