Magic Dragons Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Overview
• Set Up
• Bidding
• Game Play
  • Rules for Placing Cards
• Capturing a Card Stack
• Ending the Round
• Spell Cards
  • Additional Notes about Spell Cards
• Scoring
• Ending the Game

Contents

Numbered Dragon Cards (35): Red (1-7), Yellow (1-7), Black (1-7), Purple (1-7), Green (1-7).

Spell Cards (9): Ice Spell (4), Fire Spell (2), Color Spell (3).

Bid Cards (7): 0 Bid (1), 1 Bid (2), 2 Bid (2), 3 Bid (1), 4 Bid (1).

Reference Cards (5).

Overview

Players are dealt 7 cards each and take turns playing one card each turn. Most cards in the deck are dragon cards. As dragon cards are played, they are placed into card stacks according to color. Players can "capture" these card stacks by playing a higher-ranked dragon card onto a stack that matches its color. When you capture a card stack, you move it into your play area. If someone later plays an even higher-ranked card onto that stack, they capture it and move it into their play area. In this way, card stacks often move around the table from player to player until the round is complete. The round ends when all players have played every card they can play. Points are scored for cards in your play area at the end of the round. Cards are then gathered and re-shuffled for the next round.

OBJECTIVE: Be the first player to score 40 points by capturing stacks of cards and by correctly predicting how many stacks you will capture each round.

Set Up

1. Separate the reference cards and the bid cards from the rest of the deck. Give a reference card to each player and place the bid cards to the side of the playing area.
2. Choose a player to shuffle the remaining deck and deal 7 cards to each player. Any cards not dealt are set aside and not needed for this round.
3. Players may look at their cards and arrange them in any order they choose.

Bidding

Each round begins with a bid phase. To determine their bid, players examine their hand and predict how many card stacks they expect to have at the end of the round.

• The player to the dealer's left begins the bidding by taking a bid card of their choice from the bid deck and placing that card face-up in front of them.

EXAMPLE: Sir Robert expects to win 2 card stacks this round, so he takes a bid card with the number 2 from the bid deck and places it face-up in his play area.

• Bidding continues in a clockwise direction, with each player choosing from the remaining bid cards until all players have made their bid.
• Bid cards must remain visible in front of each player during play.

The bid cards carry the following bonus points for a correct bid:

Bid card	Bonus points
0	+15 points
1	+10 points
2	+5 points
3	+5 points
4	+5 points

Game Play

The player to the dealer's left begins play by placing a dragon card from their hand face-up in their play area (this starts a card stack of that color).

Play continues in a clockwise direction, with each player playing 1 card per turn according to the following rules:

Rules for Placing Cards

1. Dragons can start new stacks or be played onto lower-numbered dragons of the same color. You may not play a lower-numbered dragon onto a higher-numbered dragon.
2. A dragon cannot start a new stack if there is already a stack of that color visible on the table.
3. New card stacks are always started in the current player's play area.
4. Spell cards cannot start new stacks or be played onto other spells. (See "Spell Cards" section for more rules.)
5. You must play one card each turn unless you have no cards you can play. If you cannot play any of the cards in your hand, play skips you until you are either able to play a card or the round ends.

Illustration of a 2-Player game in Mid-Round: Robert bid 2 for this round and currently has 3 card stacks. Patricia bid 3 for this round and currently has 2 card stacks.

Capturing a Card Stack

Whenever you place a higher-numbered dragon card onto an existing card stack of the same color, you capture the stack of cards and move it into your play area (if it's not already there). If another player later places an even higher-numbered dragon onto it, the stack is captured by them and moved into their play area. In this way, card stacks often move around the table from player to player until the round is complete. Whoever has the card stack in their play area at the end of the round scores points for those cards (see "Scoring" section).

EXAMPLE of Opening Turns (4-Player Game):

• Lady Jodie places a Red Dragon 2 card in her play area (starting a Red Dragon stack).
• Sir Robby places a Black Dragon 1 card in his play area (starting a Black Dragon stack).
• Lady Christine places a Red Dragon 3 card on top of the Red Dragon stack, capturing the stack and moving it into her play area.
• Sir Brian places a Red Dragon 5 card on top of the Red Dragon stack, capturing the stack and moving it to his play area.

Ending the Round

The round ends when every player has either played all their cards or cannot play the remaining card(s) in their hand. Players add up their points and a scorekeeper records the scores on a piece of paper (see "Scoring" section).

Gather the bid cards after each round and keep them separate from the rest of the deck. The player who started the previous round becomes the dealer for the next round. Reshuffle all the playing cards (including ones not used in that round) and deal 7 new cards to each player.

Play as many rounds as needed until a player reaches 40 points (see "Ending the Game" section).

Spell Cards

Spell cards have special powers that can be used on card stacks. Spell cards can be played onto any dragon card, but they cannot be played onto another spell card.

ICE SPELLS FREEZE a stack!

• Place the Ice Spell on top of a card stack, but do not move the stack. The stack will remain "frozen" there for the rest of the round.

FIRE SPELLS DESTROY a stack!

• Place the Fire Spell on top of a card stack and move the stack to the center of the table. The stack will remain "destroyed" there for the rest of the round.

COLOR SPELLS CHANGE a stack's COLOR!

• Place the Color Spell on top of a card stack, then move the stack to the center of the table and name a new color. There are no limitations on which color is chosen.

Note: This is the only scenario where there might be more than 1 card stack of a given color visibly showing during a game.

• The next player to play a dragon card of the named color on top of the Color Spell captures the card stack and moves it into their play area. (The dragon card can be any number as long as it matches the named color.) Once the card stack is in a player's play area, it follows the rules of any other card stack.

Additional Notes about Spell Cards

• Remember spell cards cannot start new card stacks or be played onto other spell cards.
• When a card stack has a spell card on top, that stack no longer has a color. This frees up the color underneath the spell for players to start a new card stack of that color.

EXAMPLE: Lady Christine plays an Ice Spell onto a purple dragon card stack in her play area. This allows Lady Jodie to start a new purple dragon stack in her play area with a purple dragon card from her hand.

Scoring

At the end of each round, record each player's points on a piece of paper. Points are scored as follows:

• +1 point for each card in a player's play area at the end of the round. (Dragon cards and spell cards both score 1 point each.)

• -2 points for each card remaining in a player's hand at the end of the round.

• For a correct bid, the player scores the number of bonus points written on their bid card (points vary depending on the number bid). There is no penalty for an incorrect bid.

• You cannot score below 0 on any round.

• A card stack in the center of the table at the end of the round (because of a Fire Spell or "unclaimed" Color Spell) will not score points for any player.

EXAMPLE: Sir Tim bid 2 and ended the round with 2 stacks (3 Red Dragons, 2 Purple Dragons with an Ice Spell on top). His score is 11 (6 card pts. + 5 bid pts.).

Ending the Game

The first player to reach 40 points is the winner and is crowned the rightful ruler of all kingdoms!

• If 2 or more players get to 40 in the same round, the player with the highest total points wins.
• If it is still a tie, the player with the most cards in their play area at the end of the final round wins.