Dragomino

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Dragomino
Game data
author Bruno Cathala , Marie Fort and Wilfried Fort
graphic Maëva da Silva, Christine Deschamps
publishing company Blue Orange Games (US, F, BE 2020),
Pegasus Games ( DA-CH 2020)
Publishing year 2020
Art Placement game
Teammates 2 to 4
Duration 15 to 20 minutes
Age from 5 years

Awards

Children's game of the year 2021
As d'Or - Jeu de l'Année Enfant 2021
several other game award nominations

Dragomino is a breeze in the form of a fantasy - laying game . The average playing time is around 15 minutes. It's the children's game of 2021.

Strictly speaking, it is an independent children's version of Kingdomino , the game of the year 2017. The game authors are Bruno Cathala , Marie Fort and Wilfried Fort. The German-language edition was published by Pegasus Spiele during Spieletagen Essen 2020 . At about the same time an English-language edition was published by Blue Orange Games from San Francisco and a French-language edition by Blue Orange (EU).

According to the manufacturer, the game for two to four people is suitable for children from the age of five. The fantasy theme is the joint exploration of a dragon island, which is created in a new and different way by placing the cardboard dominoes. The graphic illustration was provided by Maëva da Silva and Christine Deschamps.

The Children's Game of the Year jury justified its decision as follows:

“As a sibling game from Kingdomino, it brings an interesting and fantastic atmosphere to the table, in which children can find their way around completely after just one game. Luck and deliberation are kept in an exciting balance. "

- Jury statement

equipment

In addition to the instructions, there are:

  • 0 4 starting dominoes
  • 0 28 dominoes with 6 different types of landscape: desert, snow, steppe, forest, mountains, volcano
  • 0 69 dragon tiles
  • 0 1 figure of the dragon mother (made of wood) as the starting player marker

Course of the game and goal

All dominoes are shuffled face down and laid out as a supply pile. The top four stones are placed face up in the middle of the table. Each player gets a starting stone. The kite eggs are sorted by color and placed next to them. The youngest player receives the mother dragon and begins the game.

In your turn, you choose one of the tiles from the middle of the table and place it on your own dominoes. The tile must be placed horizontally or vertically on at least one other domino tile. The landscape types do not play a role.

Now it is time to look for dragon eggs. If dominoes lying next to each other of the same type of landscape (e.g. forest and forest) are connected, you draw a dragon egg of the corresponding color. It is placed face up between the two tiles so that you can remember that a dragon's egg has already been found for this connection. It is quite possible to find several dragon eggs in one move. No eggs are found in two differently colored adjoining types of landscape. There are seven dragon eggs for each type of landscape, but some have more empty ones.

On the back of the dragon egg tiles, either a baby dragon, which earns you one victory point, or an empty egg shell can be depicted. As a consolation, the child in question who has revealed “empty” receives the mother dragon as the starting player marker. However, if the next player also finds an empty eggshell, the dragon mother must be passed on to him. The last person left empty may be the first to take a new domino in the next round.

The next round begins when each child draws a new domino and then places it in turn. As soon as all domino tiles from the supply have been played, the game ends. Found dragon babies and the dragon mother each score one point. Whoever has the most points is the best "dragon researcher" and the winner. In the event of a tie, the child wins with the most empty dragon eggs.

There is also a variant for advanced players with a longer playing time. The source symbols found on some dominoes play a role here. If these borders on the same type of landscape, the child may look at two eggs of the corresponding color and choose one of them (of course the one that is not empty).

criticism

The material quality is good: The plates are made of thick cardboard and are therefore stable and durable. Each baby dragon has its own graphic with attention to detail.

The board game magazine states that the rules are kept simple and understandable, so that the children come into play without long explanations. An arc of tension arises each time the plates are turned over. Impulsive disappointment is cushioned by the fact that the child then receives the wooden figure of the mother dragon. Thanks to the short playing time, the game is also suitable for in between.

The game cultists , a group with the hobby of board games, found that the game helps to practice impulse control by following the order of play. Preschoolers in particular would be all too happy to skip players. The family games portal Simone Spielt notes that the little ones have to learn to think carefully about which type of landscape is most likely to produce a baby dragon.

One of the weaknesses of the three and even more four game, the adult reviewer at BoardgameMonkeys noticed that being the starting player can be a disproportionate advantage and potentially a major disadvantage being last. The children rehearsing with him didn't mind.

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b "Dragomino" is the children's game of the year 2021 , spiel-des-jahres.de from June 14, 2021, accessed June 14, 2021
  2. ↑ a b c d Dragomino: Kinderspiel, Legespiel, Review , boardgamemonkeys.com from May 20, 2021, accessed June 14, 2021
  3. ↑ a b Dragomino - Children's Game of the Year 2021 , brettspiele-magazin.de, accessed June 14, 2021
  4. ↑ Find the baby dragons! , spielkultisten.de from June 6, 2021, accessed June 14, 2021
  5. ↑ Egg, egg, ... what's slipping there? , familienspiele-gesellschaftsspiele.de, accessed June 14, 2021