OUR REVIEW

Once again, with emotioN!

RIVER DRAGONS

A Family Classic, fondly re-issued

They are really cute, those paunchy little wooden figurines which we use as our playing pieces in River Dragons. At the start of the game we place them on the banks of the Mekong River and intend to reach the other side of the river with them. A very wobbly enterprise, especially when you notice that we have only a few stones that we can chuck into the water and a few planks to drape on those stones in order to achieve our goal.

And as if that would not be enough of a problem, at any time one of the evil River Dragons can appear, which give their name to the game and hinder me to move from my position. The biggest danger, however, comes from those dear fellow players who have exactly the same goal to achieve and like nothing more than to see my man end up in the water and trot, humiliated and dripping wet, back to the bank to start the enterprise, once again….

That works like RoboRally

Well, that comparison might originate from the face-down deploying of five action cards, which determine what players have to do; but the feeling of the game is completely different, because - despite of the pre-determined actions in the given order - you still have the impression that you have choice of their implementation. While in RoboRally the program, when it has been chosen, takes its course irretrievably and you have no influence on the real movement of your robot, you decide yourself in River Dragons where you place a stone or in which direction you want to move. But: This is a treacherous impression, because very often the possible options are not as manifold as you thought, but this provides most of the fun.

But let's start at the beginning, then when you place the lovingly illustrated board on the table, each player has placed his hand-painted man in his village and has been given his six planks, made from real wood, and his own set of action cards.

A double page, generously splattered with pictures, is sufficient to present all the rules including several examples clearly and easily understandable, so that access to the game comes easy and can be reproduced succinctly.

Your aim is to reach the village exactly opposite to your own. The path to this goal is really a bit remindful of RoboRally. With the full complement of players (how nice: You can play River Dragons with up to six players) each player holds up to 13 action cards, which allow him to place one or two stones on the board, which cannot be relocated for the rest of the game. Other cards allow us to place one or two planks on the previously positioned stones or - that is really pretty naughty - remove any empty plank or stone of your choice.

The trick for all this: The active player must assess as exactly as possible which plank he wants to place where, only by looking at stones and planks, eye measurement only, so to say. When the plank is too short and there is no other possibility to place it, your plank is lost and goes out of play.

Aside from those "construction" actions you must of course advance your man, and that also happens with the help of the cards which allow you to advance one or two paces on the wobbly planks or even jump over another man. For each round you lay out five cards face down at the start of the round, in a row, which then are, starting with the starting player, are revealed and resolved in turn.

Especially with the full number of players it is unavoidable that you get in each other's way. You intend to balance across a plank, but … that has just been removed by some grinning individual. The consequence: Your man ends up in the water and can try his luck again, starting from his home village. You plan to jump over an opposing man with an elegant movement, but … the man is no longer there. The consequence: Your man ends up in the water and can try his luck again, starting from his home village.

Dragon Alarm!

The river dragons who gave their name to the game have, regrettably, not made it to the board in three-dimensional manifestation, but appear in the guise of card board shapes. If you place a dragon of an opposing color, you block the action that was planned for that location/position. So it can happen, that you courageously take a big step - and end up in the water, because the placement of the necessary plank has been deleted. The consequence: Your man ends up in the water and can try his luck again, starting … well, you know it by now ….

Occasionally players will be happy to gang up against the leading player, but, as River Dragons comes with a not to be underestimated portion of chance, someone eventually makes it to the targeted village, after a period that is not too long. The mechanics of the game carry it easily to the end and at least one return match is always in the offing. This, too, is a point in favor of the new edition, as is the fresh and loving design.

Once again, with sentiments!

As regards to design and components, Matagot have surpassed themselves, once again. The player pieces, made from real wood and featuring painted faces, are a dream and way beyond the meeples from the old Eurogames versions, which once has been published under the name of Drachendelta. The design of the board, too, supports the gameplay. The pictured villages and their surroundings correspond to the player colors, so that you know at any given moment where you came from and where you should go - one of the big shortcomings of the original edition. Even the planks are not simple cardboard trips, but colored strips of real wood - visually and haptic. River Dragons is an event in itself. The double-sided board, furthermore, provides a second scenario, which is entirely without pre-printed and thus pre-placed stones, which, in the basic version, determine where you place the wooden stones for the planks. In this version it is solely a matter of visual judgment and sense of proportion, because the complete river can be filled any way with stones and planks. A nice idea which offers a challenge even after a lot of plays.

Conclusion

Absolutely deservedly, the original made it onto the selection list for Game of The Year 2001. The new edition did not lose any of its allure for playing. River Dragons today is a pleasure as regards to the mechanisms and the new box comes across livelier than the one of twelve years back. Nice, that Matagot and Pegasus as the German distributor enable us to play this classic game again.

Players: 2-6

Age: 8+

Time: 45+

Designer: Roberto Fraga

Artist: Pierô

Price: ca. 30 Euro

Publisher: Matagot 2013

Web: www.pegasus.de

Genre: tactical placement game

Users: For families

Version: multi

Rules: de en fr it nl

In-game text:

Comments:

Nice design

High-value components

The more players the better the game

Felicitous new edition

Compares to:

Drachendelta

Other editions:

Currently none

My rating: 6

Statements:

You don't notice that the mechanism is more than ten years old - this is a fantastic tactical game with a good allotment of chance, which makes for a thrilling final in each game. In this new version not only a treat is regards to playing, but also a visual and haptic treat.

Chance (pink): 2

Tactic (turquoise): 2

Strategy (blue): 0

Creativity (dark blue): 0

Knowledge (yellow): 0

Memory (orange): 0

Communication (red): 3

Interaction (brown): 3

Dexterity (green): 1

Action (dark green): 1