In case you don't know it, Drako: Dragon & Dwarves is a two player board game Adam Kałuża, lasting about 30 minutes per game and published in 2011 by Rebel. Obtained a moderate success, the game was reissued in 2019 while the European version is expected for November 30, 2020. GateOnGames. Just like Monolith Arena (title we recently reviewed), we are talking about an asymmetrical skirmish on a hexagonal map in which each of the 2 players will control one of the factions included in the box: the dragon or the three dwarves. Two other factions (three knights and two trolls) are instead contained in the second box (which we will review shortly) entitled Drako: Knights & Trolls
Setting and materials
A young dragon has been trapped at the bottom of a valley. The three dwarves, expert hunters, have only a short time to kill him before he manages to escape. The box and the manual of Drako they lead us directly to the heart of the game, without giving us any information about the fantasy world in which the title is set. The miniatures of our version (2019) have been revisited compared to the 2011 edition: the dragon, which now appears much larger and more threatening, benefited from it. The dwarf sculptures have also been updated, while maintaining the same poses as the old version. The illustrations of the cards and game boards appear rather "old-school" but all in all pleasant, while the tokens turned out to be perhaps slightly too small for our tastes and above all a bit too thin.
The mechanics of Drako: Dragon & Dwarves
Playing a Drako: Dragon & Dwarves, the players alternate their turns until the dragon is killed (in which case the dwarves immediately win the game), until the last dwarf is eliminated, or until the dwarves play their last card (in these two cases, the dwarf wins the game). instead the dragon). On their turn, each player has two available actions, where each action consists of either drawing two cards from their deck or playing a card, choosing a symbol from those it contains and applying its effect.
Both decks include cards with melee, movement, and defense attacks, as well as some unique abilities for each faction. The dragon has flight (with which to move at will on the map) and the breath of fire (which hits an entire line of hexagons) while the dwarves have a net with which to immobilize the dragon (which can only free itself by losing one turn) and ranged attack (only for the dwarf armed with a crossbow). The dwarves' last ability, fury, is usable once per game - only by the dwarf with the helmet - and offers an additional action at the cost of one wound. When playing an attack, the dragon will have to declare which of the three dwarves to target (in case more than one dwarf is adjacent) while the dwarf player will be able to direct his blows towards the legs, wings or jaws of the dragon. The death of a dwarf will render the cards with the special ability it possesses (net or ranged attack) useless. Likewise, filling a “part” of the dragon with wound counters will render some of its cards unusable.
Battle to the death
Our matches a Drako: Dragon & Dwarves they have always ended on a tightrope: this is an indication of an excellent balancing job, not always easily achievable in asymmetrical titles. The rules of the game are simple and within everyone's reach, the turns follow one another relentlessly, with the dwarves who will try to bring themselves into close combat (to take advantage of the cards with multiple attacks) and the dragon who will try to escape the physical confrontation, trying instead a good alignment to use flare-ups.
Replayability is not very high, if we limit ourselves to this first box: the starting positions of the miniatures are fixed and the strategies of the two factions are the same at each match, a real shame considering that even just having a different map on the back of the board main would increase the longevity of the game. By combining the title with the second box, Knights and Trolls, the two players will be able to choose any combination of the four available factions for their games. Despite some small flaws, the game still amused us and we can recommend its purchase to both newbies intrigued byasymmetrical setting that to the most experienced gamers looking for a tactical filler for two players. If our review has intrigued you, you can try the game online for free on the yucata.de website: do not forget to like our facebook page first, so as not to miss our next articles.
