Breath of fire is just a reward. It all depends on the speed and courage of dragons, who soar off into the heavens and have faith to be the most agile in enigmatic air. It’s not just about speed, but also about ability to maneuver and collect as many crystals of fire as possible. But flying is not as simple as it looks from the ground.
And if we can do it better, there’s a game Drache Donnerzahn (Thunder Dragon Tooth) from HABA to let us show it. The author is Felix Leicht, whose name is perfect for flying (Leicht = light) and we see it in connection with these children games for the first time. Illustrations were done by Janina Görrissen. Game was published in 2016 and is recommended from three years up.
Determination has signed on the size and contents of the box. Green box is smaller and contains only a few minor components. First and foremost, it is a folded three-part board, that shows a road of cobbled stones leading through the valley, ready to host dragons. On some of them, there are valuable red crystals and elsewhere is also a vacancy (punch-out circle) for a space of faith. In addition, children welcome four wooden dragon figures, one gray dice, four tokens of faith and a bag of flaming crystals.
At the beginning of the game, players put board fitted with four vortices tokens in middle of the table. Their arrows will be at the beginning pointing to one of two routes and will change back and forth between two possible directions. Four red stones should be placed on the volcano at the end. Players choose any dragon as their own and put it on starting position in the lower left corner.
Rivals in role of dragons will alternate clockwise. But because they do not have wings, they will be throwing dice to at least stirs the air a little. An important is result, however, that is shown on top of the dice after its movement stops. One to three pips may appear there, which indicate the possibility of the dragon movement forward. If players roll a symbol of faith, they must rotate vortex to another path.
When a player stops his dragon on the field, where some crystals are drawn, then immediately get that amount from the pot. Whenever a player passes a swirl or stops on it, he turns it again to point to the other side.
All the dragons are flying through the valley, collectinbg colored stones and using vortices cleverly in their favor. Whoever arrives first to the finish gets a bonus in the form of four stones. After that, all rivals may use counter on the other side of the board, which determines, who has the most fire stones. That player is the winner.
Drache Donnerzahn is pure entertainment for children and it works really well as such. Children learn to count in non-violent manner. They need to know the first three numbers, because there are not more dots on the die. And with counting of stones, players will get help of the other side of the board. And this one will raise their awareness about comparing numbers.
Game is, of course, very luck-dependent. Die controls everything and will not allow any tactical decision or take advantage of any vortex in their favor. Who has more luck with the dice roll, wins. Some ways are better than others, but the player besides the proper articulation of faith must have only luck to stop on the right fields.
This is a very quick fun, that fits beautifully for playing with family. Game takes about ten minutes, and does not offer anything malicious. Children enjoy it all the time. There are certainly a significant proportion of colored stones and figurines of dragons. Processing is nice and colorful, exactly as it should be in children game.
Drache Donnerzahn is an excellent game for the very smallest. Children will train numbers with it and are entertained only by using dice. Coincidence does not matter to these small humans, although rolling dice brings enough of luck into the match. Even dragons do not react to other racers, so there is no conflict whatsoever. Drache Donnerzahn is really working with children of three years age!
| Designer | Felix Leicht | |
| Artist | Janina Görrissen | |
| Publisher | HABA | |
| Year Published | 2016 | |
| # of Players | 2 - 4 | |
| User Suggested # of Players | Best with 4 players Recommended with 2 players (2 voters) | |
| Playing Time | 15 | |
| Mfg Suggested Ages | 3 and up | |
| User Suggested Ages | 3 and up (1 voters) | |
| Language Dependence | No necessary in-game text (1 voters) | |
| Category | Children's Game | |
| Mechanic | Dice Rolling, Roll / Spin and Move | |
| Family | Components: Gems/Crystals, Creatures: Dragons, Series: Mitbringspiele S (HABA) | |
| Primary Name | Dragon Rapid Fire | |
| Alternate Names | Au Pays des Petits Dragons: Le Jeu, Draak Dondertand: De Vuurkristallen, Drache Donnerzahn: Die Feuerkristalle, Dragon Thunder Tooth: The Fire Crystals, Tuliset lohikäärmeet |
Infos courtesy of boardgamegeek.com. More Infos.
