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Drakon Expansion 1
From the Publisher...
>The publisher states that this expansion requires the second edition of Drakon. However, we've found the game is still a lot of fun using the first edition of Drakon. Sure, since the backs are different players can see when you're holding tiles from the expansion, but it doesn't seem to affect gameplay to any significant degree.
The old dragon Drakon has some new tricks! Not only is she forcing her prisoners to race through her dungeons collecting gold, but now she has revealed a treacherous new maze and is chasing the prisoners herself! Drakon: Expansion One contains 48 new tiles, a movable dragon counter, and rules for 14 new chamber actions (including a secret passage, a magic harp, a double gold room, and more) that you can add to your Drakon game. You need a copy of the Drakon board game (second printing) to use this expansion.
Our Comments...
The publisher states that this expansion requires the second edition of Drakon. However, we've found the game is still a lot of fun using the first edition of Drakon. Sure, since the backs are different players can see when you're holding tiles from the expansion, but it doesn't seem to affect gameplay to any significant degree.
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Interview...
A few years ago I was at a local con playing a game of Escape
From Elba with James Ernest (a hilarious experience, but one that’s well
beyond the scope of this article). A friend of his came up, showed
him a new copy of Wiz-War and asked if he had ever heard of it.
James said, “Yeah, Wiz-War. You’ll notice it’s strongly influenced
by Magic: The Gathering and Robo-Rally.” Of course,
that was a joke, since Tom Jolly designed Wiz-War almost a decade
before anyone had even heard of those other two games. I think James’
point was clear. Tom Jolly is ahead of his time with his unique approach
to game design. Whether it’s the complex combos of spells in Wiz-War
or the simplified measurement system of DiskWars, Tom is more concerned
with trying something very different rather than following current trends
in the game industry.
In early 2001 Tom mentioned in an e-mail message to me that he was excited
about Fantasy Flight Games’ release of one of his favorite designs, Drakon.
As it turns out, the first edition sold out very quickly, prompting a second
printing and an expansion which came out this past summer. After
playing a few games with the expansion, I was anxious to see this as one
of our featured games here at Fair Play. I wrote Tom a few questions
about the game, the expansion and what we might see from him in the near
future. He graciously let us print his responses below.
Mike Petty: Before we even start talking about this game, I
am always surprised by how many ways I've heard the title pronounced by
different people who play it. I've heard it with a long “a”, a long
“o”, rhymes with “dragon”, etc.. What is the proper pronunciation?
Tom Jolly: I'm not sure, since it's not a name I created. It's
German for Draco, the constellation, and I believe it rhymes with Dragon,
with a very slight roll on the "r" to make it sound more German. But, I
don't speak enough German to say for sure. If the pronunciation is derived
from that, then I'd expect a long "a". Dray-kohn. I pronounce Drakon
with an accent on the first syllable, as "Drack-un." Take your pick.
MP: I remember seeing a game at your site a few years ago called
Primrose Path that sounded similar to Drakon. Was this
an earlier version of the game?
TJ: It's the same game. I submitted Primrose Path to Wizards
of the Coast the same month that they first released Magic: The Gathering.
They were small back then, riding the euphoric wave of an intensely popular
success. They liked Primrose Path a lot, and we talked contracts.
Anyway, I signed with them and two years later (before Primrose Path
came out), they dropped their board-game line and paid me a kill fee. Generally,
they were pretty good people to deal with. Garfield suggested I change
the game from "getting rid of tiles" to "collecting something" to create
a more positive-acquisition feel for the game. I did, and it became Vaults.
Instead of dumping all your tiles from your hand, you now had to collect
gold coins. The mechanism was the same; you landed on a tile that said
"get a gold" instead of "discard a tile".
Then, it went off to F.X Schmid, where Alan Moon took a look at it and
signed a contract. It was now Golden Vaults. He left the company
immediately after the contract was signed, and the game was subsequently
never published, and the contract expired a year and a half later.
About that time, I'd sold DiskWars to Fantasy Flight Games, and
showed them Vaults (the name I liked), which they picked up and
published under their name, Drakon. They like Dragons. The whole
process end-to-end took about 6 years, but I sure am glad it's in print,
since it's certainly one of my favorite designs.
