Space Dragons
Space Dragons Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 80 Cards: Front side: Crew, numbered 1 to 80. Reverse side: Shield/Damage.
- 20 Cards: Front side: Dragon. Reverse side: Spaceship.
- 3 Scoring Cards (double-sided)
- 1 Rulebook
Aim of the Game
Space Dragons is a trick-taking game. Over the course of the game, players will try to skillfully play 7 of their 9 cards to score as many points as possible. Whoever plays the highest card in a round will win the face-up dragon (the trick). Unlike other trick-taking games, there are no suits to follow. Furthermore, any cards played remain in front of players, as they bring victory points or other effects. It is possible that the dragon currently on display does more harm than good, or that the effects on a lower value card are more beneficial to you.
At the end of the game, points are determined according to crew cards played and the dragons won. In addition, points can be earned or lost from shields or damage to your ship. Finally, points earned for science, mood, and crime symbols (see Scoring Cards) are determined.
The player with the most points after 7 rounds wins the game.
Setup
- Shuffle the Crew Cards and deal 9 cards face-down to each player. Keep these cards hidden in your hand so that other players can only see the card backs. Place the remaining crew cards as a face-down pile in the centre of the table. This is the Draw Pile.
- Shuffle the Dragon Cards and place 7 of them face-down in a stack next to the draw pile. This is the Dragon's Lair. Each player receives 1 card from the remaining dragon cards with the reverse side (spaceship) facing up. The side of the card portraying the dragon should not be looked at. Place this card in front of you as a spaceship. Place the remaining dragon cards back in the box without looking at them.
- Put the 3 Scoring Cards in the centre of the table.
Note: For your first game, ensure you have each card with side A facing up. In future games, players can decide together which sides are laid face up, or simply choose a random side.
- Now it is time to choose a starting player for the first round. To do this, each player draws the top card from the draw pile and reveals this card. The player with the highest numbered card becomes the starting player. Then, put these drawn cards back in the box as they will no longer be needed.
- Finally, reveal the top card of the dragon's lair so that it is visible to everyone.
Gameplay Overview
Each game of Space Dragons is divided into 2 phases: Hiring Crew and Dragon Hunt.
I. Hiring Crew
In this phase, players will be drafting cards to form their hand, taking cards that best suit them. To do this, each player selects 1 crew card from their hand and places it face down in front of themselves. This is all done simultaneously. When all players have selected a card, each player passes the remaining 8 cards to the player on their left.
Now, everyone looks at their newly received cards and selects 1 to be placed face down with the previously selected card. Repeat this process until each player has 9 face-down crew cards in front of themselves. Players can look at cards already selected in front of themselves at any time. Once this draft is complete, take all the selected cards in hand; this is the crew of your spaceship. Now the Dragon Hunt begins.
II. Dragon Hunt
The starting player chooses 1 of their crew cards and plays it face up in front of themselves. Then the next player in clockwise order chooses 1 of their crew cards and plays it face up in front of themselves, followed by the next player and so on, until everyone has played 1 card.
Remember: Crew cards played remain in front of the respective player until the end of the game!
Note: Place the currently played crew card on the previously played crew cards so that only the upper area with the scoring symbols can be seen. All other information on cards are no longer relevant for the remainder of the game.
Effects shown on a crew card (see The Cards) are carried out immediately after they are played (exception: crosshairs)! Crosshairs are evaluated at the end of each round once every player has played 1 card.
After evaluating all crosshair symbols, the player that played the highest number crew card takes the face-up dragon card and places it face-up next to their previously played crew cards ensuring it is visible to everyone. Then, that player reveals the top card of the dragon's lair.
The player that claimed the dragon becomes the new starting player. They begin a new round by choosing a new crew card from their hand and playing it face-up in front of themselves. From here, play continues in clockwise order again.
The dragon hunt ends after 7 of the 9 cards in hand have been played. This will also be clear by the fact there will be no more cards left in the dragon's lair.
Now, place the two unused cards aside as they will no longer be needed.
End of the Game
After the last dragon card has been claimed, final scoring takes place. Firstly, determine who receives or loses victory points for science, mood and crime symbols as determined by the scoring cards. To do this, each player totals all the corresponding symbols on the crew and dragon cards in front of themselves (see also Scoring Cards).
Then, each player counts the total of plus and minus points on their crew and dragon cards, along with any possible points from shields and damage and adds these to any points from the scoring cards.
The player with the most points wins.
If there is a tie after final scoring, the tied player with the most dragons is the winner. If there is still a tie, those players are obviously all heroes of the dragon hunt. Another game of Space Dragons will have to be played to determine the winner.
The Cards
Crew Cards
There are 80 different crew cards. Each of these is divided into 2 areas: the upper area (above the horizontal line) and the lower.
