Dragonkeepers: Review
Player Age: 8+
Player Count: 2 - 4 Players
BGG Weight: 1.88
Time to Play: 20 Minutes
Year Published: 2024
Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the VR Distribution.
Introduction:
In this hand management game players are looking after groups of cute young dragons. Each turn you are taking cards to collect sets then manipulating the magic book by either changing the amount required and the reward, or the dragon type. If you are able to play the quantity of the chosen dragon type you will gain a benefit at the end of the turn. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game will be the winner.
Game Anatomy:
Cards:
Front:
The front of the card will have a dragon from one of the four colours; white, blue, green or orange. The top of the card will depict what is on the back of the card.
Back:
The focal point of the game is the magic book. On the back of every card there will either be a dragon type (the right page of the book)
or a numerical value and reward (left page of the book). Individual numbers will always illicit the same reward.
Rewards:
Shadow Dragon:
The shadow dragon is a communal card that counts as a wild when grouped with other dragon cards. The back of this dragon card contains the highest amulet point available currently (they are of limited stock and the amount is randomised per game) if you manage to have six of one dragon colour. Just remember that adding this card to the book for you to complete means your opponents can easily gain it on their turn.
Amulet and Pearl:
Amulet pieces have a point value on them that range 1-20 points. Each time you gain a reward, an amulet piece will be a part of that award. If you gain three amulet portions you will form a complete amulet and gain a pearl to place in the centre of it. The pearls can either be red (worth 8/9 points) or blue (worth 3/4 points).
Golden Egg:
A gold egg is worth four points at the end of the game, however, the player with the most can flip one over to gain 16 points instead of its original 4. The other eggs are also counted for this player.
Crystal and Magic Chest:
Once per turn a crystal can be discarded to draw an extra card. The magic chest is an advanced variant that adds a bonus use for the crystal. Once per turn by spending a crystal the player can activate a special ability.
Crest:
A player will earn the highest available shield crest once they have played one dragon of each colour.
Setup:
- Keep the 11 shadow dragon cards in their own stack.
- Seperate the main deck based on their backs into two shuffled decks. They will be on either the left or right side of the book.
- Place these two decks next to each other to create a book. Then flip one card from each deck face-up in front of the decks.
- After removing amulet pieces based on player count, stack each amulet piece face up as grouped by their point value. Starting with the lowest points first.
- Place all dragon eggs, crystals and shield crests within reach of all players. If playing with two players remove the 16 point crest.
- Decide who will go first. Starting with the first player give zero starting cards then give one more starting card to each subsequent player clockwise.
How to Play:
On a turn a player aims to fulfil the dragon type and number requirements as set out by the left and right pages displayed on the book. The player will then gain any rewards as depicted by the left page of the book. The game ends once a certain amount of amulets are built amongst all players, then whichever player has the highest score is the winner.
On a turn a player can draw up to 3 dragon cards and each draw will be replaced by a new card revealed from the deck above it. This causes the state of the magic book to remain in flux throughout every turn. Once a card has been drawn the active player has an opportunity to add a card face-down from their hand to either the left or the right page on the magic book display. After picking up cards and adding to the magic book, a player can now play their dragons. If they have the exact number and colour of dragons as required by the magic book they may play them in front of them, gaining the reward shown. Every other player in the game also has the opportunity to follow the active player and play the exact number and colour of dragons required, also gaining the reward.
There is a vital piece of information with placing dragons. Firstly, each dragon of the same colour will be placed upon the one pile. Secondly, when a dragon pile has another dragon pile to the left and right side the player will no longer be able to play that middle dragon’s colour. This effectively cuts them off for the remainder of the game so players have to be certain when to close off certain colours or when to aim for the shield crest.
Final Thoughts:
- Fun unique art on the dragons, even though it wasn't needed.
- Interesting concept of forming the magic book.
- Players have to decide when to close off certain coloured dragons.
Dragonkeepers is a fun, fast game that has players collecting sets of different coloured dragons. How players draw these dragons in the pursuit of these sets can be rather interesting as each time you draw a card you are changing the state of the magic book. This creates some push your luck aspects as players try to change the book to suit themselves. It may be a lightweight game but it contains many decisions on how best to optimise points and timing. DragonKeepers is a quick game that packs more decisions than initially expected and is easily a great game to bring out with any age group.
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