Dragondraft Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Game Setup
• How to Play
  • Phase 1: Arrival of the Dragons
  • Phase 2: Recruiting the Dragons
  • Phase 3: Preparing the Stage
    • Build Grandstands
    • Special Offers
  • Phase 4: Evening Show
• End of the Game
• Beginner Variant
• Scoring Example
• Explanation of the Dragon Cards
• Quick Reference Guide
  • Goal of the Game
  • Game Setup
  • How to Play
  • End of the Game

Contents

• 1 Game board
• 4 Stage areas (the back is used in the beginner variant)
• 4 Overview cards (the front shows points earned for green gymnast dragons, and the back shows an overview and small reminders of the individual phases in every round)
• 9 Grandstand tiles
• 4 Spectator tiles (50 / 100)
• 16 Wooden figures: 4 fireworks, 4 turkey legs, 4 perfume bottles, 4 dragon claws
• 1 Sheep, 4 Spectator markers, 1 Round marker
• 67 Cards:
  • 35 Dragon cards: 7x red fire breather dragon, 7x blue flying ace dragon, 7x green gymnast dragon, 7x purple magician dragon, 7x yellow strongman dragon
  • 12 goblin cards: 6x goblin helper (1 point), 6x goblin helpers (2 points)
  • 20 Thistle cards

Game Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the table and the round marker on the far-left tower with the number 1.
2. Each player takes one stage area and places it in front of them with the front facing up. Note: The back of the stage area is used in the beginner variant, explained at the end of the rulebook.
3. Sort the grandstand tiles by the number of goblin helpers needed (4, 6 and 8) and place them in 3 piles next to the game board. In each stack, the numbers in the circles (top right) should be sorted in ascending order so that the largest number is on top.
4. Place all the wooden figures (fireworks, turkey legs, perfume bottles and dragon claws) next to the game board.
5. Place all the thistle cards in a face-up pile next to the game board.
6. Shuffle all of the dragon and goblin cards together in a face-down deck and keep them handy.
7. Each player receives one spectator marker and one spectator tile in their color. Place your spectator marker on the box office at the front of the spectator queue on the game board. Place your spectator tile next to your stage area.
8. Each player also receives one overview card, which they put in front of them.
9. The youngest player receives the sheep and is the starting player. (A sheep as the starting player figure? Of course! Dragons are crazy about sheep. They're so cuddly and soft.)
10. Any stage areas, overview cards, spectator markers and spectator tiles that are not needed can be returned to the box.

How to Play

The annual fair goes for 5 days full of fun and dragon shows! The game goes for 5 rounds. Each round consists of 4 phases:

• PHASE 1: Arrival of the Dragons
• PHASE 2: Recruiting the Dragons
• PHASE 3: Preparing the Stage
• PHASE 4: Evening Show

At the end of the 5th round, the player who was able to attract the largest audience is the winner.

Phase 1: Arrival of the Dragons

There's a long queue of dragon performers lined up at the city gate. In this phase, you prepare for the current round.

1. Shuffle all dragon and goblin cards in the deck.
2. Place one card face-up on each free space on the game board. When placing the cards, start at the short edge of the game board with the colorful flag rope, and then fill the columns up in order.
3. Leftover cards are placed in a face-down stack.

Note: In later rounds it's possible that there are not enough cards to fill all the spaces. In this case, simply place the available cards.

Phase 2: Recruiting the Dragons

There, in the third row, right at the back! A fire breather dragon that would be perfect for your evening show! If only the annoying, prickly thistles weren't in the way ...

Beginning with the starting player, all players take turns in a clockwise direction to pick a card of their choice from the game board and place it into their hand. The following rules apply:

• For each card that you skip in a row (always starting from the short edge with the flag rope), you must take one thistle card into your hand. If you cannot take enough thistles, you may not take the card you have chosen.
• You may not exceed the hand limit. At the start of the game, the hand limit is 9 cards. Thistle cards also count towards your hand limit!
• If you have reached your hand limit, you must pass and may no longer take part in this phase.
• You may not voluntarily pass – if your hand limit allows it, you must take a card!
• If you are the first player to pass in this round, then you immediately take the sheep. You are now the new starting player.