The upper area shows the scoring symbols that are only important at the end of the game. Symbols for science, mood and crime can be found in addition to plus or minus points.
Note: You will find the scoring symbols are also shown as small icons below the numerical value of the card. This enables a player to see all the scoring symbols while holding cards fanned out in their hand.
When crew cards are played, place them on top of each other so that the upper area of previously played cards are clearly visible to all players.
In addition to the illustration of the crew member, the lower area shows the card number (from 01 to 80), which is compared against the number on cards played by other players. This number is used to decide which player will claim the dragon. In addition, the cards show between 0-3 effects that are carried out immediately when they are played (exception: crosshairs).
Effects
Shield: Take 1 crew card from the draw pile for each shield symbol and tuck it under your spaceship so that the shield is visible to the left. A shield can only protect against future damage. It is not possible to forego taking a shield to remove damage instead.
Damage: Remove 1 shield from under your spaceship for each damage symbol. If there are no shields, take 1 crew card for each damage symbol from the face-down draw pile and tuck it under your spaceship so that the damage is visible to the right.
Tool: Remove 1 damage per tool symbol from under your spaceship. If there is no damage, the tool has no effect. You cannot save this ability for later use. As crosshairs are only resolved at the end of a round once everyone has played a card (see below), it is not possible to resolve crosshairs first and then use the tool to repair the damage.
Crosshair: The crosshair symbols are only evaluated when all players have played their crew card for the current round and have dealt with any corresponding immediate effects. The player that played the highest card (and thus will be claiming the dragon) must remove 1 shield from under their spaceship for each crosshair played by other players this round. If the player has no shields, they take 1 crew card for each crosshair symbol from the draw pile and tuck it face-down under their spaceship so that the damage is visible to the right.
Note: Any crosshair symbols on cards the winner of the dragon played that round are not counted. We did warn you not to let your ship get shot, but shooting at your own ship – no one is really that stupid… are they?
Dragon Cards
There are 20 different dragon cards. Each dragon shows a point value from 8 to 12. Most dragon cards also show scoring symbols, which are included for final scoring at the end of the game.
Scoring Cards
For each of the 3 scoring symbols, there is a scoring card with 2 different sides (A and B).
Science: Each player counts all science symbols that are depicted on crew and dragon cards in front of themselves.
Side A: The player with the most science symbols earns 10 victory points. The player with the fewest science symbols earns 5 victory points.
Side B: The player with the fewest science symbols receives 10 victory points. The player with the most science symbols scores 5 victory points.
In the event of a tie, all tied players receive the full number of points.
Mood: Each player counts all mood symbols shown on crew and dragon cards in front of themselves.
Side A: The player with the most mood symbols earns 10 victory points. The player with the second most mood symbols receives 5 victory points.
Side B: The player with the fewest mood symbols receives 10 victory points. The player with the second fewest mood symbols receives 5 victory points.
In the event of a tie, all tied players receive the full number of points.
Crime: Each player counts all crime symbols that are depicted on crew and dragon cards in front of themselves.
Side A: The player with the fewest crime symbols receives 10 victory points. The player with the second fewest crime symbols receives 5 victory points.
Side B: The player with the most crime symbols receives 10 victory points. The player with the second most crime symbols receives 5 victory points.
In the event of a tie, all tied players receive the full number of points.
Examples
Example 1: At the end of the game, Anna has 4 science symbols, Bernadette has 2, Cecilia has 1 and Dora has none. The Science scoring card has Side A face-up. Anna gets 10 points for most science symbols. Since Dora has no science symbols, she has the fewest and thus gets 5 points. In this example, Bernadette and Cecilia get nothing.
Example 2: Anna has managed to collect 4 mood symbols. Bernadette has none, Cecilia and Dora each have 2. The Mood scoring card has Side A face-up. Therefore, Anna receives 10 points. Cecilia and Dora each receive 5 points, Bernadette gets no points.
Example 3: At the end of the game, Anna and Bernadette each have 7 crime symbols in front of them. Cecilia has 3 crime symbols and Dora just 1. The grey Crime scoring card has side B face-up. Anna and Bernadette each get 10 points because they have the most crime symbols. Cecilia has collected the second most crime symbols with 3. Therefore, she gets 5 points. Dora is lucky and does not get any minus points.
Designer's Rule (Variant)
For families and for everyone who would like an even faster and easier (but also slightly luckier) entry to the game, Richi recommends the following rule:
Game setup is carried out exactly as in the regular game. However, skip Phase I: Hiring Crew and go straight to Phase II: Dragon Hunt.
After each round of the dragon hunt, once crosshairs are resolved and a player claims a dragon, each player gives their entire hand of cards to the player on their left.
Final Scoring works exactly as in the regular game.