Storm Dragons Review: Attack Pattern Delta

At a Glance: Storm Dragons

Note: I was provided a complimentary copy of Storm Dragons for the purpose of review. The thoughts and opinions in this review are my own.

Storm Dragons Intro Story: The Conjuring Storm

The day went from bright and sunny to dark and stormy in seconds as the flight of dragons soared over the mountain. Each dragon was part of the flight for a specific reason. The Storm Caller to bring the tempest. The Storm Rider to intensify the storm. The Conjurer to bring timely aid. The Juggernaut for brute strength.

 But other dragons also came to fight, bringing their own flight of skilled dragons. The storm swirled and raged, lightning flashing close to the second group of dragons. Suddenly, a dense fog rose up from the ground, obscuring the terrain. The storm subsided in moments, becoming a light drizzle. 

The lead dragon in the first group—the Juggernaut—roared and blasted the enemy dragons with a burst of fire from its mouth. The second group of dragons broke formation at the attack, scattering. The Juggernaut led its flight as they pursued the evading leader of the other flight—the Elder dragon. 

The Elder dragon swooped down into the fog. The Juggernaut roared in annoyance as the old dragon disappeared. The other dragons in the Elder’s squad swung around to flank the Juggernaut’s wing of dragons. Using her magic, the Storm Caller invoked another storm, with the Storm Rider intensifying it. Lightning struck close to the Elder’s wing mate, narrowly missing it and causing it to veer off course. The fog quickly dispersed.

The Elder’s Sentinel redirected the storm, using its strength to hinder those who summoned it. Battered by the winds, the Juggernaut and its wing of dragons were forced to break off their chase, as they were now surrounded. The enemy Direwing screamed, shadowing the sun and rendering many of the other dragons’ magics and abilities useless. In a heartbeat, the Elder and his wing of dragons took control of the battle.

The Juggernaut, recognizing the danger in a prolonged battle, he screeched toward the Elder. Without the fog to blind the Juggernaut, he had a clear line of sight. It was now or never. Soaring upward then diving down, the Juggernaut sped recklessly toward the Elder. Fortunately for the Juggernaut, the Elder didn’t see him making his approach.

The Juggernaut careened through the sky, mere feet from the Elder who didn’t have time to dodge. Without warning, an enemy Outrider streaked in from the side, crashing into the Juggernaut. Both dragons went down hard, sending up an explosion of rocks and dirt upon impact. The Outrider landed on top of the Juggernaut and pushed himself up, roaring his challenge to any other dragon. As the Outrider flew off to rejoin his wing, the Juggernaut tried to push himself back up. Its wing, however, was pinned underneath it and was now broken. He was out of the fight.

With the Juggernaut incapacitated, the Elder and his squad had little trouble finishing up the others. In minutes, the fight was over and the storms subsided, and the Elder led his wing of dragons back to their land. The Juggernaut roared in anguish. He had lost. With all of his power and the magics of his squadmates, they had still failed to defeat the enemy. 

As the Juggernaut limped away, he vowed vengeance. And there would be nothing to stop his ruthless retribution. 

Overview/Roadmap

This review has two parts. First, there is the Short Review, where various aspects of the game are discussed. Then comes the Gameplay Review, in which the setup and gameplay are discussed in detail, along with initial thoughts. Following the Gameplay Review section are some final thoughts and a final verdict of the game. Feel free to jump around, or read it all in one go.

Short Review

Storm Dragons is a trick-taking game using dragons, weather, and your wits. Create your dragon army, use special abilities to turn the tide to your favor, and control the day or night (whichever fits your needs best). 

Immersion

Dragons. I just love dragons! So how could I not be excited to immerse myself in a game teaming with dragons? So there’s my bias, right out of the gate: I. Love. Dragons.

While there is background history attached to Storm Dragons, I will say that the gameplay doesn’t always bring about that feeling. That said, Storm Dragons is still pretty immersive—just not as a narrative. I feel like the immersion comes as you work to use your dragons and storms so that their abilities will be utilized as best as they can. I love how the dragons’ abilities can make or break your round—and how other dragon abilities can pretty much nullify them. And, besides, the amount of dragon art you get to look at is always great.

Theme

The fantasy theme is strong, as the cards are nicely illustrated with dragons and complimentary scenery. The art really invokes the theme and gives a fun sense of what these dragons might be capable of. I think the art is pretty great.

Components

Storm Dragons gives you cards, cards, and more cards. And neoprene player mats, which are lovely. And the cards are tarot-sized, which is great for showing off the art. There are a few tokens as well, and they are your traditional cardboard.

Standout Performances

• Dragons!
• Special abilities create an ever-shifting battlefield
• Competitive and cooperative game modes
• Day/night mechanic
• Meatier trick-taking experience

Breaking the 4th Wall

In theater, breaking the fourth wall refers to when characters (or something else) directly address the audience, thus pulling them out of the narrative and making the astutely aware that they are, in fact, watching a performance and that’s it’s not actually real.

The rule book was a tad confusing, so actually learning the game was probably more difficult than it should have been. But, once I understood the rules, they made sense and the game played well and I had fun in the process.

Gameplay Review

Storm Dragons: First Impressions

I’ll be honest, first impressions were a little rough, due to the rule book being a bit confusing. But, I powered through it, figured it out, and was pretty impressed overall by the art and how the game played out. But, first impressions matter, and the rule book could have been a better advocate for the game.

Setup

Depending on your knowledge of the game, you can either shuffle and deal out a set number of cards to each player, or you can do a draft. The draft definitely takes longer, but if you’ve played a few times already and want a bit more depth, the draft is the way to go. Even with the draft, setup is pretty simple, which is always a plus

Storm Dragons Gameplay

If you’re familiar with trick-taking games, you’re familiar with the highest-number-takes-the-kitty mechanism. That’s still the case with Storm Dragons, but each card (dragons and storms) have special abilities, and may have higher powers during night or day. Plus, you’re building your dragon flight (i.e. squadron) and storms turn after turn, but the round doesn’t end until someone thinks they have the highest power and initiates a battle. After that player initiates a battle, all other players have one more turn in order to potentially beat the player who started the battle. So, there’s more to it than simply saving your high card to whomp everyone at the last round.

When you win a battle, you collect all of the cards used in that battle and add them to your Victory pile. The player with the most dragons in their Victory pile is the winner!

There’s also a cooperative variant for 2-3 players. In this variant, players take part in various battles happening simultaneously, with both ally- and enemy-controlled AI. It’s really nice to have a secondary way to play, as it provides additional gameplay value. 

Thoughts on Gameplay

Storm Dragons is everything you’d expect an amped-up trick-taking game to be, and I enjoyed it. The concept is pretty straightforward, but it’s how you play your cards that is where the depth and strategy come into play. Generally speaking, I found the turns to be pretty snappy. You may need to give some leeway to new players, as they’re still learning all of the powers and processing how to make it all mesh, but I like how it’s a fairly speedy play. 

I enjoy the fine line players walk in regards to waiting out the other players and initiating a battle yourself. Initiating a battle gives you the challenge coin, which adds +1 to your power level, so while it’s not much, it is something, and can be all the difference you need.

I think Storm Dragons excels when using the drafting variant, as you can at least know a little bit about what the other players might have in their hands, since you saw what they picked up and added to their deck. But, the simple shuffle-and-deal setup is still a lot of fun, just not as strategic initially. 

Solo Play

While the game wasn’t designed with solo in mind (nor does it have an official solo variant), it does offer cooperative play, which can always be turned into solo. I have yet to try it solo in this way, but I can see it playing out nicely. Just be advised that you’ll need to play at least two-handed to make it work. But, the option is there if you want it, so I can’t argue with that.

Final Thoughts

Storm Dragons is a beefed up, souped up (I’m hungry) form of trick-taking game, such as Rook, and I love a good game of Rook. There are dragons a-plenty (which is always a plus), and the various abilities give you plenty of options for how to use your cards. It plays quickly with some fun and intriguing strategies. The drafting variant bumps the strategy up a notch or two, and the cooperative variant gives a whole new style of gameplay to help keep things fresh. Not that I don’t think the game can stay fresh on its own; with so many cards, there are nearly endless combinations in which you could claim victory (or defeat). The rule book does become a consideration due to its less-than-straightforward nature, but I also think the gameplay can be worth the struggle, so don’t discount it simply on that account.

Storm Dragons: Final Verdict

I do think Storm Dragons is a good, fun game. Generally, I wouldn’t be too interested in a game involving trick-taking as its core mechanism. But, since there were dragons involved, I was more than happy to play it. And it did look very interesting while on Kickstarter. And I’m glad I was able to play it! It’s fun. It’s strategic enough for seasons gamers to play on occasion, but still light enough that it wouldn’t be difficult to convince “hesitant gamers” to give it a go.

In the end, I think it falls somewhere between good and very good. I am always happy to play a good game, and that is no exception here, adding a level or two of interest in the process. My final verdict is Two Laodicean Thumbs. Storm Dragons is a good game. I mean, I like it, and I always enjoyed playing it. Despite it being a good game, however, it just didn’t stick with me as I hoped it would. And that could very well be my fault and not the game’s. Regardless, I do believe it to be a fun game and is a fun experience. And, if you’re into trick-taking game, there’s definitely something extra to chew on in Storm Dragons that you’re really gonna enjoy. 

Verdict Scale (Lowest to Highest)

The Final Verdict is based on a scale of 1-7, although this scale is not numbered. Instead, it uses thematically appropriate words to describe the performance of the game.

Tomatoes – This game was emotionally taxing and difficult to finish.

Uninspiring – This game had me daydreaming about other games.

Lackluster – This game had its moments, but it probably won’t see much table time.

Laodicean – This game is decent. It works. There’s a reason people like it.

Two Thumbs Up – This game is pretty dang good.

Captivating – This game is outstanding! It’s more than good; it’s practically a staple.

Standing Ovation – This is the best game you will ever play. Period.

Read short fiction inspired by board games at BGI’s stories page!

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