Nintendo’s November Indie World Direct was packed to the brim with exciting announcements and sneak peeks at games coming to the Nintendo Switch from indie developers. One of the games which really caught my eye was Once Upon a Jester from Dutch studio Bonte Avond and Polish studio/publisher Crunching Koalas. This marks Bonte Avond’s third release, having previously released indie games Tower Guy and Everybody Wham Wham. Crunching Koalas is most well known for its previous involvement with the horror game Darkwood.
Do you love music? Do you love tongue-in-cheek humor? How about quirky characters? If you answered yes, this game is surely for you. Bonte Avond is a studio made up of four musicians developing games, while also putting their love for music at the forefront. The studio’s melding of both of their passions is very apparent throughout all aspects of the game. You play as the eponymous Jester, who is very fittingly, a jester. Your best friend and literal partner in crime Sok (Yes, he too is actually a sock) is never far from your side. Together you hatch a plan to join an improvisational theater competition put on by a princess, with the winner receiving the honor of playing at the palace. Playing at the palace seems like a super cool bragging right, but you and Sok actually have your own personal prize in mind. There is a magnificent diamond kept within the palace, and this seems like a prime opportunity to gain access to the heist.
Since the game was dropped the same day, I was actually able to play a portion of it before writing this article. Once Upon a Jester certainly keeps you on your toes. You never know when a character will burst into song spontaneously, die an unexpected and ridiculous death, start a synchronized dance routine, or even reveal they have a second personality that runs a UFO-related hotline. The developers created plenty of off-the-wall original songs for the game, all of which I have loved. Bonte Avond is even currently working on making the songs available on Spotify, as well as in lyric videos for Youtube.
As announced at the Indie World Direct, Once Upon a Jester is now available for Nintendo Switch! It is also available on Steam.
If you enjoyed this piece, please feel free to follow the writer Deemarie on Twitter for similar content.
Keep up with the latest news and reviews at Entry Level Games for any other gaming news. Are you interested in following the latest Nintendo content? Check out our dedicated Nintendo articles. For discussions with like-minded gamers, please look at our Facebook and Twitter pages.
