DRAGON'S GOLD (Eurogames/Descartes, USA;    $13.95)

  Slaying dragons and claiming their treasure has always been a goal of sword and sorcery adventurers. Now, with Dragon's Gold, another problem arises. Once the dragon is vanquished, how do you divide up the loot?

   Dragon's Gold is a new entry in Eurogames' Blue Box series, designed by Bruno Faidutti. Its small box holds 18 Dragon cards, 1 Market card, 24 Adventurer cards (six sets in four colors), 126 wooden treasure tokens in assorted colors (and a cloth bag to hold them), a 60-second sand timer, six treasure screens (with score summaries on their reverse) and four pages of rules. (Also present are 17 Magic Object cards, only used when playing with the advanced rules.)  For three to six players, this is a low complexity game, taking less than an hour to play.

   Treasure is what we're after and the treasure in the game is represented by cubes of different colors in varying amounts, from silver (the most common treasure with 35 of those cubes available) to the rare black diamond (of which there is only one)!

   Each player has an identical set of four adventurers in his service: two Knights (valued at 4 and 3), a Wizard (valued at 2) and a Thief (valued at 1). In addition, players receive a scoring summary card/ treasure screen (used to hide a player's captured treasure). The Dragon cards are shuffled and four are dealt, face up, in a row in the gaming area. These are the Dragons that will face the might of the players. The Marketplace card is inserted between the 7th and 8th Dragons in the remaining deck.

   Each Dragon has a set of values. The number on top of the card (from 5 to 10) represents the Dragon's strength. The number on the bottom left (ranging from 0 to 11) indicates the KNOWN amount of treasure hoarded by that Dragon. That number of cubes is withdrawn from the bag and placed on the Dragon's card so all can see what treasure is available. The number on the bottom right (ranging from 0 to 9) alert the adventurers to extra treasure that will be discovered once the Dragon is defeated, although the precise nature of that treasure is unknown. Defeating Dragons - and divvying up the spoils - is the essence of the game.

   In turn, players play one of their adventurers under an exposed Dragon card. As cards are played, the totaled values of the adventurers increases. If the sum of the attacking cards is less than the Dragon's strength, nothing happens and play continues. But if the sum matches or exceeds the Dragon's strength, the Dragon is slain, any additional treasure is added to the trove and the treasure is ready to be claimed! If the Dragon is killed by the adventurers of only one player, that player gets ALL of the treasure - but if more than one player is involved, the spoils MUST be divided.

   All players involved in slaying the Dragon have ONE MINUTE to decide how the treasure will be divided. If they can agree, fine. If not, ALL of the treasure is discarded and is out of the game! Once done, the adventurers are returned to their respective players, face down. They become active again only when that player has no other adventurers to send out against Dragons.

   To compensate for their relative weakness, the Wizard and Thief bring a little something "extra" to the battle. When using the basic rules, the Wizard has first call on all the red cubes (which symbolize magic objects). If more than one Wizard is involved in a Dragon's demise, the red cubes are shared. The advanced rules add Magic Object cards, cards that can be claimed by Wizards who have received a red treasure cube in their share of the loot. These cards "bend" the rules to a player's advantage. They can allow a player to turn face down adventurer cards face up, strengthen a Dragon (against an opponent), strengthen your own attack, shift treasure tokens etc. Player Alert: There is one card that is so onerous that you should immediately remove it from the game. The "Invisible Hand" allows the player holding it actually "steal" tokens from the game area until he is discovered. This card goes so far outside the realm of "normal" game play that it nearly destroys the enjoyment of the game. 

   Thieves, as can be surmised, steal! Any thief who helped defeat the Dragon may take, at random, a treasure cube from behind the screen of any other player who helped slay that Dragon. Should a Wizard and a Thief from the same player be involved in slaying the dragon, then the Wizard aids the Thief in his theft by allowing the Thief to SEE behind the screen when making his pick.

   Once the treasure is divided, a new Dragon is drawn with treasure placed on the Dragon (as per the Dragon's card) so that there are always four Dragons available for combat. Play continues in this way until the 7th Dragon from the draw deck is played and the Marketplace is exposed. At that point, players have ONE minute to trade treasure cubes among themselves if they wish. After the Marketplace, regular play resumes.

   When the last cube is drawn from the bag, the game is nearly over. From that point, only Dragons remaining on the table may be attacked. (Any Dragons not drawn are out of the game.) Once the last Dragon is vanquished and the last treasure divided, points are totaled.

   Silver pieces (35 silver cubes in the game) are worth 1 point each at game's end. Gold pieces (20 gold cubes) are worth 3 points each while red "magic objects" (16) are also worth 1 point. The other colors (blue, green, purple, yellow and white) represent precious stones. Their values depend on whether the basic or advanced rules are in play. In basic play, the player with the most precious stones in each color can score anywhere from 10 to 15 points (depending on the number of players in the game). With the advanced rules, players score 5 points for each SET (that is, one EACH of blue, green, purple, yellow and white) they manage to accumulate. Finally, there is ONE black diamond. In the basic game, this cube is worth 7 points. In the advanced game, its value rises to 15 points but the player who has it scores NO points for any precious stones they may have. (They still score for gold, silver and magical objects, however.) The player with the most points wins!

   The use of a timer (penalizing everyone with losing ALL the treasure if an agreement is not reached in time) keeps the game moving along. The basic rules work well. The advanced rules bring the magic cards into play and make the black diamond a more attractive but more risky reward (as it negates other potential scores) and add choices to play. But these added options are a trade-off as those magic cards unleash more chaos and unpredictability to game play. (And beware that "Invisible Hand"!) It all comes down a question of taste. As the adage says, "You pay your money and you take your choice".

   Dragon's Gold is a surprisingly satisfying light diversion of dragon-slaying and treasure seeking. And a game worth seeking out! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Herb Levy