We love finding those family games that hit that sweet spot between Simple to Learn and Strategically Challenging. It’s not always easy, but we’d heard some good things about Dragonwood in the past and after the announcement of its upcoming sequel, we knew it was time to give it a try. 

We were so pleased after our very first play! But truly, from Gamewright, we should have never had a doubt! They do, after all, make some of our most favorite family games, including our favorite simple-yet-challenging (and most gifted game ever) roll and write Quixx!

After having this game for barely a week, our cards are already broken in and the game is ready and waiting in our living room so as to be within quick reach for a fast game. The kids love it and keep asking to play it. Keep reading to find out why!

What is it: 

Dragonwood is an exciting adventure game for 2-4 players where you’ll compete to capture creatures in the enchanted forest of Dragonwood. Capture creatures by collecting sets of adventure cards which will enable you to earn dice that can be used to roll against the fearsome beasts. Choose to strike, stomp, or scream at grumpy trolls, fearsome wolves, or menacing dragons. Capture multiple creatures to earn enough victory points to prove yourself the bravest adventurer in Dragonwood to win the game.

What’s in the box: 

Inside the box are two decks of cards. The Dragonwood deck depicts different creatures, events, and enhancements that will be revealed in the landscape. The second deck is the Adventurer deck which has 64 cards featuring five suits of Adventurer cards numbered 1-12, and Lucky Ladybugs. Six custom dice, turn summary cards and a well ordered rule book round out the contents inside.  

How does it play:

Dragonwood itself is a very simple game to learn. 

On your turn you may either “Reload” (Draw 1 Adventurer card) or attempt to “Capture” (play cards from your hand) a creature from the landscape.

If you “Reload” you simply draw one card from the Adventurer deck and add it to your hand. If you happen to draw a Lucky Ladybug card you then discard the ladybug and draw two Adventurer cards. You may only ever have 9 cards in your hand. If you draw and have more than 9, then you must discard down to 9.

Attempting to “Capture” a card means you will use cards from your hand to (hopefully) gain a card from the Dragonwood forest landscape.

There are three types of cards in the Dragonwood deck:
Creatures: Defeat these cards and earn victory points equal to the total value on their shield.
Enhancements: Earn these purple cards and they help you by making it easier to defeat creatures. Some enhancements stay with you, while others have a one time use. 
Events: These orange event cards occur immediately when revealed and affect all players.   

The landscape is made up of five face up cards from the Dragonwood deck. Players can play cards from their hand to attempt to capture a card from the landscape. The number of cards played determines how many dice you receive, and the type of cards you use determines what value is required for the creature to be captured.

There are three ways to capture a card:
Strike (Sword. Play a run of cards, regardless of colors: 5,6,7+)
Stomp (Boot. Play cards that are all the same number, regardless of suit)
Scream (Face. Play cards that are all the same color, regardless of number)

If you choose to Capture on your turn, you’ll announce which Creature or Enhancement you are trying to capture and show the cards you will be using, along with any Enhancements.

“I’m going to scream at that Gigantic Python” (Because, honestly, who wouldn’t?!)

Then you’ll take the number of dice equal to the number of cards you played and roll them. Compare the total, plus any enhancements you may have, to the required value listed on the card. If your roll is equal to or greater than the value then you capture that card! If not, well then you are not victorious and must discard one card from your hand (it does not have to be one of the cards you played.)

Play then passes to the next player. 

The game ends when one of two things happens. 

1. Both dragons have been defeated, or 
2. You’ve shuffled through the Adventurer deck twice.

Then all players total up their victory points on their captured creatures. The person who captured the most creatures gets 3 bonus victory points. Then the player with the highest score wins!

Pretty simple, right!?

What do we think?

My first thought while playing Dragonwood was “How on earth did we miss out on having this one for so long?!?”

