Bomb the Dragon
Bomb the Dragon Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- Dragon Tail Card ×1
- Dragon Body Cards ×19 (each shows a Vitality Points value and Victory Points icons)
- Dragon Head Card ×1
- Firecracker Cards ×45 (each shows a Power Value, a number of Lanterns, and a Special Effect where applicable)
Setup
Arrange the cards as follows:
- Dragon Deck: shuffle all cards.
- Firecracker Deck: shuffle all cards.
- Place the Dragon Tail Card and the Dragon Head Card at the two ends of the dragon.
- Place as many Dragon Body cards as there are players, in ascending order of value, between the Dragon Tail Card and the Dragon Head Card.
- The area in front of the dragon is called the Bombing Zone.
Deal 3 Firecracker cards to each player.
Objective of the Game
Choose and place your Firecracker cards under the Dragon Body. Add their Power Values to meet or exceed the Dragon's Vitality Points. Explode the Dragon to earn Victory Points.
Game Flow
The game is played over several rounds, each consisting of multiple turns.
Each player starts with 3 Firecracker cards in hand.
Each turn is played in 4 steps.
1. Choose Firecracker Cards
- Each player chooses 1 Firecracker card from their hand and places it face down on the table.
- Once all players have selected a card, reveal them simultaneously.
2. Place Firecracker Cards
- The player with the lowest Power Value begins. (In case of a tie, the player with fewer Lanterns on their card goes first.)
- That player places their Firecracker card in the Bombing Zone, under the first Dragon Body slot on the left.
- Then, in ascending order, each player places their Firecracker card from left to right.
- The Power Values of the Firecracker cards in each position are added together as soon as a player places their card.
- If the total Power is lower than the Vitality Points of the Dragon Body card, nothing happens. The Firecracker cards remain in place for the next turn.
- If the total Power is equal to or higher than the Vitality Points of the corresponding Dragon Body card, the player takes that Dragon Body card face up and places it in front of them. The player then removes all associated Firecracker cards and places them in the discard pile.
Examples from the rulebook: 5 + 5 < 12 (nothing happens); 8 + 9 = 17 (the Dragon Body card is taken).
3. Complete the Dragon
- Once all players have placed their cards, draw cards from the Dragon deck to fill empty spaces in the Dragon Body.
- Rearrange the cards in ascending order.
If the Dragon deck is empty, see End of Round.
4. Draw Cards
- Each player draws until they have 3 Firecracker cards in hand.
- If the Firecracker deck is empty, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.
End of Round
- If there are not enough Dragon Body cards to fill the empty spaces, the round ends immediately. Record each player's Victory Points.
- Set up a new round following the initial setup.
Example
In a 4-player game, two Firecracker cards (Power 7 and 9) are already in the Bombing Zone.
- Christophe plays 3.
- Yoann plays 5.
- Miguel plays 6.
- Oranne plays 8.
Christophe and Yoann do not reach the required Vitality.
Miguel: 6 + 7 = 13, which exceeds 12. He takes the card and scores 3 points. He discards the Firecracker cards with Power 7 and 6.
Oranne: 8 + 9 = 17, which equals 17. She takes the card and scores 5 points.
At the end of the turn, 2 new Dragon Body cards (4 and 12) are added from the Dragon deck. They are placed in ascending order: 4 first, shifting the other cards, and 12 at the far right. The remaining Firecracker cards shift accordingly.
A new turn begins.
End of Game
- The game ends when a player reaches 50 points or more at the end of a round.
- The player with the highest total wins the game.
- In case of a tie, the player with the fewest Dragon Body cards wins. If there is still a tie, all tied players share the victory.
2-Player Rules
- Place 4 Dragon Body cards between the Dragon Tail and Dragon Head cards.
- The hand limit is 4 cards.
- Each player plays 2 Firecracker cards per turn.
- All other rules remain unchanged.
Special Firecracker Cards
1 · String of Firecrackers. When you play this card, draw 1 Firecracker card from the deck and add its value to the total Power. If the drawn card is a Special Firecracker card, its effect is ignored.
2 · Rocket. When you play this card, place it last under any Dragon Body card. If the Vitality threshold is reached, you take that card.
3 · Double Firecracker. When you play this card, if the Vitality threshold is reached:
- Take the Dragon Body card.
- Double its Victory Points.
Place this card face down in front of you to track the doubled points at the end of the round. Negative points are also doubled.
Special Dragon Body Cards
4 Vitality Card. In Chinese culture, "4" represents bad luck. Taking this card causes you to lose 3 points.
13 Vitality Card. Taking this card increases your hand limit by 1 until the end of the round.