How to Play Dragonwood

Game Overview

Aged: 8+

Number of Players: 2–4 players

Game Time: 20 minutes

Objective of Dragonwood

Players aim to collect cards to play in an attempt to capture creatures found throughout the Dragonwood forest. Every card played, you gain the use of one die to roll in order to capture the creatures or enhancement cards.

In this magical adventure, you’ll step into a mystical forest to face off against dragons, trolls, and grumpy ogres. Here is how I’ve broken down the basics:

The Goal: You want to be the hero who captures the most valuable creatures and enhancement cards to finish with the highest score.
The Action: On your turn, you’ll choose to either draw a card to build your hand or attempt a capture.
The Combat: To take down a monster, you’ll use sets of cards (like a “Stomp,” “Strike,” or “Scream”) to earn dice.
The Roll: You’ll roll those dice to see if your total beat the creature’s defense. If it did, that creature is yours!

I love how the risk-taking keeps everyone on their toes—will you play it safe with a large set of cards, or try to take down a dragon with just a lucky roll?

Components of Dragonwood

64 Adventurer cards (5 Suits, numbered 1 to 12 and 4 lucky ladybugs)
42 Dragonwood cards, including creatures, enhancements, and events
6 custom dice
Rulebook
2 Turn summary cards

How to set up Dragonwood

I find that getting the forest ready only takes a couple of minutes. Here is exactly how I set everything up for our games:

Prep the Dragonwood Deck: First, I pull out the two dragons (Orange and Blue) and shuffle the rest of the deck. While the rules suggest removing cards based on player count, we usually skip that part and play with the full deck!
Hide the Dragons: I take the bottom half of the deck, shuffle those two dragons into it, and place the whole thing face down. This ensures our big dragon friends don’t show up too early.
Create the Landscape: I reveal the top five cards from the Dragonwood deck and line them up face up. This row of creatures and enhancements is our “landscape.”
Deal the Adventure Cards: I shuffle the Adventure deck and deal five cards to every player. The rest of the deck stays face down nearby for drawing.
Grab the Dice: Finally, I place all six dice in the middle of the table where everyone can reach them.

Now the forest is officially open for exploration!

How to Capture Creatures

Players can attempt to capture a Dragonwood card using one of three attack types:

Strike – Play Adventure cards in numerical order, eg 1, 2,3. They do not have to be the same colour.
Stomp – Play Adventure cards of the same number
Scream – Play Adventure cards of the same colour

After playing the chosen set, the player rolls one die for each card played. They then compare the total rolled to the capture value shown on the Dragonwood card.

If the roll meets or exceeds the required value, the player successfully captures the card and places it in front of them. If the attempt fails, the player discards one Adventure card from their hand, and the turn ends.

Event Cards

Some Dragonwood cards are Event cards. When revealed in the landscape, players must immediately follow the instructions on the card before continuing play. For example, remove all enhancement cards from the landscape.

Enhancement Cards

Enhancement cards grant special abilities or bonuses.

Once captured, these cards are placed face up in front of the player and remain active for the rest of the game, following the instructions printed on each card. For example, Add 2 points to every stomp attempt.

Refilling the Landscape

At all times, the landscape should contain five Dragonwood cards. Whenever a card is captured or an Event card is resolved, draw a new Dragonwood card to refill the empty space.

Dragonwood – End of the Game

The game ends when both Dragon cards are captured or when the Dragonwood deck runs out. At that point, players add up the points on their captured Dragonwood cards. The player with the highest total score wins.

FAQ's - Dragonwood

Q. What happens if you get a tie in Dragonwood?

A. If players are tied on points, the player with the most captured creatures wins. If a tie remains, the player holding the most Adventure cards in hand claims victory.

Q. What is the maximum amount of cards you are allowed in your hand for Dragonwood.

A. You are only allowed to have 9 cards in your hand at one time.

Q. What happens if you run out of cards in Dragonwood.

A. You shuffle the discard pile to create a new draw pile.

Why We Love Dragonwood

I remember when I brought this as a Christmas present for one of my children years ago. We had just moved to a new country, so it was just my family on Christmas Day. We opened this game and lay in the sun on the floor and played this game for hours. This is one of my treasured family memories.

We all instantly loved it. It was easy to learn, with enough strategy, luck, and gameplay for all of us to enjoy. And, still years later, this is one of my favourite board games. I highly recommend this game to anyone.