intheyearofthedragon
In The Year of the Dragon is a game designed by Stefan Feld and published by Alea.
Players take on the role of Chinese rulers around the year 1000. The game plays out in twelve rounds, with each round representing one month in a year that seems to go from bad to worse. Disease, drought, and attacks from the Mongols may claim lives, but make sure you have enough money to offer a tribute to the Emperor.
The game play is easier than it may appear. Every player has a set of "person" cards. Each round, you choose one action (most of which call on your workers' abilities) to help you prepare for the months ahead. Then you play one person card, recruiting that person and placing him into one of your palaces. Each person brings different skills and abilities to help you ride out the year. (Farmers help you gain rice to survive a drought month, Tax Collectors raise money, etc.) At the end of each round, that month's event is triggered, which may cost you some of your workers, some money, or give you points.
Careful planning is the key to surviving "the year of the dragon," but survival alone may not win you the game.
LB_NUMBER_OF_PLAYERS: 2 - 5
Game duration: 20 mn
Complexity: 3 / 5
Play intheyearofthedragon and 960 other games online.
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Play intheyearofthedragon and 960 other games online.
No download, directly from your web browser.
With your friends and thousands of players from the whole world.
Free.
Rules summary
Round Order
The game consists of exactly 12 rounds, symbolizing the 12 months in the Year of the Dragon. Each round consists of the following 4 phases, in order:
- 1st Phase: Choose an Action
- If you choose an action in the same grouping as another player has already chosen, you must pay 3 yuan.
- 2nd Phase: Choose a New Person
- If you do not have available space in any palaces, you must discard a different person before placing your new person.
- 3rd Phase: Event
- After the event resolves, any palaces which are unoccupied lose 1 floor.
- 4th Phase: Scoring
End-of-round Scoring
- 1 point for each palace.
- 1 point For each court lady.
- 1 point For each privilege. (Small privilege = 1 point; Large privilege = 2 points)
End-of-game Scoring
- 2 points for each person tile.
- For each monk: score [number of Buddhas] x [number of floors] points.
- Each player sells back to the supply all of his rice and fireworks tiles for 2 yuan each. Afterward, each player earns 1 victory point for every 3 yuan he possesses.