Phase 2 ends when all players have reached their hand limit.

Important: Only actual cards are taken into account; empty spaces are ignored.

Note: The number of cards in your hand is not a secret! You can ask other players how many cards they have in their hand at any time, and they need to answer honestly.

Phase 2 start example: Adrian is the starting player and takes the red fire breather dragon from the second row. Because he skips 2 cards to get to the fire breather dragon, he also needs to add 2 thistle cards to his hand (1). Then it's Maja's turn. She takes the yellow strongman dragon from the second row. She also needs to add 2 thistle cards to her hand as she skipped over 2 cards. The empty space, where the red fire breather dragon was, is not counted (2). Next, Thomas has his turn and takes the goblin helper pair from the fourth row. Because it is the first card in this row, he does not need to add an extra thistle card to his hand (3). Now it's Silke's turn. She takes the green gymnast dragon from the fourth row. She also doesn't need to take a thistle card as there is now no card in front of the gymnast dragon (4).

Phase 2 end example: Adrian now has 8 cards in his hand. He would like to take the fire breather dragon from the second row, but he can't because his hand limit is 9 cards and he would need to take a thistle card as well as the fire breather. Instead, he needs to decide on another card, and takes the yellow strongman dragon from the fourth row to add to his hand (1). Maja (2) and Thomas (3) have reached their hand limits and need to pass. Because Maja is the first player to pass, she receives the sheep and is the new starting player. Silke (4) has 7 cards in her hand and takes the goblin helper pair from the fourth row. Because all the other players have reached their hand limit (Adrian also needs to pass now), it's Silke's turn again and she takes another goblin helper from the first row.

Phase 3: Preparing the Stage

Phew! The dragon troupe for tonight's evening show has been assembled. Maybe the goblins can assist you a little and help out before the show starts?

All players place their hands face-up in front of them. Beginning with the current starting player, each player has the opportunity to assign their goblin helpers. In this phase, each player can build a maximum of one grandstand and offer a maximum of one new special each round. Then Phase 4 starts.

Important: The goblin helpers that come in a pair always work together on the same project. If you can't assign them correctly, any additional goblin points are lost!

Build Grandstands

A shady, covered seat to watch the action is sure to attract a large audience!

You may build the top grandstand on a grandstand stack of your choice. Pay the building costs by taking the specified number of goblin helpers from your hand and placing them on the discard pile. Each grandstand immediately attracts spectators but does so only once. Move your spectator marker forward by the corresponding number of spaces in the spectator queue. Then place the grandstand tile on an empty corner of your stage area.

Note: You may place the grandstand tile on your game board with the back facing up as the cost and number of spectators attracted is no longer needed.

Note: You may build a maximum of 4 grandstands per game!

Grandstand building example: Adrian has 4 goblin helpers in his hand and wants to build the grandstand pictured above (building costs 4, spectators 7). He places the 4 goblin helpers on the discard pile, takes the grandstand tile and places it on an empty corner of his stage area. He immediately moves his spectator marker forward 7 spaces. This only happens once.

Special Offers

There are 4 different specials available. Each special provides a different bonus for the remainder of the game, including the current round. You may offer the same special multiple times in a game (but at most once per round!) and therefore receive the bonus multiple times. Pay the costs shown in your stage area by taking the specified number of goblin helpers out of your hand and placing them on the discard pile. Then place the corresponding wooden figure in the appropriate sections of your stage area.

The number of wooden figures is limited to 4 per special. You can only offer a special if there is still a wooden figure for it in the stockpile.

Fireworks (firework figure) – Whoosh! The goblins really show off. They even manage to provide a bit of entertainment! This special requires 2 goblin helpers. From now on, your Evening Show (Phase 4) attracts 1 spectator.

Snack Stand (turkey leg figure) – Mmmmmm, something smells good! Now you can feed even more dragon performers than before! This special requires 3 goblin helpers. Now your hand limit is increased by 1 card.

