The Inside Scoop on Gaming

In Drakon, the adventurer’s worst nightmare has happened; you *used* to be a cohesive group of level-headed dungeon-delvers. But then the dragon whose hoard you were hoping to plunder woke up, captured the whole lot of you, and decided to play a fun little game. The first adventurer to wander Drakon’s dungeon and collect five gold pieces goes free; the others become lunch.

So the idea is to explore the maze, gather the gold and screw over the other players. A nice and compact little theme for a pretty decent game.

The game comes with a little marker for each player, a pile of cardboard gold markers, and a slew of room tiles. At the start of the game, each player’s marker is placed on the Start tile (with a picture of Drakon herself on it).

Each player receives a ‘hand’ of four tiles with which to build the maze. On a player’s turn, he may either lay a tile, or move his marker to an adjacent tile.

Each tile has up to four (and may have none whatsoever) exits, marked by arrows pointing outward from the edge of the tile. When placing a tile, players are not allowed to place it so that there are two arrows pointing toward each other, and it must join up with an already placed tile, but otherwise are unrestricted. If a player lays a tile, he picks another from the face down pile to bring his hand back up to four.

Movement is simply a case of moving your adventurer along one of the arrows into an adjacent tile. Note that as no two arrows are allowed to point at each other, you will be (generally) unable to move back the way you have come. This is Very Important.

Finally, most of the rooms have a special symbol on them, and any adventurers entering such a room have to follow the symbol’s instructions. These range from the simple (gain one gold) to the useful (on next move teleport to any tile in play) to the annoying (move one opponent to any legal tile) to the drastic (destroy any unoccupied tile) to the devious (steal one gold from the player on your left (or right)). It is these symbols which add the level of interaction that makes the game worth playing.

That, very basically, is the game. You keep laying tiles and moving adventurers until one of the players has amassed five gold pieces, and that player wins. Of course, having three or four gold pieces usually draws the wrath and ire of the other players, who then do their best to stop you from gathering any more.

Players can work together to prevent someone from achieving a goal. For example, being able to lay a tile *or* move can be a hindrance, but if I lay a ‘Destroy any unoccupied tile’ tile next to your adventurer, you can move into it to destroy that ‘Gain one gold’ tile that the next guy (with four gold) was going to move into to win the game.

Of course, it is more devious than that, because you have then made a move that you may not have wanted to, and gone wildly off course (I, of course, knew this, which is why I put the tile next to you in the first place – it screws up the leader, and inconveniences you at the same time). So, while useful, alliances do not last very long at all.

There is also an advanced version of the game, where each adventurer gets one special ability that they can use once during the game (the wizard, for example, can move through one wall, or against one arrow once in the game). I have never played this version myself, but can see the possibilities for added mayhem (without becoming too chaotic).

The game plays quickly, and is very easy to learn. It is quite enjoyable on the whole, with excruciating strategies and damning cabals rising and falling throughout. But…

The production values are, whilst sturdy, a bitch to assemble. The room tiles are well and truly stuck to the sprues, and a craft knife is a necessity to get the blasted things off without ripping the cardboard. The character markers need to be pushed into clear plastic bases slightly too small, so bending and ripping the bottom of the markers is pretty unavoidable (in trying to avoid just this I managed to snap one of the bases in half – and having glued it all back together, it is no longer clear).

The artwork is rather good though, with the exception that the Magical Vortex tiles and the Gold Piece tiles can easily be confused with a quick glance. Otherwise it all looks quite impressive, with very different character art (you get a Wizard, a Barbarian, a Thief, a Dwarf, a Knight and an Amazon), all with different coloured backgrounds.

My only other moan is that it … well … it doesn’t *feel* as though we are in a dungeon! I’m not exactly sure if I can put my finger on it, but it feels … *false*, somehow.

Maybe it is the way that something you do over *here* can affect a room way over *there*, or maybe it is that all the rooms are exactly the same size. But whatever it is, I never get the feeling of crawling through a wide maze desperately searching for gold.

