Once upon a time… that has been the opening line for many stories, but it feels fitting to start this review with that. Taking inspiration from stage plays and puppet shows, Once Upon a Puppet weaves a tale that takes players on an enjoyable platforming adventure.
Does the adventure end with the actors rushing off the stage? Or does it call for a resounding encore? After playing through the six-hour journey, I think it’s a show worth watching.
Developer & Publisher // Daedalic Entertainment, Flatter Than Earth
Platforms // Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, PC, Nintendo Switch
MSRP & Release Date // $29.00, April 23, 2025
Reviewed On // PC
Once Upon a Time – Premise
The story begins with Nieve, a stagehand with the power of Weaving strings into amazing costumes. Sadly, they were exiled by the King and thrown away into the Understage. This wasteland is filled with discarded Puppets, Stagehands, and more. Nieve comes across the one thing that could help their situation: magical strings that could change everything.
Little do they know, it does change everything, as the strings magically tether Nieve with a scrappy puppet named Drev. After some initial annoyance with each other, the duo embark on a quest to restore various ‘Lost Acts’, hoping to change the heart of their King.
Without peeling behind the curtain, I can easily say that Once Upon a Puppet’s narrative had a satisfying conclusion, bringing together its themes of loss and forgiveness, alongside revealing surprising revelations for the game’s central characters.
Beneath the Mask
Like other iconic platform duos, the relationship between Drev and Nieve struck a chord with me. Despite Nieve wanting nothing to do with Drev’s world, they slowly understand his natural talent for acting and a desire to help others.
Meanwhile, Drev’s character arc is ingenious. Each of the ‘Lost Acts’ has him don different masks, embodying important roles. Being the aspiring actor, Drev proudly takes on each role, but little does he know, he has a deeper connection to them than he realizes.
It comes together during a powerful reveal later in the game, making Drev and the player realize ‘that’s why we are doing this’.
Donning the Mask – Exploring the Understage
The game is split up across nine unique chapters. Most of the adventure has Nieve and Drev explore the Understage.
This ravaged location, filled with more factory-like locations and dangerous threats to avoid, tests your platforming skills. Starting with a basic jump and simple grabbing/pulling, the duo eventually unlocks more abilities through special threads.
Through weaving these threads into themselves, Nieve can help Drev hover in the air, double jump, and more. These skills work well with the game’s simple but engaging platforming mechanics. These all come together in the game’s final three chapters, with the hazardous Stagefright fully overtaking the Understage and pushing Drev and Nieve to utilize the skills they mastered to overcome their final challenges.
A Tight String – Controls/Game Feel
But a platformer is nothing without its ‘game feel’. Thankfully, Once Upon a Puppet offers an enjoyable control scheme that maps actions between the face and shoulder buttons.
His jump arc is a little floaty, but is responsive when you press the button. While other platformers offer tighter controls for jumping and general movement, the platforming is solid and enjoyable from start to finish.
A Puppets Valor – Combat/Chase Sequences
Platforming is the core of Once Upon a Puppet, but a key challenge for Drev is ‘Stagefright’. These take the form of black-tar looking areas and mechanical monsters powered by the souls of your fallen Puppet friends.
Avoiding these threats as you explore ensures you aren’t careless with your jumps and actions. This is further amplified by chase sequences that test your platforming skills and a late-game ability Drev gains access to.
After spending the entire game running and avoiding danger, Drev can start fighting back in the game’s final chapters. It’s an empowering feeling.
Learning from Past Actors – The Lost Acts
Drev also learns new abilities from ‘Lost Acts’, each unlocking after finishing their respective chapters.
The ‘Lost Acts’ are key moments of the mad King and the lost Prince’s stories. Donning their roles, Drev acts his heart out in these longer levels.
They continue the platforming/puzzle-solving mixture that players experience in the Understage chapters, but there’s a twist. As you explore these Acts, players come across unfinished stages and must put them back together again.
These puzzles aren’t overly challenging, but they make you think, and I enjoyed putting them together. One tricky one was during the second Lost Act, where I had to align objects together the ‘right way’. This created a shadow ‘monster’, allowing me to continue the chapter’s story.
Jack of All Trades – Lost Act Abilities & Collectables
Finishing each Lost Act unlocks a new ability, like using a Bow & Arrow or a Pick Axe. These skills help Nieve and Drev continue their adventures in the Understage.
They also reflect the game’s message of teamwork between the two actors, with Nieve and Drev working together to use these abilities. It’s both comical and powerful, having Drev awkwardly aim the bow while Nieve fires it, or having Nieve actively fling Drev as he’s climbing up icy walls.
Using these abilities also helps you find the game’s various collectables, such as bonus costumes and glass mural shards. They don’t unlock additional levels, but they are fun to collect.
Art of the Craft – Presentation
One of the first things that pulled me into Once Upon a Puppet was its visuals. Sporting an art style not commonly seen in games, I was impressed.
Mixing the past and present, Drev and Nieve’s adventure is visually varied. The harsh present presents a grim world; running across the cobbled place Drev calls home and ruined docks almost drenched in the darkness that Stagefright tainted feels oppressive.
But this is quickly contrasted with the past, ranging from a colorful forest and beautiful icy stages Drev’s acts in. The warmer colors of the Lost Acts help present a world that could be colorful and joyful again.
The animation work, specifically for the main duo, was charming too; I loved Drev’s awkward run animations and Nieve’s frantic finger movements, doing their best to keep up with him.
A Worthy Score – Audio/Music
While the presentation impresses, it’s backed up by an equally effective score. None of the themes are particularly memorable or catchy, but they effectively fit the mood of the game’s major moments.
But what impresses is the game’s sound design. Leveraging the theater and puppet show motif. Once Upon a Puppet skillfully uses sounds you would hear from puppets. Every movement Drev makes has clanks and clonks, as if Nieve is puppeteering him around.
Other sound design elements, like using the ‘Lost Act’ abilities and more sound good, help enhance the game’s solid presentation.
Some Loose Strings – Performance/Bugs
Despite a strong presentation, the game sadly has a few bugs. Sometimes Drev’s hitbox didn’t act correctly when near Stagefright or when I died, and some animations got stuck on something. These aren’t game-breaking, since the game has frequent checkpoints and great autosaving.
Outside of minor bugs, the game ran great on my Lenovo Legion gaming laptop, containing an AMD Ryzen 9 6000 Series CPU, AMD Radeon 6850M XT GPU, and 32 GB of RAM. I originally ran the game at 60FPS, but it effortlessly supported 140FPS on my setup.
Good Show – Closing Thoughts
Accepting your past and moving forward after great loss are universal messages. Those messages are the heart of the adventure Once Upon a Puppet expresses. Drev and Nieve’s journey, despite having some loose threads here and there, tells a powerful story utilizing solid platforming, strong presentation, and charming characters you grow to care for.
Score: 8 out of 10
Reviewed on PC using a copy provided by the Publisher
Pros:
- Solid Presentation
- Striking Art Style Using a Stage-Play Motif
- Good Platforming Controls
- Enjoyable Levels & Puzzles To Solve
- Engaging Narrative
- Good Game Length with Collectables to Find
- Runs Great on PC
Cons:
- Minor Glitches/Visual Bugs
- Combat is ‘Fine’ but Nothing Fantastic
- Limited Post Game
