Dragon Racer Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
  • Objective
  • Game Setup (summary)
  • Gameplay Overview
• Game Setup
  • 1: Set Up The Race Track
  • 2: Player Setup
  • 3: Add Dragon Cards to the Game
  • 4: Sort Dragon Cards
• Dragon Card Anatomy
• 1: Explore Phase
  • (A) Reveal the Next Face Down Racetrack Tile
  • (B) Add New Dragon Cards
  • (C) Assign Trophy Cards to Players
• 2: Draft Phase
  • (A) Deal Out Dragon Cards
  • (B) Draft Dragon Cards
• 3: Race Phase
  • (A) Assign Collected Dragons
  • (B) Fire Up Your Racing Team
  • Example Race Phase (Turn 6)
  • (C) Swap a Dragon onto Your Racing Team (optional)
• Dragon Attacks
• 4: Boost Phase
  • Boost Phase Dragon Count Example (Turn 4)
• End of the Turn and End of the Game
• Character Abilities
  • Normal
  • Advanced
• Special Game Setup Rules
  • 2 Player Game Setup
  • 5 - 8 Player Game Setup
• Strategy Tips

Game Overview

Objective

The player who has moved the furthest along the racetrack at the end of the 7th turn is the winner of the game. During each turn players draft dragon cards, aiming to collect a set that matches the support requirements of the dragons on their racing team. When a dragon's requirements are met they are Fired Up and advance the player along the racetrack.

Game Setup (summary)

Set up the racetrack in the middle of the table. Remove one random upper track tile and one random lower track tile and place the 6 remaining upper/lower track tiles colored-side down (face down) between the corner tiles.

Every player gets a character card, a matching dragon token, and a random trophy card. Players each place their dragon token on the starting line.

Remove dragon cards from the game based on the number of players. Sort the remaining dragon cards into 4 piles based on their level. Each player gets 3 random level 1 dragon cards and places them face up next to their character; this is their racing team. The remaining level 1 and level 2 dragons are shuffled together to make the starting dragon deck.

Gameplay Overview

Each turn is made up of the four phases described below. On the first turn of the game, skip the explore phase. At the end of the 7th turn, the player who is furthest along the racetrack is the winner.

1. Explore Phase: Reveal the next face down racetrack tile and add its associated dragons to the dragon deck. Assign trophy cards to players according to their position in the race.
2. Draft Phase: Deal each player a number of dragon cards (2 + the turn number) from the dragon deck. Players simultaneously draft these cards face down until all cards are taken.
3. Race Phase: One at a time, in reverse trophy order (i.e. last place goes first), players take turns racing. During this phase you reveal all of the cards you drafted, then use them to Fire Up dragons on your racing team (moving you clockwise along the racetrack) or to attack other players. At the end of the phase you may swap one of the dragon cards you collected with a dragon on your racing team.
4. Boost Phase: Finally, the players with the most dragons from each racetrack type are awarded an extra Boost, moving them even further along the racetrack.

At the end of the turn, all dragon cards that are not on racing teams are shuffled back into the dragon deck and the next turn begins with the start of a new explore phase.

Game Setup

The setup for a 3 player game consists of: A. Racetrack tile setup (return 1 upper track tile and 1 lower track tile to the game box); B.1 starting racing teams of dragon cards; B.2 the dragon deck; B.3 the level 3 and level 4 dragon piles; C. character cards; D. trophy cards; E. dragon tokens.

1: Set Up The Race Track

The racetrack is constructed out of 10 tiles: 4 corner tiles, 3 upper track tiles, and 3 lower track tiles. To set up the racetrack first set up the four corners (Speed City, Wyrm Woods, Burning Spire and Frozen Cove).

Shuffle the 4 upper track tiles together with the colored side down (face down). Remove one of the upper track tiles from the game at random and place it in the box face down so no one knows which has been removed. Place the remaining 3 tiles face down between the Wyrm Woods and Burning Spire corners.

Repeat this process for the 4 lower track tiles, placing the remaining 3 tiles colored side down between the Frozen Cove and Speed City corners. These racetrack tiles will be flipped up to their colored sides as the game progresses.

2: Player Setup

Each player starts the game with one character card, a dragon token of the same color and a random trophy card. Character cards can be chosen by players (starting with the youngest player) or dealt to players randomly; it is your choice. Each character card is double-sided, featuring different characters on each side. Characters on the same card share the same support color and character ability (read more about characters under Character Abilities).

Include as many trophy cards as there are players in the game. For example, in a game with three players you would only include the 1st place, 2nd place, and 3rd place trophy cards. Shuffle these and deal them to each player individually.

Players should place their trophy card over their character card reference chart to track which turn it is. This reference chart shows you how many cards are drafted each turn, the direction they are passed during drafting, and the boost bonus for the turn.

