Dragonflame

Ah, a day in the life of a dragon — burning villages, plundering castles for treasure and princesses, driving fear into the hearts of the locals — could it get any better? The only problem is that you’re not the only dragon out there. If you want to be the most feared dragon of all, you’ll have to step up your game.

In Dragonflame, earn the most Glory points by collecting loot and burning villages. Village cards are placed in a 3x3 grid on the table and Castle cards are placed in a row. In each round, players are dealt 3 cards, which they take turns placing (one at a time) onto the Castle cards. After all of the cards have been placed, each player decides which of the castles to keep for himself, along with all of the cards it contains. Different cards score points in different ways, and some allow players to place fire tokens on villages to score points at the end of the game.

What really makes the game interesting is that the cards dealt to players in each round do not yet belong to them — they must first strategize how to divide them up among the castles so that they can get the best pick according to their turn order. This card dealing/drafting mechanic adds a layer of bluffing and psychology that ultimately drives the fun of the game.