Four dragon children have stumbled upon an unusual sparkling treasure: a column of ice with beautiful stones frozen inside it. Unfortunately the column is too heavy for the children to carry back to their cave so they enlist the help of their father. Through fire breathing, the column starts to melt and little by little the sparkling stones fall out and the children race to collect the treasures, whisking them back to their cave. 

Which dragon will collect the most sparkling stones in their cave? With a little luck, hopefully it will be you!

What is Dragon’s Breath?

Dragon’s Breath is a fun new game for children ages 5 and up by HABA. It is also the recent 2018 Kinderspiel des Jahres winner, winning the award for the best children’s game of the year! 

In this game, kids will take on the role of young dragons trying to get the most stones out of a frozen ice column and take them back to their cave. 

The ice column is made using a stack of 9 plastic rings that hold inside the 90 sparkling stones in 5 different colors. The caves are made by the unique game board which utilizes the game box. Four dividers are placed within the empty game box, creating sections for each players cave and a center space for the stones the dragon dad will collect. 

The game board is then placed on top of this grid. The board has holes in the center where stones can fall into the dad’s cave, and on the four corners where players will be able to place their collected stones throughout the game. Four cardboard dragon children are able to be placed in front of their cave to show which cave belongs to which player. 

Each round, the players will examine the stones and decide which color they think will fall out most when an ice ring is removed. The starting player will select one color from the sparkling stone tiles and place it face up in front of them. Then they will pass the tiles to the player on their left who will choose one color from the remaining four options. Then the third and fourth players will select their tiles in the same way. 

The starting player then gets to “melt” the ice by carefully removing the top ice ring. The sparkling stones fall out onto the board and then players, one at a time, select all the stones that match the color they chose and place them in their cave behind their dragon. Any stones left belonging to the color not selected get pushed into the holes that lead to the dragon dad’s cave.

The starting player becomes the next player in a clockwise direction and then a new round starts. 

Play continues until all rings have been melted away. Players will divide out the final stones according to colors selected except for any stones that remain on the “ice floe tile” in the center. Then the game board is lifted and players count all of the gems in their caves. 

The dragon with the most gems is the winner!

What do we think? 

This is a very simple game. But sometimes, simple is good! 

While there isn’t anything really ground breaking in this game as far as mechanics go, there are still quite a few things it does that I really like. 

First of all, the components are the fantastic quality that I have come to expect from HABA. Our kids love looking at the colorful stones and love passing around the wooden daddy dragon figure that is included as the starting player marker. 

Mechanic wise, this is a set collection game with a bit of dexterity involved. 

The ice rings stack nicely onto of each other but you still need to be pretty careful when removing them so you don’t accidentally knock over the whole column. This allows toddlers to practice gentle movements while still providing a challenge for them. Dragon’s Breath is far easier for a younger player in that 3 to 4 age range to play than HABA’s other, fantastic dexterity game Animal Upon Animal which can prove a bit too challenging for them at times.

The set collection aspect seems, on the surface, to come down to luck. And there is a fair amount of that, to be honest. But there’s also the chance to help your kids understand probability and chance when they examine the stones. 

While our 3 year old usually just selects his favorite color, our 4 and 6 year old take time to look at what colors are visible and try to decide which color has the most that is likely to fall out. They aren’t always right, the stones stay surprisingly well within the column, but it is still a chance for them to attempt some educated guessing, then receive quick feedback through the results. 

The holes in the center of the board that lead to the dragon dad’s cave offer a fun bit of randomness to the game. If stones fall into the holes they can’t be collected by players, even if it was their color. It also keeps kids from getting too excitable when selecting their stones, because again, if they push one of their stones into the hole, then it’s gone. If they push someone else’s stone into the hole, they have to give them one of their own.

After the rounds are over, the kids love the chance to gather all their stones and begin counting them. It’s hilarious how much like dragons little kids are, hoarding their treasures. 

Each kid will have a fair amount of stones to count which is great not only because they’ll love looking at their pile of treasure, but also because it offers a great chance to practice counting multiple items beyond just 5 or 10. If counting is too difficult, everyone can simply line up their stones and see who has the longest line, thus becoming the winner. 

Summary

Dragon’s Breath is incredibly simple, yet is still able to please multiple kids in different age groups. Our three oldest have really enjoyed playing this one together and will play two or three games in a row quite happily. It’s not always easy to find a game that they all want to, or can play together, but this one hits the mark.

Because the game is so light in the rules department, it means that our 3 year old can play without getting too frustrated. Pick a color, lift a ring, grab your sparkling stones. He’s happy as a clam and completely engaged in the game without getting overwhelmed with rules to remember. 

Unlike some of their other games, I don’t see this one enticing a group of adults in the same way Animal Upon Animal, Karuba, or even Rhino Hero does, but that’s okay. Kids deserve games just for them as much as adults.

HABA has once again done what HABA does best and that’s make a quality game for parents and children to enjoy playing together. This one is definitely worth adding to your collection.

f you are interested in purchasing a copy of Dragon’s Breath you can find it HERE!

If you would like to read more of our thoughts on different HABA games check out this post about our Three Favorite HABA Games!

For tips on playing games with young children, check out THIS POST!

Title: Dragon’s Breath
Designer: Günter Burkhardt, Lena Burkhardt
Artist: Daniel Döbner
Publisher: HABA
Published: 2018

* This post contains affiliate links at no cost to you. To read my full disclosure policy click here.*