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<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Publisher<\/b>: Eurogames<\/p>\n
Author<\/b>: Bruno Faidutti<\/p>\n
Tester<\/b>: Aaron Haag<\/p>\n
Game Tested<\/b>: published 2001, advanced rules<\/p>\n
Scenario<\/b>: Three to six players use their adventurers to slay dragons. Every
\ndragon guards a treasure, which is distributed between the participating players by
\nnegotiation and diplomacy. Once all dragons have been slain the player with the most
\nvaluable treasure collection wins the game.<\/p>\n
The Game<\/b>: Each player has four hero cards of different strength (two knights, a
\nthief and a mage) in front of him, which are used in combat against the dragons. Dragons,
\ntoo, come in different strengths with stronger dragons guarding a larger number of gems.
\nNumbers printed on the dragon cards indicate the amount of visible gems and the number of
\ngems still “covered” by the dragon – latter will only become visible once the
\ndragon is slain.<\/p>\n
Fighting a dragon is straight forward by playing one of your hero cards next to a
\ndragon. Once the total number of hero strength points matches or exceeds the strength of
\nthe dragon it is killed and the treasure is distributed. Most of the time several players
\nwill have participated in a fight, i.e. will have played cards on a particular dragon.
\nTherefore the treasure needs to be distributed amongst those players. This is the zest of
\nthe game! Distribution of the gems (gold, silver, magic plus 6 different colored
\ngemstones) is done through a negotiation process between these players. In order to avoid
\nhaving endless discussions this process is controlled by a timer (about 1 minute), which
\nis started once the negotiations begin. If the participating players do not reach consent
\nabout how they want to distribute the gems before the timer elapses the complete treasure
\nis discarded.<\/p>\n
Since at the end of the game extra points are awarded for complete sets of gems and to
\nthose holding the most gems of any of the colors each player tries to maximize the value
\nof his set of gemstones. This can lead to situations where players have a hard time to
\nagree about a distribution as all of them know that a particular gem is of high value to
\none of them (which of course is heavily denied by that player). Every now and then one of
\nthe players may deliberately refuse to agree on any distribution proposal – a tactical
\nmove that sometimes may come as a surprise to the rest.<\/p>\n
In the advanced rules a special meaning is given to the red gems: whenever a mage is
\nin the party that killed a dragon the player who played the mage gets all red gems in the
\ntreasure plus a magical item card providing that player with a special ability (all but
\none may be used exactly once throughout the game). If more than one mage is present then
\nthe red gems are distributed equally between them if possible (otherwise they are
\nincluded in the negotiation process).<\/p>\n
Playing Time<\/b>: The game comes with a well written set of rules plus a
\ndescription of the scoring system on the back of the shields used for hiding one’s
\ngems from the eyes of the other players. Hence the game is explained in a short time.
\nPlaying time is about 30 minutes.<\/p>\n
Similar Games<\/b>: Ohne Furcht und Westpark Gamers’ Opinion<\/b>: The game plays fast and everybody feels involved Killing dragons is simple and straight forward – not a lot of decisions here. You want The magical items cards add a little bit of extra flavor. The effect of playing a card Aaron’s Rating<\/b>: 8 (out of 10)<\/p>\n Westpark Gamers’ Rating<\/b>: 8.25<\/p>\n
\nAdel (Citadels)<\/a>, Democrazy<\/a>, Shipwrecked<\/a>, OrcZ<\/a><\/p>\n
\nmost of the time. Even those not participating in the gems distribution negotiations are,
\nbecause they have a high interest in watching the timer just hoping that the others
\ncannot cut a deal before it elapses. This negotiation process is actually the best part
\nof the game if you play with the right people. What you want is a group that is not too
\neasy going on finding compromises. If possible there should at least be one not<\/b>
\nfollowing the principle “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours”.<\/p>\n
\nto be part of many adventure parties, taking care though not to join a group that will
\ntake several rounds to slay the dragon. Go for the quick kills with small parties.<\/p>\n
\nis rather limited and certainly not powerful enough to win the game (although played at
\nthe right time during the last few rounds a card may tip the scales). What needs to be
\nmentioned here is the one card which has more than a one-time effect. This card allows a
\nplayer to steal one gem at a time from any of the dragon cards (and only from there) for
\nas long as no other player catches him red-handed. The gems stolen until then do not have
\nto be returned. Some pick-pocket skills are beneficial here and may actually guarantee a
\nsure win. I very well remember when we played the game for the first time and nobody was
\naware of the existence of this card. The Westpark Gamers are a group of players that hate
\ncheating (unless its part of the rules) and when I drew this card I did not feel
\ncomfortable at all. I will never forget Peter’s face of sheer disbelieve when he
\ncaught me stealing a gem from one of the dragon cards…<\/p>\n