Gaming with a 5 Year-Old:
Drakon 3rd Edition
(a.k.a. "The Dragon Game")



Manufacturer's Suggested Ages: 6+

This is the 3rd installment of Gaming with a 5 Year-Old - a series of ten-point hybrid reviews/session reports from CLS Games that focus on reviewing games from the perspective of a father who plays games with his 5 year-old son.

Other reviews in this series are available here:

Gaming with a 5 Year-Old: AGRICOLA

Gaming with a 5 Year-Old: FORMULA DE

Gaming with a 5 Year-Old: QUORIDOR

Gaming with a 5 Year-Old: STONE AGE


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I. Theme:

Your five year-old son may or may not have an affinity for fantasy (mine did not), but it is never too early to expose junior to one of Dad's favorite game themes. However, because this game is also a maze building game, expect junior to want to jump right in and play.


II. Components:



The plastic miniatures are fairly delicate, but should survive careful handling from your five-year old. My son started playing at 3.5 and there were some high anxiety moments when he wanted to handle the minatures. Fortunately, he always wanted to play the Barbarian which is one of this game's more sturdy miniatures.


The tiles are extremely thick (if you are familiar with tiles in Carcassonne you will find these to be much more durable) and they have a nice texture to them (just do not look at the ugly edges)


III. Playing Time:

The game length is easily scalable since it is based upon the number of coins you set as the winning number. If you only have 10 minutes, play to 4 gold (with each coin counting as 1 gold, regardless of the number printed on the coin). But, if you have 1/2 an hour, you can play to 8 or more gold.


IV. Reading Requirement:


If you do not consider the player reference cards, no text of any kind required for play. Each of the tiles has a symbol (no text) to indicate its special function. After 5-6 dozen plays, junior should have most of them memorized and a dozen games, he will be completely fluent.


V. Complexity:

The mechanical choices here each turn are simple. Move your pawn or place a tile. But, playing the best tile each turn is something the offspring will not immediately be able to do. That said, you son's erratic tile choices will make for varied and interesting games since you cannot predict what he will do next.


VI. Modifications:

None required, though depending upon the age and math skills of your son, you may want to disregard the printed number on each coin and count each coin as "one" (this also serves to reduce the luck-factor a bit). Also, you probably should not play with the "character unique abilities" until junior has numerous games under his belt.


VII. Handicapping:

Similar to the handicapping in Quoridor, you can let junior play with more tiles than you, though this is far-less elegant and efficient a mechanism with Drakon. Generally tile differential here works best if you allow your son to play with the normal allotment of 4 tiles and you play with 1 less (playing with fewer than 3 makes the game much much less interesting for Dad). That said, there is enough luck in the tile drawing that tile handicapping is not really necessary to give junior a fair chance at winning. Ultimately, tile placement decisions are the most important factor in determining the winner.


Once your son is thoroughly familiar with the game mechanics and tiles, if you decide to play the with "character unique abilities," the best way to handicap the game is to allow your son additional blue markers so that he can use his special ability more than once per game.


VIII. Memorable Moments:


Expect your son to cackle with glee the first time he screws your carefully laid plans by placing the harp or pouncing on your hero with the dragon.


IX. Fun Factor:
..... for Jr.
..... for Daddy



X: OVERALL GRADE:

This is the 2nd "real" board game by son ever played (the first was Quoridor) and after 50+ plays, with both continue to love playing it.