GOLDENER DRACHE ( GOLDEN DRAGON ) BOARD GAME RULES

A fantasy game for 2 to 5 players ages 10 and up by Wolfgang Riedesser published by FX Sshmid in 1992

The goal of the game is to be the first to get your dragon to the Golden Volcano. (If you fly through the liquid gold in the golden volcano it makes you a golden dragon, which is apparently much better than a mundane dragon) Game Materials 1 board, 5 dragon figures, 5 figure stands, 5 wind-stone holders, 30 blue wind-stones, 7 transparent volcano stones, 10 Lightning cards, 10 Storm cards, 1 sheet with stickers for the wind-stones and volcano stones. Before the first game, transfer the stickers to the appropriate stones (the letters go on the blue stones), and attach the dragons to the stands. At the start of the Game Place the golden volcano stone in the southern-most space with a hole in the board. Place the red volcano stones in the other spaces with holes in them. Each player starts with 1 dragon, 2 Lightning cards, 2 Storm cards, 1 wind-stone holder, 6 windstones, one of each direction. If there are fewer than five players, return the excess materials to the box. The youngest player chooses one of his wind-stones and places his dragon on it at the northern edge of the board, on space number 1. The other players in clockwise order place their dragons on numbers 2 through 5 the fifth player can choose which number 5 space to start on. The other five wind-stones are placed in any order the player chooses in his wind-stone holder. This is secret from the other players. Note that you can only draw the left-most wind-stone, and each wind-stone you pick up must be placed in the right-hand side, to be drawn five moves from placing it in. [Added by sos: Some thought should be given to stone placement, though you may not understand what is required of you in your first game. So play a few practice rounds and start over.] Each player places his Lightning and Storm cards face up in front of him. They remain face up until used, and the number you have remaining is public knowledge. Rules The youngest player starts, then play moves clockwise around the table. Each turn a player must make three moves before the next player takes their turn. Each move has three steps: 1. take the wind-stone on the left end of your wind-stone holder and place it next to a dragon, using the rules below; 2. move the dragon to the new wind-stone just placed; 3. pick up the recently vacated wind-stone and place it in the right-hand side of your wind-stone holder. Repeat those steps for each of the three moves, then play passes to the next player.

A wind-stone can only be placed directly adjacent to a dragon in the direction printed on the wind-stone. The directions are printed on the board (O stands for Ost German for East). Thus the N wind-stone can only be placed directly adjacent on the north side of a dragon. You can play wind-stones on your own or on an opposing players dragon. Thus you try to use those stones which give favorable movement on your own dragon, and those that are unfavorable on your opponents dragons. You can only play the leftmost wind-stone each move. [Im not sure the rules mention it, but Ive heard from a player that you cannot lift a dragon not even your own! to see what stone is currently under it. That is, the dragon you are moving hides the stone you will be getting. So the game has some memory elements.] You may not place a stone on a red volcano, on another dragon, or off the playing field. You must play a stone that hurts yourself or helps an opponent if you have no other play with it! Exception: you are not forced to move an opponent onto the Golden Volcano. If you have no legal plays with your current wind-stone, show it to the other players for verification, and put it in the right-hand side of your wind-stone holder. This counts as one of your three moves for the turn, however. After you have made three moves, the next player takes their turn. Storm and Lightning Cards Every player starts with two Storm cards and two Lightning cards. Each card can be used only once in a game after use, put the card back in the game box. A Storm card allows you to take five moves on your turn instead of the normal three moves. You must make all five moves if you play a Storm card. You must play a Storm card at the beginning of your turn for it to be valid. You may not play two Storm cards on the same turn. A Lightning card is a veto. When an opposing player plays a wind-stone with the intention of moving your dragon, you may play a Lightning card. This forces the other player to play the windstone on some other dragon. If all further moves are either vetoed by other players or there are no other legal plays, the player whose turn it is must put the wind-stone in the right-hand side of his wind-stone holder, and it counts as one of his moves for that turn. [Added by sos: You may not veto your own placement this is inherent in the rules, as it says you can only veto a move by another player.] Game End The game ends when a dragon moves onto the Golden Volcano. The player who owns this dragon wins the game. Note that the Golden Volcano takes up two spaces, and you can move onto it with two different wind-stones from the spaces directly adjacent to it. See the illustration in the German rules, p. 7.