Players then place their dragon token on the racetrack starting line (on the Speed City tile).

3: Add Dragon Cards to the Game

The number of dragon cards you use in a game depends on the number of players in the game. Each dragon card has a label of 'A', 'B', or 'C'. These are used to sort out which cards need to be included for different numbers of players. Only include the cards with the labels shown below and remove all other cards from the game. (Note that two copies of the game are required for more than 4 players).

Players	Copies of Game	Include Cards	Total Dragon Cards
2	1	A	32
3	1	A+B	48
4	1	A+B+C	64
5	2	A+B	96
6	2	A+B	96
7	2	A+B+C	128
8	2

See Special Game Setup Rules for more details on setup for 2 player and 5-8 player games.

4: Sort Dragon Cards

Take the dragon cards remaining in the game and sort them into 4 piles, one for each level of dragon. The dragon's level is listed next to the A/B/C label.

Take the pile of level 1 dragons and shuffle it, then deal out 3 random dragons from it to each player (or 4 random dragons if they have the 'Team Player' character ability). These dragons should be placed face up next to each player's character; this is their starting racing team.

The remaining level 1 dragon cards are shuffled together with the level 2 dragon cards and are placed facedown next to the racetrack; this makes up the starting dragon deck.

The level 3 and level 4 dragon piles should be placed to the side of the game. Each turn during the explore phase you will be taking specific dragons from these piles and adding them into the dragon deck.

Dragon Card Anatomy

1. Dragon Color: Marks this dragon's type and is used when supporting other racing dragons during the race phase.
2. Racetrack Type: Each dragon comes from one of six racetrack types. Used when adding dragons to the game in the explore phase and counted to see who has the most dragons of each type in the boost phase.
3. Speed: Represents the number of spaces you will move along the racetrack when this dragon is Fired Up.
4. Name: Each dragon card has a unique name.
5. Level & Label: Dragon levels (1-4) are used for sorting dragon cards before each game. Labels (A-C) are used to indicate which dragon cards are included in the game (this depends on the number of players). Neither has any impact on gameplay.
6. Support Requirement: Shows the number and color of supporting dragons this dragon needs to get Fired Up when it is on a racing team.

1: Explore Phase

Skip this phase on the first turn of the game.

(A) Reveal the Next Face Down Racetrack Tile

At the start of the game 3 upper racetrack tiles and 3 lower racetrack tiles were placed colored side down (face down). During this step you reveal one of these face down racetrack tiles by flipping it color side up. Reveal racetrack tiles in clockwise order from the start line, starting with the three upper racetrack tiles before revealing the three lower racetrack tiles.

Tiles are flipped on Turn 2, 3 and 4 (the three upper tiles) and on Turn 5, 6 and 7 (the three lower tiles). Do not flip tiles on Turn 1. The 4 corner tiles all begin the game face up.

If there are dragon tokens on top of the racetrack tile being flipped, place them on the corresponding space on the colored side of the tile.

(B) Add New Dragon Cards

After revealing a face down racetrack tile you need to add all of the dragon cards that match its track name and color into the dragon deck. For example, if you were to reveal the Green Frozen Cove tile, you would add all of the Green Frozen Cove dragons to the deck. Upper track tiles are associated with level 3 dragons and lower track tiles are associated with level 4 dragons. A chart in the rulebook shows each racetrack tile and its dragons side by side: level 1 and 2 dragons are included at the start of the game; level 3 dragons are added on turns 2-4 from upper track tiles; level 4 dragons are added on turns 5-7 from lower track tiles.

Protip: The abundance of different dragon colors and racetrack types in the dragon deck is useful information when drafting. You can track this by simply looking at which racetrack tiles have been revealed.

(C) Assign Trophy Cards to Players

Collect all trophy cards and redistribute them to players. The first place trophy is given to the player in first place on the racetrack, the second place trophy to the player in second place on the racetrack, etc. If two or more players are tied, shuffle the trophy cards for those positions and deal them out randomly to those players.

2: Draft Phase

(A) Deal Out Dragon Cards

Shuffle the dragon deck thoroughly. The deck should include all of the dragon cards from the revealed racetrack tiles except those on racing teams.

Deal out (2 + the turn number) dragon cards facedown to each player. The number dealt out increases each turn, with 3 cards on the first turn, 4 cards on the second turn, etc. For convenience this information is listed on each player's character card.

The remaining cards in the deck that aren't dealt out are placed facedown next to the racetrack and are not used during this turn. Players may not look at these cards.

(B) Draft Dragon Cards

All players look at the hand of dragon cards they were dealt. They simultaneously choose a single card from the hand that they would like to keep and place it face down in front of themselves.