However, as a game it succeeds quite well, even if the theme isn’t an exact match. I do recommend the game for a bit of a filler or a break from your regular games, as it is quick and easy. But I don’t think it will be too long before the novelty wears off and it is resigned to the back of the games cupboard…

Drakon
Drakon Playtest Review by David Plank on 17/05/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average) A nice little diversion of frolicking for gold in a maze-like dungeon. Product: Drakon Author: Tom Jolly Category: Board/Tactical Game Company/Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games Line: Cost: £16.99 Page count: n/a Year published: 2001 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Playtest Review by David Plank on 17/05/01 Genre tags: Fantasy Diceless	In Drakon, the adventurer’s worst nightmare has happened; you used to be a cohesive group of level-headed dungeon-delvers. But then the dragon whose hoard you were hoping to plunder woke up, captured the whole lot of you, and decided to play a fun little game. The first adventurer to wander Drakon’s dungeon and collect five gold pieces goes free; the others become lunch. So the idea is to explore the maze, gather the gold and screw over the other players. A nice and compact little theme for a pretty decent game. The game comes with a little marker for each player, a pile of cardboard gold markers, and a slew of room tiles. At the start of the game, each player’s marker is placed on the Start tile (with a picture of Drakon herself on it). Each player receives a ‘hand’ of four tiles with which to build the maze. On a player’s turn, he may either lay a tile, or move his marker to an adjacent tile. Each tile has up to four (and may have none whatsoever) exits, marked by arrows pointing outward from the edge of the tile. When placing a tile, players are not allowed to place it so that there are two arrows pointing toward each other, and it must join up with an already placed tile, but otherwise are unrestricted. If a player lays a tile, he picks another from the face down pile to bring his hand back up to four. Movement is simply a case of moving your adventurer along one of the arrows into an adjacent tile. Note that as no two arrows are allowed to point at each other, you will be (generally) unable to move back the way you have come. This is Very Important. Finally, most of the rooms have a special symbol on them, and any adventurers entering such a room have to follow the symbol’s instructions. These range from the simple (gain one gold) to the useful (on next move teleport to any tile in play) to the annoying (move one opponent to any legal tile) to the drastic (destroy any unoccupied tile) to the devious (steal one gold from the player on your left (or right)). It is these symbols which add the level of interaction that makes the game worth playing. That, very basically, is the game. You keep laying tiles and moving adventurers until one of the players has amassed five gold pieces, and that player wins. Of course, having three or four gold pieces usually draws the wrath and ire of the other players, who then do their best to stop you from gathering any more. Players can work together to prevent someone from achieving a goal. For example, being able to lay a tile or move can be a hindrance, but if I lay a ‘Destroy any unoccupied tile’ tile next to your adventurer, you can move into it to destroy that ‘Gain one gold’ tile that the next guy (with four gold) was going to move into to win the game. Of course, it is more devious than that, because you have then made a move that you may not have wanted to, and gone wildly off course (I, of course, knew this, which is why I put the tile next to you in the first place – it screws up the leader, and inconveniences you at the same time). So, while useful, alliances do not last very long at all. There is also an advanced version of the game, where each adventurer gets one special ability that they can use once during the game (the wizard, for example, can move through one wall, or against one arrow once in the game). I have never played this version myself, but can see the possibilities for added mayhem (without becoming too chaotic). The game plays quickly, and is very easy to learn. It is quite enjoyable on the whole, with excruciating strategies and damning cabals rising and falling throughout. But… The production values are, whilst sturdy, a bitch to assemble. The room tiles are well and truly stuck to the sprues, and a craft knife is a necessity to get the blasted things off without ripping the cardboard. The character markers need to be pushed into clear plastic bases slightly too small, so bending and ripping the bottom of the markers is pretty unavoidable (in trying to avoid just this I managed to snap one of the bases in half – and having glued it all back together, it is no longer clear). The artwork is rather good though, with the exception that the Magical Vortex tiles and the Gold Piece tiles can easily be confused with a quick glance. Otherwise it all looks quite impressive, with very different character art (you get a Wizard, a Barbarian, a Thief, a Dwarf, a Knight and an Amazon), all with different coloured backgrounds. My only other moan is that it … well … it doesn’t feel as though we are in a dungeon! I’m not exactly sure if I can put my finger on it, but it feels … false, somehow. Maybe it is the way that something you do over here can affect a room way over there, or maybe it is that all the rooms are exactly the same size. But whatever it is, I never get the feeling of crawling through a wide maze desperately searching for gold. However, as a game it succeeds quite well, even if the theme isn’t an exact match. I do recommend the game for a bit of a filler or a break from your regular games, as it is quick and easy. But I don’t think it will be too long before the novelty wears off and it is resigned to the back of the games cupboard…