Dragons: Sample game

Here is a sample completed game of Dragons. We'll walk through this real briefly to cover scoring and connectivity.

|A|A|Y|A|B|B|

|A|A|A|A|B|B|

|Y|A|Z|Z|Z|B|

|Y|A|Z|Z|Z|B|

|Y|Y|Y|B|B|Z|

|Y|B|Y|Y|Z|Z|

The first thing to note is that there should be 9 of each symbol. if you get any other outcome, some body made a mistake on one of their turns. Remember, you must play exactly one of each of your symbols per turn.

So, what dragons do we see on the board? Well, "A" is a single dragon 9 links long - the very best possible. "B" is divided between 3 dragons: the first being 6 links (top right), the second is 2 links (bottom right), and the last only 1 link (bottom left). Note that the first and second touch diagonally, but that does not constitute "linkage."

Since we only count the Longest dragon of each symbol, Player One gets 9 points from his "A"s and 6 points from "B"s for a total of 15 points.

To simplify the scoring process, you can mark out any non-scoring (i.e. "not-longest") dragon.

|A|A| |A|B|B|

|A|A|A|A|B|B|

|Y|A|Z|Z|Z|B|

|Y|A|Z|Z|Z|B|

|Y|Y|Y| | | |

|Y| |Y|Y| | |

So, let's score Player Two. Y: 8 points, Z: 6 points for a total of 14 points. Note: Y and Z dragons do not link. Ever. Player two does NOT have a 14 link dragon. He has an 8 link and a 6 link.

Final score -

Player One: 15

Player Two: 14

I hope that sheds some light on how the game functions. Tie games are possible, and I have considered giving the second player a half-point handicap, but honestly ties don't bother me so bad at the moment. Maybe that will change over time.