Venture in to the fictitious Dragon Wood and capture those creatures. Players play the role of adventurers on a quest to capture creatures. From bunny’s and insects through to wolves and unicorns right up to the biggest creature, the Dragon. This is another classic Gamewright game with simple mechanics, minimal components which in this game is 2 differing decks of cards and 6 dice. I’ve been really impressed with this one.

Route To The Dragon.

In this instance I am going to highlight the victory condition first which is simply gain as many points from creatures captured. The majority of creatures when caught will give a score which you add to your total.

The game ends and you count the scores when either

1. Both Dragons are captured or
2. Adventurers go through the adventure deck, twice.

When either of these conditions met, count your creature scores and highest wins. The player who captures the most creatures gains 3 bonus points at the end of the game. In the event of a tie, whoever captures the orange dragon claims victory.

The Adventure.

Set the Dragonwood deck first and reveal 5 creatures in your enchanted forest. If you reveal any event cards, shuffle these back in. Now shuffle the adventurer deck and deal a hand of 5 cards to all players. On your turn you can either attempt to capture a creature using the cards in your hand, or reload your hand by drawing an additional adventure card. You hand limit is 9 cards.

When making a capture attempt at a creature you can do this in 3 ways.

Strike – Play a row of adventure cards, regardless of colour. 4,5,6 for example.
Stomp – Play cards that are the same number. A pair of 8’s as an example.
Scream – Play the same colour of card. Perhaps all green.

Play however many cards associated with the way you want to attack. This is very much in a Rummi format for those familiar with Rummi or Rummikub. The sum of cards played results in the amount of dice you roll to which you have to equal beat the score on that creature to capture it. 3 cards played equals 3 dice to roll. The chance and gamble element are very much on how many cards can you reasonably justify to try and capture, but also try to guarantee it.

The dice are also not typical D6, they only have 1 to 4 printed on so they are weighed down here. You do need to factor that in when weighing the odds of success on a capture. So, there are multiple factors to consider for success.

The types of cards you get to play will all very much depend on luck of the draw and what you can compile, which is cool. Equally the creatures available in the middle will influence your targeting, how easy they could be to pick up, their points value. For a simple game there is actually plenty to consider. When you capture your targeted creature, take them from the enchanted wood and keep to score at the end. Replace this creature with a new card from the wood so there 5 options again.

You could also choose to capture enhancements instead of creatures. These will provide you with benefits in the game, not a score though.

Goblins And Trolls Can Be Beautiful.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder at the end of the day. One thing in particular with this game is how it captures the eye. It’s stunning, which shouldn’t come as a huge surprise as all Gamewright Games that I have played look brilliant. The artwork is some of the best in the board gaming world and I always appreciate it, this one is no exception. It is full of bold colour and variety. Artwork never drives a game for me, but when you have a great game for mechanics that also looks awesome then you are on to a winner and this game checks both. Gamewright actually reference this in their notes, that this game was issued without any images by the designer/creator, just the rules and content without pictures, their team loved it and an artist set to work on bringing it to life. Excellent work!

Gamewright games are so convenient to take on the road. They are compact and usually require minimal space. We’ve taken many of their games on our holidays in the past and this one joins the collection here for perfect travel games where space can be at a premium. This particular game from Gamewright also has just that bit more depth compared to some. Most games I’ve played of theirs have been purely card based allowing a definitive result on each card played. The utilising of dice here adds a layer of jeopardy that you cannot control which I’ve both enjoyed (and loathed when the dice have been against me) but it is cool.

Final Thoughts.

Gamewright have smashed it again with this gem. I get excited now every time I see another one of their games I haven’t played because history tells me it will be great, and this game is no exception to that. Great theme, simple mechanics and wonderful art. Great work!