Once Upon a Tail

An photo mockup of a child playing with cards taken from above. The child's blond head blocks most of the right side of the image. They are playing on a light beige carpet. Three illustrated animal cards are lined up together so that they form a creature with the head of a buffalo, the body of a stegosaurus, and the tail of a parrot. At an angle and partially underneath those cards is a card with the body of an owl. In the child's hand is a card with the head of a brachiosaurus. The child is either about to place the card over the buffalo's head, or is removing it to show the bison's head.

Card Game (2019)

My Roles

Lead Game Design

What is Once Upon a Tale?

Once Upon a Tail is a card game designed for Lurie Children’s Hospital’s for children up to the age of 18 on the cardiac floor. It was made in collaboration with the Field Museum.


The goals for this project were unique: it must be sanitary (disposable), playable for any age and between radically different ages, and be extremely replayable.

The game play of Once Upon a Tail is as follows: Players draw head, body, and tale cards to create a hand. A Story Card is drawn with a challenge, such as “Let’s have a race from here to Antarctica!” Players take turns building their animal and telling the story of how their animal is uniquely able to solve the challenge.

Very young children can play a matching game, or match cards to create funny animals without any particular story card challenge

This is a full-color illustration of sample cards for the game Once Upon a Tale. The background is white, and a 3x3 grid is drawn that splits each animal into 9 equal parts. Both animals are facing left, and are drawn at differing scales so that their bodies fit together when swapped. The animals portrayed in this card are the buffalo and stegosaurus
This is a full-color illustration of sample cards for the game Once Upon a Tale. The background is white, and a 3x3 grid is drawn that splits each animal into 9 equal parts. Both animals are facing left, and are drawn at differing scales so that their bodies fit together when swapped. The animals portrayed in this card are a grey tabby cat and a corgi
This is a full-color illustration of sample cards for the game Once Upon a Tale. The background is white, and a 3x3 grid is drawn that splits each animal into 9 equal parts. Both animals are facing left, and are drawn at differing scales so that their bodies fit together when swapped. The animals portrayed in this card are the clownfish and dolphin
This is a full-color illustration of sample cards for the game Once Upon a Tale. The background is white, and a 3x3 grid is drawn that splits each animal into 9 equal parts. Both animals are facing left, and are drawn at differing scales so that their bodies fit together when swapped. The animals portrayed in this card are the elephant and rhino
This is a full-color illustration of sample cards for the game Once Upon a Tale. The background is white, and a 3x3 grid is drawn that splits each animal into 9 equal parts. Both animals are facing left, and are drawn at differing scales so that their bodies fit together when swapped. The animals portrayed in this card are a frog with its throat bulging out and a sloth
This is a full-color illustration of sample cards for the game Once Upon a Tale. The background is white, and a 3x3 grid is drawn that splits each animal into 9 equal parts. Both animals are facing left, and are drawn at differing scales so that their bodies fit together when swapped. The animals portrayed in this card are a kangaroo (with a joey in its pouch) and an owl
This is a full-color illustration of sample cards for the game Once Upon a Tale. The background is white, and a 3x3 grid is drawn that splits each animal into 9 equal parts. Both animals are facing left, and are drawn at differing scales so that their bodies fit together when swapped. The animals portrayed in this card are the parrot and brachiosaurus
This is a full-color illustration of sample cards for the game Once Upon a Tale. The background is white, and a 3x3 grid is drawn that splits each animal into 9 equal parts. Both animals are facing left, and are drawn at differing scales so that their bodies fit together when swapped. The animals portrayed in this card are the porcupine and aardvark
This is a full-color illustration of sample cards for the game Once Upon a Tale. The background is white, and a 3x3 grid is drawn that splits each animal into 9 equal parts. Both animals are facing left, and are drawn at differing scales so that their bodies fit together when swapped. The animals portrayed in this card are the turtle and polar bear