Next, all players pass the rest of their hand to the player on their right or left. On game turns 1, 3, 5, and 7 players pass their hands to the left and on game turns 2, 4, and 6 players pass their hands to the right; this is listed on character cards for convenience.

Players take the new hand their neighbor passed them and repeat the process, taking another card before passing the hand on in the same direction as they passed it last. Players must always take a single card out of each hand before passing it on.

This process repeats until all cards are taken. Each player should end up with a pile of selected dragon cards equal to the number they were originally dealt.

To avoid confusion, players should take care to keep the pile of cards they have selected separate from the hand they are choosing from. They should also avoid passing their hand if the player they are passing to has not chosen a card yet.

3: Race Phase

Players complete the race phase one at a time in reverse trophy order (e.g. 3rd place, then 2nd place, then 1st place).

(A) Assign Collected Dragons

When it is your turn to race, flip all of the dragon cards you collected face up. Each dragon card can be used to support a dragon on your racing team. Unused dragons should still be placed face up next to the others you have collected. Some dragons have the ability to attack other players instead of supporting your team; you can choose to assign them normally or use their attack (see Dragon Attacks).

Supporting dragons should be stacked underneath the dragon they are supporting. You cannot use supporting dragons to support more than one racing dragon each.

(B) Fire Up Your Racing Team

Each dragon card on your racing team has a support requirement and a speed. If a dragon card is supported by a set of dragons that match its support requirement then it is Fired Up. When a dragon is Fired Up move your dragon token a number of spaces clockwise along the racetrack equal to the dragon's speed.

In addition to supporting the dragons on your team with the dragons you collected, character cards (except Kafka and Mingzhu) count as one support card in the color shown on the top left of the card. You can use your character card to support up to one dragon on your racing team each turn.

Each dragon on your racing team may only be Fired Up once per turn. Dragons are never partially Fired Up; if you cannot meet a dragon's entire support requirement on a single turn then it is not Fired Up and doesn't move your token forward. If another player has attacked a dragon on your racing team, then you will need to support it with an additional dragon card in the color specified if you wish to Fire it Up (see Dragon Attacks).

After Firing Up all of your dragons, return any dragons that attacked your racing team back to the player who collected them (they will be counted for that player during the boost phase).

Example Race Phase (Turn 6)

• The player's character has a blue support icon, which allows them to support one blue racing dragon.
• The blue dragon is Fired Up with the support of both the character card and one blue dragon card.
• The green dragon is Fired Up with the support of three green dragon cards.
• The red dragon requires two support cards but only received one, so it isn't Fired Up.
• Unassigned dragons are placed to one side; they will be counted in the boost phase.
• One dragon can attack, but the player chose to use it for support instead.
• Support dragons are placed beneath racing dragons.

After Firing Up both the blue and green racing dragons, the player moves a total of 9 spaces along the racetrack this turn.

(C) Swap a Dragon onto Your Racing Team (optional)

Finally, as your last action in the race phase, you may choose to swap a dragon you collected this turn with one of the dragons on your permanent racing team. Note that you can never have more than 3 dragons on your racing team (or 4 if you have the 'Team Player' character ability).

There are no restrictions on the dragons you can swap: they may be different colors, they may have higher or lower speeds and it doesn't matter whether they were Fired Up or used for supporting this turn.

You may only swap once per turn. You may not swap an attacking dragon onto your racing team, since they have no speed or support requirement.

Keep the dragons you collected in front of you at the end of this phase, as you will need them for the boost phase. Dragon cards you swapped off your racing team are counted alongside the other dragon cards you collected this turn during the boost phase.

(Example: the player chooses to swap their red racing dragon with a green dragon they collected this turn.)

Dragon Attacks

As the game progresses, special attack dragons will be added to the deck. Dragons with attacks are selected normally during the drafting phase, but can be used in multiple ways during the race phase.

During the race phase, dragon cards with attacks may either be used to support dragons on your team, or can be used to attack other players. They cannot do both.

To attack, first select a player who has not completed their race phase yet (i.e. a player with a higher trophy card than you). Then, place your attacking dragon on top of one of the dragons on their racing team. There is no limit to the number of times a single target dragon can be attacked. You may attack your own dragons.

Attacking a dragon makes it harder to Fire Up. To Fire Up an attacked dragon, its owner will need to assign one additional supporting dragon to it. This extra supporter needs to be the same color as the attacking dragon. If the owner is unable to assign an extra supporting dragon of the right type in their race phase, they miss out on Firing Up their dragon for that turn. (Example: the target dragon now requires one extra gold supporter.)

After each player's race phase, they must return all dragons that attacked them to their respective owners. Attacking dragons are counted alongside other dragons collected by each player during the boost phase.

