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Dragonland
Rio
Grande Games
Rating:
0 1 2 3 4.25 5
Question:
What happens when you store all of your treasure and the eggs that contain
your children in volcanoes?
Answer: Bad
things.
Sure, it seemed like a
good idea at the time. How many people venture into volcanoes looking for
treasure and dragon eggs? Not many, I can bet. Now, however, it seems that
the volcanoes are active and are going to start spewing lava. Time to get
the treasure, oh, and the eggs out of there! Say - let's ask the humans,
dwarves, elves and magicians for help! Let's make a game out of it!
There's plenty of time!
Ok, so it sounds a little
thin as far as an overview of the game goes, but welcome to Dragonland!
Looking to help the dragons save their treasure and their eggs and have
fun as well? You've come to the right place my friend!
Dragonland is a game
designed by Reiner Knizia and is published by Rio Grande Games. It takes
on a classic "Reiner" feel, so if you are familiar with his
games Dragonland is right down your alley. Don't let the child-like box
art fool you - this is no children's game, but younger gamers (9 is the
minimum listed on the package) should be able to play it with ease.
The game board is a
half-fold board, with 15 volcanoes on it. There are paths that lead to and
from volcanoes and to the three starting areas (where the playing pieces
will appear at the beginning). There are also rivers that join some
volcanoes to others; more on their function later.
Each player takes not a
certain color of playing pieces, but rather the same SHAPE of playing
pieces in colors that represent 3 of the 4 the gems in play: Red for
Rubies, Blue for Sapphires, and green for Emerald. You also receive some
tiles that have special functions: one to re-roll the "Destiny
Cubes", one to use a river path for movement, and the last to summon
or ride a dragon. Each player also receives a "Treasure Vault" -
it's basically a shield where you can hide your gems out of site of your
opponents. It also shows on its face what shape you are playing.
Part of the game setup
includes constructing the "Tower of Destiny." The Tower of
Destiny is a cardboard tower that has 2 slats (oh, sorry - "Destiny
Slides") inside of it, set on a decline. These slats allow the dice
to pass through, and into the tray that the tower is set into that catches
the dice. At first we found the tower to be a nuisance ("I can't
reach it!"), but later found that we were using it quite often. Did
the game need it? Well, no, and it could have saved on production costs
(and the game buyer in the end), but I have to admit now that it does have
a neat feel to it.
Each of the volcanoes has
a number listed in two areas: one that is shaped like an egg, the other
shaped like a gem. These numbers show how many of each of these two items
will get placed in the volcano at the start of the game. There are 4
gem-types as I mentioned earlier, with the 4 one being a diamond. When
loading up the volcanoes, you are not to put more than 2 of any one color
in a volcano; otherwise it's pretty random.
The gems are nifty little
plastic pieces that are shaped like gems. These babies will last forever,
however don't loose any of them, as there are no spares packaged with the
game. (Hmm... maybe instead of a "Tower of Destiny" there could
have been some extra gems included?...) The Dragon eggs are cardboard
pieces, and just like the gems there are no spares. What am I saying -
gamers never loose playing pieces in their games, do they? Finally, each
volcano gets a special token placed on it. These tokens can do a variety
of things to help you, or are left on the board for all of the players to
use.
The game starting will
depend on the number of people playing the game. Dragonland can be played
with 2 to 4 players, with the 2-player game having special rules. One
interesting thing that happened when we played it is that with more
players the game doesn't necessarily take longer; it actually takes less
time. With 2 players, the game is ok, but is more entertaining with at
least 3 players.
After the initial setup
moves have been completed (again, depending on the number of players
playing the game) players will get to roll the "Destiny Cubes."
Now, the Destiny Cubes may look like normal 6-sided dice to the untrained
eye, but in reality are special dice created just for Dragonland. One of
the destiny cubes has only the numbers 1, 2, and 3 while the other one has
the numbers 2, 3, and 4. So grabbing your special 6-siders out of your
dice bag won't work here, buddy!
