Dragons
“Look to the sky, for here there be Dragons!!!”
Dragons is a competitive, real-time, programmed movement game for 2-8 players, aged 12 and up.
Story: Grab your deck and fly! Take control of one of 8 fierce dragons and enter the arena. Each Dragon has its own special attack, agility (based on the cards in its movement deck), amount of damage its attack does, and endurance.
Objective: Using your movement cards, pilot your dragon into position to attack you opponents, and knock them from the sky.
Each dragon has a deck of movement and attack cards. The endurance and attack damage of each dragon differs slightly, as well as the mix of movement cards (straight, slight, 90 degree, or tight left and right turns), and number of attacks in its deck.
Game Play:
Dragons is played in real-time, on a table or other flat surface. A straight movement card will move your dragon one tarot sized card length across the play surface. Turn cards use markers on the edges, or corners of the cards to determine dragon placement after the move. Attack cards may be multiple attacks, or be placed in sequence, for larger area attacks, depending on the type of dragon you are controlling. Be careful not to fly off the edge of the play area, or you will be disqualified!
Each round you will plan the movement and attacks of your dragon by choosing 4 cards from your deck. You can combine movement and attack cards. These cards must be place in an order, and stay in that order for the duration of the round. Once all players hav selected their cards, the round begins.
Simultaneously all players play their first card, and move their dragon the specified distance forward, turn, or attack. Movement is resolved first, then any attacks are resolved. If any attack cards touch another dragon’s card, that dragon looses endurance cubes equal to the attack strength of the opponents dragon. The second, third and fourth cards are played. Resolving movement and attacks.
Once all four cards have been played those cards are placed back in the decks, and the next round begins by again selecting 4 cards.
Win/Lose:
Last dragon flying is the winner!
SPECS
Conceived 2018
Competitive Play / Head-to-Head battle
2-8 Players
12 and older
Being play tested
GENESIS
I was leading a robotics group at my daughter’s elementary school, and came up with a short “game” where one student in a pair would write a series of steps to get the other student to approach, and sit in a chair. Using words like “step forward”, “turn”, sit, etc to move their partner through the process. I reminded me of the few programmed movement games I had heard of. I developed a small programmed movement game to show the group called Medusa’s Temple. In this game the player used directional cards to move the 6 greek heroes around the temple to try and gather some tools and to capture Medusa. Medusa moved by flipping a movement card with a number 1-6, and moved that number of spaces in the direction she was facing. Walls caused her to turn in a predetermined direction. I enjoyed this type of challenge. (Medusa’s Temple is available as a free download on my Game Inventor page.)
Dragons (and another design, Exit Wound) came out of this experience. I wanted to bring this feeling of tense-planning and spatial awareness into a multi player experience. The play area is defined by the surface you choose to play on, which can bring its own challenges, as if your dragon leaves the table, you’re out of the round. It can be a fast and tense experience, or longer and more strategic depending on the type of players around the table. There is a mind-bending quality to the planning of your moves which adds a variable of tense humor to a round when you plan a left turn but play a right, and fly off the edge, or into a stray fireball.
Dragons has tested well with a wide range of ages and player types.