Ravensburger in The Year of The Dragon: 10th Anniversary Edition Strategy Board Game

For only $20 for a Stefen Feld game, the designer of my all-time favorite game Castles of Burgundy, how could I pass it up?! This game has a very similar feel to the original Alea copy of CoB, with the very thin cardboard pieces and let's admit it, not a very pretty game. I guess that's why one reviewer thought it was a counterfeit game, but no, that's just how you are able to get a pretty darn good board game for only $20! There's a lot of gameplay packed into that box including a couple of expansions. This one isn't quite as good as CoB, but is similar in having a fairly simple ruleset, but much more complex gameplay when it comes to doing well in the game. While I like Castles best at 2p, this one is better at the higher player counts in terms of the game play although it does extend the time to complete the game. You have to think several turns ahead here, and there's the constant push-pull of whether to get more powerful people or stay ahead in the turn order. For me the value here for the price easily rates it 5 stars, but I am an experienced board games that likes highly strategic games, this is not a game for beginner or casual board gamers.

This game is so slept on. It's a great Euro, it can be brutal. It's the only game I know where you're just barely keeping your head above water from start to finish, and so is everyone else. It's basically a game of who is clever enough to suffer the least.

Best $20 I ever spent on a game. Feels a little like Puerto Rico but half the rules. It can also be a little lacking with two players in the sense that two aggressive players could use a single block to potentially cost one the game and you just have to suffer the remaining turns. It can also be a little repetitive; 12 months = 12 turns of the same types of choices but for the simplicity it also offers some depth and allows players to pick it up quickly. Set up can be a bit of a pain. That's my criticism. Its surprisingly a great game thats theme matches the design. Make the most with what youve got. Good resource management a little bit of engine building and several potential strategies without being point salad. This one fills a nice spot in my collection its fun and intriguing to see what gold you can find as you strategize and draft your way through its river of pain.

I personally enjoy this game, it's not a mind blowing experience, but it is a good game. The real quick rundown of In The Year of the Dragon is this...you must manage twelve months of damage control for your people. Plagues, celebrations, wars, et cetera are going to happen. Someone is going to be the most prepared, someone is going to be keeping their head above water, and someone will be sitting at the table with the walls falling down around them. The key to the game is being the most prepared as often as possible as everyone at the table gets beat over the head with the same alternating balance of disaster and calmness over twelve rounds. Those making good decisions and having good foresight will have a great time, and those who cannot....are probably going to have a miserable time. Someone is definitely going to lose this game, and In The Year of the Dragon is DEFINITELY going to kick them while they are down.

If you like Feld, you HAVE to get this game. Even if it turns out you don't care for this one, you cant lose right now for 20$. Proceed with caution. This is not a game for the faint of heart. This is a brutally tight game of "disaster mitigation." You start with 2 rounds without events. you will use those to prepare for the onslaught of events in the next 10 rounds of the game. There are 5 types of events (2 copies of each) and almost every one of them will wreak HAVOC on your little engine. You will watch in agony as the palace you had barely started to lay foundation on in the first two rounds is slowly brought to its knees by round after round of tribulations. You should, however, take solace in the fact that your enemies around the table are suffering at the hands of plague, and famine, and taxation, just as you do. Not only that, but take the opportunity to occasionally throw your better judgment out the window and let the palace crumble for a turn while you move ahead in the VERY PRECIOUS turn order. Once you have surpassed your rivals on the turn order track, you can use the vantage to deprive them of whatever little hope they were clinging to. I've literally seen someone end this game with NOTHING left in front of them on the table. They had lost every single person and structure in their palace, and came in a VERY close second. Remember, the goal isn't to help your people survive. The goal is to win. ; ) Ahhhhhh.... I love this game.

This game is incredibly deep - much deeper than it initially appeared. My brain actually hurt while playing it! There are so many layers and things that you have to think about that what I thought was a good strategy, turned out to bite me in the butt a little later on. Everyone in my gaming group gave it a thumbs up. I'm already trying to formulate a winning strategy for the next playthrough. You MUST pay attention to almost every little detail - failure to take care of certain things will create a big problem for you later on - I guarantee it. The rules are fairly straightforward, but you'll see that there are many of them. Each game mechanic works almost the same though so what appears to be difficult to understand is just a matter of repetition. Combine all of them and the intermingling of strategies becomes evident. For the price, this game is a winner. The playtime is not short, but not overly long either.

Have the first edition of this game and bought the expansions when they first came out. However, saw this anniversary edition with everything in it and had to buy it. I have loved this game since it was first released. My copy was getting a bit worn out, so I decided to get a new copy. Love it!

I have Castles of Burgundy, Notre Dame, and Jorik on my Feld shelf as well. This one is definitely worthy to go next to those. It is brutal though... whenever you feel like being Not Good Enough, just play this game. It always leaves you wanting to try new strategies, and you will probably want to play it again immediately after the first game (if your ego isn't too badly hurt).

Item 100% as described. Thanks

Beim ersten Lesen der Anleitung und der Gesichter meiner Kinder hatte ich befürchtet, einen zu komplizierten Fehlkauf getätigt zu haben, aber das Gegenteil ist der Fall. Also auch bei den zunächst kompliziert erscheinenden Regeln unbedingt dranbleiben - es lohnt sich! Wir haben den ganzen verregneten Sonntag Runde um Runde gespielt. Meine Mitspieler waren zwischen 8 und zehn Jahre alt. Jetzt bin ich gespannt auf die Erweiterungen!

Ristampa di uno dei giochi più famosi di Stefan Field, compresa una piccola espansione: facile e rapido da spiegare, offre una interazione continua e "cattiva" tra i giocatori da tenere sempre sul filo del rasoio. Non tutti i giocatori lo apprezzano, specie per chi magari preferisce meccaniche più complesse e raffinate, ma nella sua semplicità il gioco è davvero bello e offre una buona profondità strategica...... poi, come sempre nella vita, è sempre questione di gusti.

Il gioco è bello e "cattivo". Gioco di sopravvivenza in cui è necessario resistere alle catastrofi che nel corso dell'anno ci giungeranno addosso. Il gioco è una riedizione per il 10° anniversario dall'uscita. Speravo in dei materiali migliorati. Il tabellone si è già rovinato nei punti di piega. Inoltre avrei sostituito alcuni segnalini in cartone con dei token in legno. Comunque bel gioco.

Gioco bellissimo e entrato nella mia top 3 dei miei giochi preferiti