Each die will be assigned
to one of your playing pieces, even if they aren't on the board yet; that
is how you will start new ones (though you only have 3, so one will have
to come out in the 2nd round). After you assign a die to a piece, you may
move it that number of spaces with the option to stop moving at any time
or stop if you hit a volcano with a playing piece on it that has not been
overturned. Now, if there are any dragons on the board, you can use a
number '4' that has been rolled to either summon a dragon to your volcano
or to fly a dragon that is of that playing pieces color AND in the current
volcano to anywhere on the board. If you want to do both (summon AND fly),
you can use one of the small dragon tokens - each player started with one
and you can find more throughout the game.
The object of the game is
to collect a variety of gems and dragon eggs. You want to make
combinations with the pieces: one of each colored gem (diamonds, the 4th
color, are wild) and one dragon egg equals 10 points. However, there is a
catch. For your colored gems to even count for scoring, you need a Magic
Ring on the playing piece that matches the color of the gem.
Magic Rings are found
when a player enters a volcano and turns over one of the random tokens
that were placed at the beginning of the game. Any time a player is at
this volcano, they can grab a magic ring for the playing piece that is
present. The rings are actually rubber "o"-rings that fit on the
bottoms of the playing pieces. Magic rings are VERY important and should
not be overlooked when playing the game. Since diamonds are wild, you do
not need a Magic Ring to use them in your scoring; note however that there
are only 9 of them in the game. 
Any gems or eggs that
cannot be matched up in a combination to earn 10 points are worth 1 point
at the end of the game. While moving around the board it is crucial that
you keep track of what gems you have and what you need, as well as any
magic rings that you need.
At the end of your
movement phase, you then have the option to either grab a gem (or gems, if
possible) of the color of the active playing piece at the volcano that it
is in, grab one diamond, take the dragon egg (and any playing piece that
can be taken), or grab a Magic Ring if that option is available at the
volcano that you are at. This is known as the "Take Treasure"
phase of your turn. A playing piece needs a die assigned to it in order to
take treasure, even if it does not move. Play then passes to the player to
your left.
At first glance, we
thought Dragonland to be a child’s game or a simple family game for
those families that find Clue challenging. We were surprised to find
otherwise, however, and we weren't the only ones. Dragonland is a great
strategy game that requires resource management, strategic planning, and
maybe a little luck.
The game play is pretty
fast, so players shouldn't have to wait too long to get another turn. This
is nice for younger players that may not have the patience as older
players, or for older players with no patience. It does take a game or two
to really catch on to what you need to be doing, depending on your gaming
experience. It may only take a few rounds before you have everything down
if you are an uber-gamer.
We found that any time
someone wanted to play Dragonland everyone was up for it, and that makes
this game a great buy. The playing pieces should last a vary long time,
but as I warned earlier there aren't any extras of the vital components so
make sure that clean-up time is done meticulously, especially if you are
at a game store, playing at a convention, or at someone else's house (or
before you vacuum your own...).
As a result of the fun
game play, nice playing pieces and price, I would give Dragonland a 4.25
on the NGG's rating scale. The $34.95 price slot is a little high for the
usual family gamer, but typical gamers will find this up to par with other
comparable games.
My only concern would be
the gamers who are a little more fickle with their strategy games. If you
find that the more elements a game has the better it is, you may find
Dragonland to be a little thin. If you love a variety of games like I do,
then this shouldn't be a problem. It is a nice break from the more
strategy-intensive games that Rio Grande usually puts out, and that in
itself makes the game more viable for the younger and/or less experienced
gamers out there.
Give Dragonland a roll if you are into strategy games with a touch of random element to them. Dragonland is for 2-4 players ages 9-99, with a 45-60 minute game playing time. Don't let the happy child-like box art fool you - this game is great for almost anyone, no matter their age!
Written by Gene Vogel
(Posted 12-19-02)