Dragon cards with attacks may not be swapped onto racing teams.

4: Boost Phase

During this phase, each player counts the dragon cards they have collected. If you have more dragon cards from a specific racetrack type than any other player then you win an extra movement Boost. Each dragon card belongs to one of six racetrack types: Frozen Cove, Wyrm Woods, Burning Spire, Speed City, Star Field and Golden Caves.

To start, have all players state how many dragon cards they have from Speed City. Whoever has the most wins the Boost and moves forward a number of spaces on the racetrack equal to the boost bonus for the turn.

The boost bonus increases over the course of the game. It is 1 on turn one, 2 on turns two to four, and 3 on turns five to seven. The boost bonus is shown on the character card for convenience. In the case of a tie, all tied players move forward only 1 space regardless of the boost bonus.

When counting their dragons, players should include all of the dragons they collected this turn along with those on their racing team.

After awarding a Boost for Speed City, do the same for Wyrm Woods, Burning Spire, and Frozen Cove. Count dragons from the Golden Caves and/or the Star Field racetracks once they have been added to the game.

Please note that each racetrack type is featured on two racetrack tiles with different dragon colors. Do not count dragons from these different colors separately. For example, count red Wyrm Woods dragons together with green Wyrm Woods dragons and award a single Wyrm Woods Boost.

When counting dragons during the boost phase, remember to count dragons that were used to attack other players and any dragons that were swapped onto or off of your racing team this turn.

Boost Phase Dragon Count Example (Turn 4)

This example shows a player's 3 racing dragons and the 6 dragons they collected this turn. They used their 6th collected dragon to attack another player, and it was returned for counting. The final count is:

• Frozen Cove: 1
• Wyrm Woods: 3
• Burning Spire: 4
• Speed City: 1
• Star Field: 0
• Golden Caves: 0

End of the Turn and End of the Game

After the boost phase is completed the turn is over. Collect all of the dragon cards that are NOT on racing teams and shuffle them back into the dragon deck with the cards that weren't dealt out this turn. Then begin the next turn starting with the explore phase as usual.

The game ends at the completion of the seventh turn. The player who has moved the furthest along the racetrack is the winner. In the case of a tie, the player who moved the highest number of spaces in the final round is the winner. If a player completes a lap of the racetrack before the end of the game they simply start going around again.

Character Abilities

Each character card comes with a unique ability that will reward different strategies of play during the game. A character ability is activated and grants extra movement whenever the conditions of the ability are met.

Characters are split into two categories: normal characters and advanced characters. Advanced characters encourage strategies that are more complex and thus better suited for players already familiar with the game.

Normal

• Formation Flying: If you fire up every dragon on your team during your turn, move forward 3 extra spaces. (Provides one blue support each turn.)
• Shuffle Rush: When you swap a dragon on your team for a dragon of a different color, move forward 2 spaces. (Provides one yellow support each turn.)
• High Flyer: Whenever you Fire Up a dragon that has a speed of 6 or higher, move forward 1 extra space. (Provides one support of any color each turn.)

Advanced

• Victory Leap: Whenever you win or tie for a Boost, move forward 1 extra space. (Provides one red support each turn.)
• Hit and Run: Whenever you use a dragon attack, move forward 2 spaces. (Provides one green support each turn.)
• Team Player: Begin the game with 4 dragons on your team. (Provides no support to dragons.)

Special Game Setup Rules

Dragon Racer can be played with anywhere between 2 and 8 players. We recommend that all players first experience the game with 3-4 players before trying larger or 2 player games. In particular, we advise that 2 player games are a more intense head-to-head game that we recommend primarily for experienced players.

2 Player Game Setup

Only include dragon cards with the label A. This means that there are no dragons with attacks included in the game.

Players may only choose from the 'normal' characters shown under Character Abilities; they may not use advanced character cards. The characters allowed in two player games are: Rowan, Amrita, Rosella, Katsuro, Li, and Shawna.

5 - 8 Player Game Setup

From your second copy of Dragon Racer take all 6 character cards and all 64 dragon cards and add them to your first copy. With these extra cards you can play with more people. Have each player choose characters as normal, but restrict players from choosing the same character as each other.

Combine all of the dragon cards together. For 5-6 player games only, remove the cards with the label C.

Strategy Tips

At its core, Dragon Racer is all about card drafting. Deciding which cards you keep or pass is what will win or lose you a game. Think about which cards you need to Fire Up your dragon team, which cards you want to swap onto your team, and which cards you need to win Boosts. Keep an eye on the players next to you, as the cards they are going for will limit what is available to you each turn. If you are in a leading position, try to select conservative dragons on your team to maintain your lead; if you are behind go for big risky dragons to get back in the game. But most of all, have lots of fun!