MP: I'm interested in how much Fantasy Flight has influenced
the final version of the game and the expansion.
Fantasy Flight added the special character powers. I never use them
when I play, but I know a lot of people really enjoy them. In the expansion
set, which I really like, but which has been slammed a bit by reviewers,
they added the Dragon which wanders around and sends people back to "Go."
All the tile designs are mine, though. The one thing that we discussed
that didn't make it into the expansion was increasing the number of gold
needed to win to "6", since the expansion made it a bit easier to get there
(there's a 2-gold tile in it).
MP: The expansion really breathed new life into the game for
me. I actually prefer playing with the new tiles a lot more.
Do you have any other expansions planned?
TJ: Probably not. There were quite a few tiles that didn't
make it into the expansion, but I don't think this expansion was successful
enough to make another one. Perhaps I can convince Fantasy Flight to post
them as freebies. The problem with expansions, of course, is that there
are too many symbols, and some of them are pretty obscure. Even I have
to look up the Harp (it was a Magnet, when I wrote it).
Here's some of the stuff that didn't make it:
NPC—This guy can use the board just like a normal player, he
can even collect Gold pieces and win the game! Anyone may sacrifice their
own turn to move the NPC and perform his action for him. (you could
actually use this rule with a normal set)
RECEPTION HALL—Any player may jump here on their turn.
SHORT CUT—Move again, now. (Symbol, Arrows at center in addition
to arrows
at edge. Arrows; 3)
TIME LOOP—Copy Action from tile you previously used. (so if you
came from a Move 3, you would do so again when possible). (Symbol; Arrow
in a circle with an hourglass? arrows; 2 at 90 degrees)
MP: Shortly after the first edition came out I read some reviews
that suggested playing with absolutely no table talk, so the game won’t
turn into “gang up on the leader”. Do you prefer it with or without
table talk?
TJ: I prefer players to gang up on each other when one gets close
to winning. This is a very subtle thing; encouraging other players to gang
up on one who is winning while planning a strategy that they can't see
to allow you to win. This is the back-stabbing part of the game. Some people
dislike doing this though, it really rubs them the wrong way.
MP: Of course, most of the fun of the game is finding just
the right unsuspected combination of tile effects to get that fifth gold
and win the game. After all the games you’ve played, do any particularly
clever combos come to mind?
TJ: The game is fairly linear, so there aren't really "combinations"
as in Wiz-War. What can be amusing is when a player lands on a Mind
Control Orb to move an "almost winning" player onto a destructive tile
to thwart another "almost winning" player. I've played the game so much
over the years, though, that I can't say there are any real surprises anymore.
MP: Maybe "sequences" would be a better word than “combinations”.
When I play, it reminds me of programming a computer. Especially
when setting up loops in the cave. I've never played Programmer’s
Nightmare, but are there any similarities?
TJ: Both games came from the same source, really. I was trying
many years ago to come up with a programming game, and when I introduced
loops to it, and instructions that affected other instructions, Primrose
Path naturally fell out of it. But then, it ceased to be a game about
programming. So, I worked on another vector and came up with Programmer's
Nightmare, which is considerably different in all respects.
MP: What new games can we expect to see from Tom Jolly in the
near future?
TJ: There is always a lot on the horizon. I'm just working on
one right now that involves designed robots fighting each other, which
sounds somewhat prosaic, but has an awesome design and combat mechanism
that's very unique and might apply well to other themes.
Intermittently I've been working on Derelict, which is Wiz-War
in space (more or less...with vacuum and gravity considerations). It has
promise. And, heaven forbid, an RPG wherein everyone gets to be the GM
all at the same time. It's got some interesting mechanics.
There's also a real-time combat game system that does a nice simulation
of video game speed-of-play, and I'm excited about that. Can you imagine
playing a 15 minute war game? So, it just never ends.
This has been a good year, with sales to Fantasy Flight Games, Cheapass,
Codefire, and Games Magazine. And next year promises to be even better.
Who knows, the much-delayed new Wiz-War might even make it out next
month.
And I guess that sums it up. Whatever we’re in for with Tom’s
games, we know it won’t be “more of the same”. I for one am looking
forward to each of his new releases.
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