I was really impressed with how Dragonwood played out with our family. As a card game fan, I really enjoy the use of simple card mechanics, (runs, pairs, suits) which are easy for younger kids to grasp and familiar for non-board gamers as well.

For children, it’s good for them to work on learning what each of these card terms means, and how to best order them in their hand. If you have younger players, getting them a card holder might be beneficial, not just for this game, but in general. It can be hard for little hands to learn how to hold cards in a fanned out manner so that they can see them and use them. We use this one for our kids. It’s not perfect, but it’s cheap and I like that they can set it on the table or hold it in their hand, mimicking the position they’ll eventually need to learn. These are perfect for games that require only a small amount of cards to hold. Dragonwood only allows you to keep a hand of nine so these are perfect. 

The cards also indirectly play a role in the learning of probability. What is the likelihood that you’ll get three 8s compared to 3 of one color, or 3 in a row. You’ll have to strategize about what is the most advantageous for you to spend time pursuing during the game. 

Probability also comes in with the dice. Normally dice add such a random luck element to a game that it can be frustrating, but I think it is fantastic how the randomness of the dice rolls can be managed by the use of the cards. The dice are six sided but feature the numbers, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4. This helps keep rolls relatively predictable and prevents anyone running away with an easy capture just because of a great roll.

I love how players need to strategize over how many cards they need to play to increase their chances of rolling what they need to successfully defeat a creature. If a creature requires a roll of 8 to defeat, it’s possible to do it with two dice, (special magic cards not withstanding) but they’d need two perfect rolls, playing three cards would probably make it easier, but four might guarantee a capture.

Why do I love this? Math, math, math! Board games have a lot of potential for hidden lessons and Dragonwood is a great pick for all of your quick math practice needs.

Kids will be adding up the dice roll probabilities in their head, adjusting the number of cards they need to play, then quickly adding resulting number from their dice rolls, comparing it to the creature, and then, at the end, they’ll be adding the creature victory points to find their total score. It all adds up (see what I did there?) to be a slick and sly way to get them practicing their addition facts. That’s a win in my book.

Dragonwood, with its fun fantasy art, is very inviting for younger players. Kids aged 6 or 7 should be able to play it easily. We let our daughter who is 7 splay her cards out on the table for the first few games so that she could see her options and we could help her strategize together. By game three, she was making smart moves all on her own and winning to boot.

It’s also fun for lap sitters as well. Since there is a dice element, we let our 4 and 3 year olds sit on our lap as the official card layers and dice rollers and they are quite please with that and enjoy helping select which creatures to attack.

Don’t think that this is just a game to be played with kids though. It is a lot of fun for adults as well and I’d just as soon pull it out for a group of adults as I would be to play it with our kids. There is a surprising amount of strategy you need to utilize in this game to win. So much so it’s a Mensa Select winner. Do you go for a bunch of smaller, easy to capture creatures or do you save up and attack tougher creatures worth more points? Should you spend your turns trying to get enhancements hoping for an easier battle down the line? Can you get by with just a few dice to save cards, or should you use your cards to ensure a capture? So much to think about and strategize over yet still so easy to teach and play!

Summary

Overall it is a lot of fun and a really well made family game thats fun for all ages and game experience levels. It plays at the perfect pace and takes only about 15-20 minutes, making it a great filler game for game nights or passing the time with family while dinner cooks. 

Also included in the rulebook are different variants for the game. I love this as it helps you scale the game for whatever your needs might be. Want a shorter game? Covered. Longer? You got it! Simple? Advanced? The gangs all here! This really helps with replayability and keeps the game fresh and interesting, especially as your younger players get better and better and start looking for a different challenge.

Dragonwood is definitely worth checking out and one I know will be enjoyed in our house for a while to come. I’m very excited to see where they take the game in the sequel Dragonrealm.

Title: Dragonwood
2-4 players ages 8+
Designer: Darren Kisgen
Artist: Chris Beatrice
Publisher: Gamewright
Published: 2015

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