Dragon's Breath
Dragon's Breath Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- Box base with 4 dividers
- Game board
- 4 dragon children
- 90 sparkling stones (18 in each of 5 colors)
- Dragon dad
- 5 sparkling stone tiles
- 9 ice rings
- 1 ice floe tile
Before the First Game
Place the empty box base in the center of the table. Take the four dividers, put them together as pictured, and place the grid in the box base.
Tip: At the end of the game you can leave the dividers together in the box base. Simply distribute all the game material in the compartments then place the game board and instructions on top.
Carefully separate the cardboard pieces from the tableau. The edges are not required and can be thrown away.
Preparation
You can ask an adult to help you with the setup.
Place the game board on top of the grid in the box base.
Each player selects a dragon child and places it in the slot on their corner of the game board. If there are less than 4 players insert the spare dragon children in the slots of the empty corners.
Place the ice floe tile on the marking in the center of the game board.
If you are playing with two or four players then stack 8 ice rings on top of each other around the ice floe tile, creating a column of ice. If you are playing with three players then stack all 9 ice rings.
Carefully fill the ice column with the sparkling stones.
Tip: In order to prevent the stones from falling into the box, you can temporarily use the sparking stone tiles to cover the holes while filling the ring. Remember to take them away after filling the ice column.
Sparkling stones that don't fit into the ice column can simply be dropped into the holes in the game board and thus removed from the game.
Keep dragon dad and the sparkling stone tiles handy.
How to Play
Play in a clockwise direction. The bravest player begins. Place the dragon dad in front of you. In this round you, as Dragon dad, can "breathe fire". A round consists of:
- Selecting a sparkling stone tile
- Lifting an ice ring
- Dividing up sparkling stones
1. Selecting a Sparkling Stone Tile
If you are playing with three or four players: first the player to the left of start player (dragon dad), selects one of the sparkling stone tiles and places it face-up in front of them. The other players follow in a clockwise direction. You are the last one to take a sparkling stone tile. All remaining sparkling stone tiles remain where they are.
If you are playing with only two players: first the other player selects one of the sparkling stone tiles and places it face-up in front of them. After this you may select one and place it face-up in front of you. Then the other player takes a second sparkling stone tile, and you also take a second one.
Note: They dragon dad player will "melt" the top ice ring by carefully removing it. Players try to select which sparkling stone color they think will have the most fall out.
2. Lifting an Ice Ring
Now carefully lift the top ice ring and watch the sparking stones fall out.
The following dragon rules apply:
- You may use one or both hands to lift the ice ring.
- Your fingers may only touch the top ice ring. Your fingers are allowed to touch individual sparkling stones as you are lifting it.
- Sparkling stones that are on the top ice ring can be pushed back onto the ice column or allowed to fall down.
You can try to play tactically: take the ice ring off carefully, so that as few sparkling stones as possible fall down for the other players, but you always need to obey the dragon rules.
Sometimes sparkling stones fall into the holes in the game board. These land in dragon dad's big cave and cannot be retrieved once fallen through.
The ice ring that was removed is then taken out of the game.
3. Dividing Up Sparkling Stones
Dragon dad begins first by collecting all sparkling stones that match his color tile (if you are playing with two players you may take all the sparkling stones in both your colors). Place them in the cave behind your dragon child. If there are no sparkling stones in your color on the game board then you go away empty handed in this round. Then players take turns in a clockwise direction to collect their sparkling stones.
Any sparkling stones that are still lying on the game board after this step can be pushed into the holes and down to dragon dad's cave.
Give dragon dad to the next player in a clockwise direction. Now a new round starts.
End of the Game
The game ends when the last ice ring is taken off game board. Finish the round and divide up the sparkling stones that are not on the ice floe tile.
Check who won. Pick up the game board and count the sparkling stones in the caves of the dragon children. The dragon child or player with the most sparkling stones wins.
If counting is difficult simply lay the collected sparkling stones in rows next to each other. The player with the longest row wins.
The secret winner, however, is and remains dragon dad, because it was his fire breathing that let the sparkling treasure be retrieved.
Variation for Younger Players
At the start of the game the sparkling stone tiles are placed face down. Each player takes a sparkling stone tile and places it face up in front of them. This tile is then used for the entire duration of the game. A different sparkling stone tile is no longer be selected before each round.
Variation for Secretive Players
In each round the players take turns selecting a face down sparkling stone tile. This means that players only learn who will collect which color when the sparkling stones are flipped up.
Note for All Clumsy Dragon Children
If sparkling stones accidentally fall off the ice column during collection of the sparkling stones, or between the individual rounds then these should simply be placed back on the ice column.
If you accidentally push a sparkling stone that belongs to one of the other players into a hole on the game board then you give them one of your sparkling stones as consolation.