Dragon vs Kingdom (Saturday Review)

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The new town was going to be glorious. Here in this wasteland that had seen many battles, it was important to create defenses, while also ensuring there were enough shops and houses for the people. It was going to take some time and our initial focus was on building towers that would allow us to see invaders far into the distance. The towers would also allow us to protect ourselves, because in these lands it was a matter of Dragon vs Kingdom by Chris Backe from No Box Games.

Roll-and-Write, but not…

The genre of roll-and-write games has evolved a lot over the last few years. Rolling is no longer king and even writing isn’t always a part of gameplay. There are now flip-and-place games that create a new gameplay experience. There are also new mechanisms that have changed the genre so much that it is exceedingly hard to classify these games properly.

Dragon vs Kingdom is no different. While I would still put it into the roll-and-write genre, there is no rolling involved whatsoever. Instead, players can take two actions on their turn, selected from three possible ones. They can repeat the same action twice or do two different ones.

Additionally, everyone takes their turn at the same time, which I think is really great, because it means that it doesn’t matter how many of you there are, the game will always take roughly the same amount of time. In fact, theoretically, you could play Dragon vs Kingdom with more than the recommended five players. You just need to print out extra sheets and as long as you have enough differently coloured pens, the game works exactly the same. The only problem is that it might be over more quickly, so scores will be lower, but you could easily adjust that if you really wanted to play with more people.

Another twist in this game is that, after everyone has taken their turn, you pass your sheet to the player on your left. So everyone will write on everyone else’s sheet during the course of the game. That’s why everyone has their own score sheet to keep track of their points, which is not passed around.

Building Kingdoms

For the first round, everyone will be eagerly drawing towers, houses and shops, which all score differently. While towers give you points just for drawing them, houses score based on the number of towers near them and shops get points for the number of adjacent houses. That in itself is a lovely point salad for you to work out.

It becomes more interesting because you will score based on what others have previously drawn as well. So if the previous players placed a lot of towers into the kingdom, you can take advantage by adding a house near them and benefit from the towers’ protection. Similarly, if others drew lots of houses, you can get a good amount of points by adding a shop.

It’s this interplay that makes Dragon vs Kingdom so interesting. You’re not just focussing on drawing the best combination of buildings on the map. Everything you draw will probably benefit someone else. That’s a good thing and makes the game almost feel cooperative. While you’re trying to score the most points, you might give the other players an even bigger point potential.

If you’re a highly competitive player, you will find it hard to accept that it is virtually impossible to add buildings that will purely benefit yourself. You will have to accept that you’re giving the next player a way to score more. Your only consolation is that whatever the players before you have drawn will equally give you a lot of points too.

Additionally, there is another part to Dragon vs Kingdom which will appeal to competitive players and that’s the dragon part.

Dragon!

While for most of the game, you’re a town planner who tries to create a thriving community that is protected by defence towers, you will also take on the role of the bringer of death, the destroyer of worlds. In a word, you will play the role of dragon.

When the sheet with your dragon on comes back around to you, after having been passed from player to player, slowly filling up with wonderful houses and shops, as well as awkward towers, it’s your turn to rain fire and scorch the earth, destroying everything in your path. It is time to let your dragon enter the arena and fly over the kingdom, breathing destructive flames.

Again, you get to do two actions, a mix of movement and rolling a dice to decide how far your flame reaches. You draw the path of your dragon on the map and cross out the fields that have been touched by your deadly breath. You score points based on the buildings you scorched to a cinder. So the more you destroy, the better.

However, you also need to consider retreat, because when your sheet is passed to the next player, that person will take on the role of the townspeople again, who can use their towers to attack the dragon and score points themselves. So if you don’t plan ahead, your dragon will lose some health, which will add to the point total of another player.

So, yes, here it is again, You can score heavily as the dragon, but you will also give another player the opportunity to get some points themselves. There is no getting away from it. Everything you do in Dragon vs Kingdom will not only benefit you, but most likely the other players around the table too.

Be the Dragon and the Kingdom

Taking on two opposing roles in this game is a lot of fun. While you work hard to build a secure and thriving kingdom together with everyone else around the table, you also get to let off some steam and destroy what others have built. It’s a really clever twist that I’ve not seen explored to this extent in other games. I think it’s really cleverly executed and creates a lot of excitement and tension. That is boosted by the fact that you can never do anything that won’t give someone else a chance to get more points and win.

The rulebook I used for the review was still being worked on, but the rules themselves were virtually complete. So while the rulebook that I saw was a little bit unclear, I am confident that the final version will have ironed out all the issues and questions I had.

Dragon vs Kingdom is a really fun game for all the family. The action economy can be a bit daunting for new players and understanding the scoring took us a little while to properly understand, but overall the game is fairly easy to learn. Keep the rulebook handy just so you can clarify things, if there are any questions while you play, but I’m pretty sure it’ll soon make sense.

So, if you enjoy diligently creating a lovely little community and at the same time love creating a path of destruction, Dragon vs Kingdom is the perfect game for you.

Useful Links

• Dragon vs Kingdom: https://noboxgames.com/dragon-vs-kingdom/
• Rulebook: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IeIskCsCEV8d1zhYLzObssgYPSLbcu45v9Ju3jNDvE8/edit?usp=sharing
• Kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/noboxgames/dragon-vs-kingdom?ref=tabletopgamesblog
• No Box Games: https://noboxgames.com/
• BGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/428147/dragon-vs-kingdom

Videos

Transparency Facts

I feel that this review reflects my own, independent and honest opinion, but the facts below allow you to decide whether you think that I was influenced in any way.

• I was sent a free review copy of this game by the publisher.
• At the time of writing, neither the designers, nor the publisher, nor anyone linked to the game supported me financially or by payment in kind.

Audio Version

Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

Music by Bensound
License code: QIEWSJU7I6HZL1FL

Epic Intro 2017 by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.io/en/song/558-epic-intro-2017
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Playlist

These are the songs I listened to while I was writing this review: