Dragonwood

Today's review is of the 2015 release, Dragonwood.  For 2-4 players, it takes 20-30 minutes.

Overview
Do you dare enter the magical forest?  In Dragonwood, you play sets of adventurer cards to earn dice, which you use to fight monsters or acquire powerful enhancements.  Adventurer cards have a number (1-12) and color (blue, orange, red, purple, or green).  There are three ways to play sets of cards:
- "strike"- sequential cards (regardless of color)
- "stomp"- cards that are all the same number (regardless of color)
- "scream"- cards that are the same color (regardless of number)

example sets of adventurer cards; image from here

Each monster or enhancement has a strike, stomp, and scream value (see below examples).  The number of cards you play in a set determines how many dice you roll; the type of set determines your type of attack.  For example, if you played a set of 4 sequential cards (a "strike"), you would roll 4 dice and compare the total against the strike value of the card you want to obtain.  If your value meets or exceeds the card, you capture it, earning victory points (if a monster) or special abilities (if an enhancement), which help you capture monsters.

image from here

At the beginning of the game, each player is dealt 5 adventurer cards from the adventurer deck (red back), and a 'landscape' of 5 cards is produced from the dragonwood deck (green back).  On your turn, you either:
- reload (draw a card from the adventurer deck), or
- capture (play a set of cards and roll that many dice in an attempt to capture a card, as described above).

If a card is captured, the gaining player takes it and replaces the vacated landscape spot with a new dragonwood card.  Players take turns until the dragonwood deck is empty or both dragons are defeated.  Then, the player with the most victory points wins!

Review
I really like this game.  It's a fast-playing set collection mechanic with multiple ways to do it.  There's some strategy but it's simple enough for kids to enjoy- and my kids enjoy this a lot.  I do, too.  Check this one out.

Rating: A