Stats:
No. of players: 2-4
Amount of time to play: 20-30 min
Age requirements: 8+
Set-up time: minimal

Dragonwood is a quick game for families and kids. You play cards to capture creatures and gain victory points.

Dragonwood Rules Description:

You start Dragonwood by setting up the Landscape deck. This gets rid of some cards and puts the two dragons in the bottom half of the deck. Then you flip the top five cards of the Landscape deck face up. You also shuffle and deal each player five Adventurer cards.

The Landscape cards consist of events, enhancements and creatures. Events trigger as soon as they are revealed, are discarded and replaced with another Landscape card. Enhancements and creatures must be captured. Captured enhancements help you capture creature cards in later turns and captured creatures are worth VPs. Adventurer cards come in five colors numbered one through twelve.

On your turn you have two options; you can reload or attempt to capture one of the five Landscape cards. When you reload you draw a card. If it is a Lucky Ladybug you discard it and draw two new cards.

There are three ways you may capture cards; strike, stomp or scream. A strike requires a run of Adventurer cards of any color. To stomp you need Adventurer cards with the same number of different colors. And to scream just you need to play Adventurer cards of the same color. Each Landscape card has a defense for each type of attack. You play your cards and the number of cards you play determines the number of dice you roll. If the sum of all the dice meets or beats the Landscape card’s defense for the attack you used, you capture it. If you fail your capture attempt you must discard one card. The cards used in a successful capture attempt are discarded.

The game ends once both dragons are captured or if you play through the Adventurer deck twice. The player with the most VPs wins.

Quick Review of Dragonwood:

Dragonwood is a fun game that is simple and quick. There is set collection and risk management mechanics that are great for kids.

The components are great. The art is fun and whimsical which adds to the theme. The rules are easy to read and follow.

Dragonwood is great for kids or gamers with kids that want to play with them and not hate the experience. There is not a ton of strategic depth in the game but it is easy to teach and learn, plays quick and is fun.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 2 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 1 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6