Dragon Slayer: The Dice Game with a Twist

Today I look at Dragon Slayer: The Dice Game by Indie Board & Cards, a quick paced, dice game, that fits well into a filler position that is easy to learn with elements of press your luck.

Looking at the components, the bulk of the game is focused on rolling the dragon and player dice that are well made with a nice weight to them and unique designs for each set. The other components are simple, straightforward and compact along with the box.

After deciding turn order, players will roll their player dice and choice of dragon of increased difficulty and value:

Blue - Easy - 2 points
Green - Medium - 4 points
Red - Hard - 6 points

Once rolled, a dragon has 3 parts to its body (Head, Torso, Tail) and each are required to slay the dragon. In addition to the completed dragon body, the player must roll an Axe to successfully slay the dragon. The Axe can be rolled at any point during the hunt and set aside to be saved until ready to use.

Upon successfully slaying a dragon, set aside the head of the colored dragon that has been slayed and chose to fight another dragon or stop and score.

NOTE: You must successfully slay each color (Blue, Green, & Red) in any order before you can choose to hunt a dragon that you previously defeated.

If at anytime you roll a flame breath (located on both green and red dragon dice and player dice) you must have a shield to block the incoming attack. In the picture above, not only did the player slay the blue dragon successfully rolling a complete dragon and Axe, they also protected themselves from the fire by rolling a shield.

In the picture below although the player found the head and torso, they only rolled one shield and two flame breaths therefore losing one player die. The mountain picture at the end of the green dragon indicates that the tail has not been found and must be re-rolled, but has no negative connotation attached to it.

In the next picture below, the player manages to find the tail of the green dragon and an Axe but unfortunately rolls a flame breath that cannot be avoided, therefore losing another player die.

At this point the player has the option to stop and receive 6 points (2 for the blue dragon and 4 for the green dragon) or continue on and fight the red dragon in hope for a greater reward.

The play though realizes the difficulty involved and wants to stop... BUT! The Twist! comes into play.

One of his fellow dragon hunters challenges him to continue on and fight the red dragon.

This one time use token is given to each player at the beginning of the game to play on other adventures in between fights. Now the current adventure has 2 choices:

1.) Run away like a coward, only receiving half of the points that you earned. In this situation if he leaves after killing the blue and green dragon they would only receive 3 points. The challenger would also earn 5 points.

2.) Accept the challenge, the current player must slay one of the available dragons left (in this case the only one available Red) If the dragon is successfully slayed the player will earn double points for every dragon slayed afterwards, but if they fail all points accumulated so far would be lost and the challenger would earn 5 points.

NOTE: Only one challenge token can be played a round and goes in reverse turn order.

Once a players turn is over, the points are scored on the scoreboard and the dice are reset for the next player. The first to 40 points Wins!

Impression:

Overall, I think this game fits its role nicely as a quick filler game that is easy taught and can be played easily in the estimated designer time of 15 minutes.

Although the box says the game plays between 2-5 it does include a 6th set for an additional player, and I think the game gets better as more play. Turns go very fast, and stays true to the element of a dice game with elements of luck and a well timed challenge token can tip the scale in ones favor.

Currently available on Amazon.com from Indie Boards & Cards for $12.09 as of writing this, its quick paced, dice rolling, press your luck makes for a good filler game that can be played more than once before moving onto meatier games.