Dragon Stylist (dragon claw figure) – Sharp claws, glistening scales. The more impressive a dragon looks, the more spectators come to see it! This special requires 4 goblin helpers. From now on, your Evening Show (Phase 4) attracts 1 spectator for every different dragon color you have in your hand (a maximum of 5 spectators per round).

Souvenir Shop (perfume bottle figure) – This fragrant perfume is now exclusively available here! This special requires 3 goblin helpers. From now on, your Evening Show (Phase 4) attracts 1 spectator for every thistle card in your hand.

Note: Only with the turkey leg do you need to wait until the next round to feel the effect of your special. All other specials take effect starting in Phase 4 of the current round.

Special Offers example: Silke has 4 goblin helpers (2 cards with 2 goblins each) and sets up a Snack Stand. She places the 2 goblin cards on the discard pile. Even though she only needs 3 goblin helpers for the Snack Stand, she cannot assign the extra goblin another task. She takes one turkey leg and places it in the top right section of her stage area. Starting from the next round, her hand limit is increased by 1 card. Because she already set up a Snack Stand in the previous round, her hand limit is now increased by a total of 2 cards and is now 11 cards.

Phase 4: Evening Show

Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you enjoy tonight's breathtakingly spectacular performance – let the show begin! The starting player begins and performs the following steps in order:

1. Count how many spectators you can attract to your Evening Show this round by adding up the dragon cards and specials being offered, then move your spectator marker forward accordingly.
2. If you have unused goblin cards, you may hold onto these for the next round. However, they still count toward your hand limit during the next round! Place all the goblin cards that you don't want to keep for the next round on the discard pile.
3. Place all dragon cards on the discard pile and all thistle cards on the thistle card stack.

Note: If your spectator marker reaches the end of the spectator queue, place your spectator tile with the corresponding side facing up (50 or 100) next to the box office on the game board and start counting again by placing your spectator marker back at the start of the queue.

Note: At the end of the rulebook there is a detailed scoring example and all the dragon cards are explained.

Important: Only goblin cards can be kept in your hand for the next round. All dragon and thistle cards must be discarded!

Once all players have performed this step in a clockwise direction, you place all cards that are still on the game board onto the discard pile and move the round marker to the right, onto the next tower. This completes one round and you start the next round again with Phase 1.

End of the Game

The game ends after the fifth Evening Show. The player who has been able to attract the most spectators wins the game. In the event of a tie, the tied player who built a grandstand with the most spectators in it wins. If none of the tied players built a grandstand, then they share the win.

Beginner Variant

If you prefer, you can use the back of the stage area and play without specials. This means that the goblin helpers are only used to build the grandstands.

Scoring Example

Adrian attracts 35 spectators:

• 1 blue flying ace dragon: 0 (at least 2 dragons are required)
• 3 purple magician dragons: 3 x 3 spectators = 9 spectators
• 3 red fire breather dragons: 3 x 4 spectators = 12 spectators
• 1 yellow strongman dragon: 1 x 1 spectators + 0 spectators = 1 spectator (Maja has more yellow strongman dragons)
• 1 souvenir shop and 1 thistle: 1 x 1 spectator = 1 spectator
• 3 dragon stylists and 4 different dragons: 3 x 4 spectators = 12 spectators

Maja attracts 24 spectators and keeps 2 goblin cards for the next round:

• 3 purple magician dragons: 3 x 3 spectators = 9 spectators
• 1 green gymnast dragon: 1 spectator = 1 spectator
• 2 yellow strongman dragons: 2 x 1 spectator + 5 spectators = 7 spectators (Maja has the most yellow strongman dragons)
• 2 souvenir shops and 2 thistles: 2 x 2 spectators = 4 spectators
• 1 dragon stylist and 3 different dragons: 1 x 3 spectators = 3 spectators

Thomas attracts 11 spectators and keeps 1 goblin card for the next round (2 goblin cards were already used to set up a grandstand):

• 2 blue flying ace dragons: 2 x 2 spectators = 4 spectators
• 2 green gymnast dragons: 3 spectators = 3 spectators
• 2 fireworks: 2 x 1 spectator = 2 spectators
• 1 souvenir shop and 2 thistles: 1 x 2 spectators = 2 spectators

Silke attracts 18 spectators and keeps 1 goblin card for the next round:

• 3 blue flying ace dragons: 3 x 2 spectators = 6 spectators
• 2 red fire breather dragons: 0 (at least 3 dragons needed)
• 4 green gymnast dragons: 10 spectators = 10 spectators
• 1 yellow strongman dragon: 1 x 1 spectators + 0 spectators = 1 spectator (Maja has more yellow strongman dragons)
• 1 firework: 1 x 1 spectator = 1 spectator

Explanation of the Dragon Cards

The dragon heads in the top center show the minimum number of dragon cards of this color that a player needs in their hand to have these dragons score.

