Reign of Dragoness

Growing up, no matter what we were doing as a family a pack of cards was never far away. Being the youngest of my siblings by quite someway I’d be a bit bored of the chat at family gathering at our house and always ask to play a game. Not that I think anyone minded, I think they actually quite enjoyed it. Similarly a pack of cards was always in the suitcase for holiday to the coast and would always come out for a game after the evening stroll and just before bedtime, or when we (frequently) got rained off.

What I’ve learnt since I got older is that not everyone plays exactly the same rules for card games, and sometimes there even called different names. While ‘chase the ace’ is pretty standard, our game of ‘trumps’ or ‘pontoon’ is often called something else by others, or maybe the same name but a variation on the rules. I mean we even had a game we called ‘our Neil’s game’ because my brother Neil taught it to us. My kids still call this ‘Uncle Neil’s Game’ and it’s clearly not what its name is.

Another favourite was always rummy, now whichever way you play rummy it always has some variation on runs and sets of numbers. Reign of Dragoness, to me is a nifty little twist on the gameplay of rummy and oh boy is it clever.

Unleash The Dragoness!

Reign of Dragoness is a beautifully illustrated game, it comprises of 105 cards, the majority of which feature (unsurprisingly) dragons, but in addition there are the odd special cards including the obligatory wild cards. The dragons are split into 8 ‘clans’ some clans being more powerful than others, these are denoted by the number of gems featured up the side of the card. Then within each clan there are dragons numbered 1 to 12. A higher number will always win a lower number but if the numbers are the same, the higher clan wins. So for instance the lowest clan – Lochen has one gem and the highest clan – Gylden has 8 so a Lochen 12 (one gem) would be higher than a Gylden 11 (8 gem) but not higher than a Gylden 12.

In addition to the standard clans there are several wild cards (Page, Squire and Dragon Knight) which can replace some numbers and belong to certain dragon clans also. There are also three revive cards, and of course the Dragoness herself, with a value of 13 she is almost unbeatable! You will dictate the number of dragon clans, wilds and revives you use in Reign of Dragoness depending on the number of people you have playing. Personal choice on which clans you use, this is a great way to make the game very adaptable to larger and smaller groups.

You’ll each be dealt 13 cards, the idea of Reign of dragoness is to be the first player to get rid of all their cards, if you do you’ll be awarded three points. Then the player with the lowest number of cards left receives 2 points, and the next lowest 1. Five rounds are played like this, then total your scores and the highest points total wins.

How Do You Stop A Dragon?

Put the fire extinguisher down, no need in Reign of Dragoness, these dragons are merely cardboard! From your hand of 13 you’ll need to form sets, runs or play a single card. A set being several of the same number (e.g. 8,8,8) and a run being a consecutive run of numbers (e.g. 1,2,3,4) regardless of the clan. Sets must be at least 2 (well obviously as less than that is a single card!) and runs must be between 3-5 cards. The player to go first is whoever has the lowest card, so lowest number from the lowest clan. Whoever leads out sets the pattern to be followed, if it’s a set of 3, only sets of 3 can be played, if it’s a run of 4 only another run of 4 can be played by the next player etc. So long as the formula of your cards matches whatever was led out and your highest card is higher than theirs your good to go.

Now if you can’t play anything that follows in the same way as what the lead player put down, you pass, if you pass you’re out of the challenge. When everyone has passed and play returns back to whoever put the highest hand of cards down, that challenge round is over and the payer who played the last set leads out.

If you’re lucky enough to have a special card use them wisely. The revive card is a cheeky little egg that does what it says, revives! When you play this card it effectively resets the cards in play, and while you still have to follow the pattern, you no longer have to be higher than the previous cards. It cannot however be played onto a 12 or the Dragoness. The Dragoness itself with a value of 13 can be used as a single card or as part of a run (e.g. 10,11,12,13) but not in a set as there is only one of her, the wilds also have their own rules about which number they represent if played as a single card.

Jump On The Dragon Band Wagon

Reign of Dragoness is a great little game from Grandpa Becks, I almost love it as much as Skull King, in fact, I think due to its more simplistic scoring and quick rounds, sometimes it lends itself better to larger groups of players than skull king does. You’ll find yourself constantly managing and rearranging your hand as what you thought might be a fantastic run, you could possibly never get a chance to play so you have to cannibalise it into other patterns to ensure you’re not left holding all your cards.

You’ll also be needing to keep a close eye on opponents, who has the best strategy. Who has 1 card left? Who has almost a full hand with flexibility to play patterns? Who might have the dragoness? Should you save your high cards, or play them now to gain control?

And of course, like any great game there are extra rules you can play once you’ve got to grips with Reign of Dragoness, things like passing tactically, allowing a revive to be used on a 12 or – our personal favourite – the ‘dragon horde’ which allows you to ignore the set pattern in some circumstances!