Once Upon a Puppet brings marionettes to life

Once Upon a Puppet brings marionettes to life

Wooden you know it!

Puppeteer was one of the most delicious, lovely, stylistic games that graced the PlayStation 3. It’s time was short and it was forgotten — but not to me. I still held a place for it in my heart. I still wanted a similar game to come to modern platforms.

And maybe developer Flatter Than Earth heard me, because their upcoming game Once Upon a Puppet looks to take some of that theatrical figurine style and essence and bring it forward into the modern era with something fresh.

The game is set in the world of theater as stagehand Nieve and her puppet Drev are banished to the Understage. Their only way to make it back is to retell stories to help turn the spirits of a “sorrowful” king. But there’s a catch! Not only are there evil creatures and toys trying to stop the pair, but they’re bound together with a magical thread. The 2.5D gameplay will revolve around Nieve and Drev working together as both master and puppet as they traverse their way around the worlds, putting the theater back together.

The game is giving us some great vibes, and the focus on a gameplay mechanism of linking the two together looks like it could drop some cool possibilities. It’s set to land later in 2024 on Steam.