Red fire breather – Careful! Things might get a little hot in the front row seats! If you have collected at least 3 red fire breather dragons in this round, you attract 4 spectators per fire breather dragon.

Purple magician dragon – Hocus pocus – tadaaaaa! If you have collected at least 2 purple magician dragons in this round, you attract 3 spectators per magician dragon.

Blue flying ace dragon – Wow! Three loops in a row! If you have collected at least 2 blue flying ace dragons in this round, you attract 2 spectators per flying ace dragon.

Green gymnast dragon – Give me a "D," give me an "R," give me an "A," give me a "G," give me an "O," give me an "N" ... Depending on the total number of green gymnast dragons in your hand, you attract the following total spectators:

• 1 gymnast dragon: 1 spectator
• 2 gymnast dragon: 3 spectator
• 3 gymnast dragon: 6 spectator
• 4 gymnast dragonn: 10 spectator
• 5 gymnast dragon: 15 spectator
• 6 or more gymnast dragons: 21 spectator

Note: The points earned for green dragons can also be found on the back of the overview card.

Yellow strongman dragon – Heeeeeave! Which team will win today's tug of war? Each yellow strongman dragon in your hand attracts one spectator. If you are the player with the most yellow dragons this round, you attract an additional 5 spectators.

Note: If there is a tie for the most yellow dragons then all the tied players attract an additional 5 spectators.

Quick Reference Guide

Goal of the Game

Add the right combination of dragon cards to your hand, and with the help of the goblins, build grandstands and offer specials to attract the most spectators after 5 rounds.

Game Setup

• Place the game board in the center of the table. Place the round marker on the first tower.
• Each player receives: An overview card, a stage area, and a spectator marker and spectator tile in their color. Place the spectator marker on the box office at the front of the spectator queue on the game board.
• Place grandstand tiles in 3 stacks sorted by cost. Each stack should be sorted with the largest number in a circle on top.
• Place wooden figures and thistle cards next to the game board. Shuffle dragon and goblin cards together as a stack and keep it handy.
• The starting player receives the sheep.

How to Play

The game consists of 5 rounds, each with 4 phases:

Phase 1: Arrival of the Dragons – Shuffle all dragon and goblin cards (apart from any goblin cards that are in players' hands) and place them on the game board spaces. Place remaining cards in a face-down stack.

Phase 2: Recruiting the Dragons – Beginning with the starting player, take turns adding cards from the game board to your hand. Follow these rules:

• For each card that you skip in a row, you must add one thistle card from the stack to your hand.
• Hand limit: 9 + number of turkey legs.
• If a player has reached their hand limit, they must pass. The first player to pass in a round takes the sheep.
• No voluntary passing!

Phase 3: Preparing the Stage – Each player takes one turn, beginning with the starting player. They can build at most one grandstand and gain at most one special:

• Grandstand: Pay for the top grandstand in a stack using goblin cards and place it on an empty space on your stage area. Move your spectator marker forward.
• Special: Pay for a wooden figure in the stockpile using goblin cards and place it on your stage area. Each special creates a bonus for the rest of the game.

Phase 4: Evening Show

• Count the number of spectators based on your dragon cards and specials, then move the spectator marker forward.
• Unused goblin cards may remain in your hand for the next round.
• Place dragon cards and other goblin cards on the face-down pile, and thistle cards on the thistle stack.
• Move the round marker forward.

End of the Game

The player who attracts the most spectators after 5 rounds wins the game. In the event of a tie, the player who built a grandstand with the most spectators wins.