|
Fist of Dragonstones
From the Publisher...
Fist of Dragonstones™ is an exciting, closed-fist, bidding game. Players outwit
their opponents by using gold and magic coins to buy control of an ever-changing
cast of enchanted character cards. Those characters’ powers will: help players
collect Dragonstones; lend them their magical powers; help foil the strategies of
their playing companions; and convert Dragonstones into victory.
Fist of Dragonstones is the first in Days of Wonder’s line of Unique
Mechanic/Unique Materials games. Unique Mechanic – For each character card,
players secretly place the number of coins they want to bid in a closed fist.
Tension builds until all players reveal their bets at the same time with the winner
of the auction then gaining control of the card's powers.
Unique Materials – Players vie to win valuable Dragonstones
made of various colors of flattened glass marbles. Coupled with
wooden coins, 4-color player screens, special scoring dice and
beautifully illustrated character cards, Fist of Dragonstones
gives players an extraordinarily tactile game playing experience.
Our Comments...
I recently contacted the CEO of Days of Wonder and asked how this game relates to Citadels, as the theme is similar. He told me the following:
"It is very fair to say that the game was designed on demand by Bruno and Michael as a follow-up of sorts to Citadels."
We finally had a chance to try this game out tonight and it was very entertaining. One group member, who loves Citadels, stated he now prefers Fist of Dragonstones. There is plenty of bluff and second guessing. With very attractive components and unexpected twists each round, this game is a must have for any fan of Bruno Faidutti's or Michael Schacht's games.--Mike
 Read
more information at the Board Game Geek website
Customer Raves - Write your own Rave about this game!
(Click on a person's name or game group to see other raves by the same person or group.
Interview...
The Best of Both Worlds
An Interview with Bruno Faidutti
About 6 years ago I came across a site dedicated to game
design. It was a small site, but one feature it offered was a
page where game designers could post personal information. I
added my own name and email to the page, as did the creator of
the site. A third designer joined some time later, his name was
Bruno Faidutti. I don't remember anyone else ever joining the
small list, but of the three, Bruno has enjoyed the most success
with his designs by far. At the time his published games were Knightmare
Chess (in a couple languages) and Valley of the Mammoths.
In the years since, he's added several games to that list and
enjoyed the success of Citadels, a world-wide success
and a nominee for the Spiel des Jahres in Germany.
Anyone who frequents the online newsgroups and discussion
lists knows that Mr. Faidutti is a regular contributor. He always
takes the time to answer questions about his own games. He's also
present to answer questions about game design and the industry.
Consequently, I wasn't too surprised when he happily agreed to
answer a few questions via email. I took the time to ask a few
personal questions, but I was also very interested in hearing
about his upcoming games from Days of Wonder. Here's the result
of our correspondence below.
Mike Petty: Over the years you've been very visible in
online discussions and I've always noted how you're quick to give
input and advice to aspiring designers. Why is this important to
you to keep in touch with the online community?
Bruno Faidutti: You could say it's part of general public
relations for my games, but I'm sure isn't so simple. I also do
it because I like the internet as a tool for connecting people-much
more convenient for me than phone or snail mail-and because I
think the game world can benefit from more designers, more
enthusiasm, more people involved in any way. And maybe I like to
talk and talk about me and my experience ;-)
MP: As I read your past interviews or browse your site, I
leave with the impression that you simply love games. Other
designers talk about their designs. You talk about the games you
enjoy, whether you made them or not. It's as if you'd just as
well play games as design them. Would you say that's true?
BF: It's true, of course. I design games because I like
playing games, and I design the games I would like to play. This
also means that my games are probably more influenced by other
games than those of designers who hardly know of other's games.
MP: What do you like most about games?
BF: Hard to tell, because it clearly depends on the game. I
like the storytelling aspect of a game, the tension, the break
from the outside world, the people around the table and the jokes
the game can suggest. It depends. Most of all, I like playing.
MP: If you had to entertain your usual group of gaming
friends this weekend, but you only had room to take along four
games, which current favorites would you end up bringing?
BF: A good old classic - a poker deck. A new game I've not
found the time to play yet but that I want to play - let's say Ad
Acta. A good, light game that always works - let's say Kuhhandel.
A good big game, just in case - let's say Puerto Rico.
MP: Do you consider yourself good at playing games?
BF: Not very good, but rather good. I'm especially good at
playing a new game. When me and my gaming group discover a new
game that no one has played before, I very often win. This means
that I am good at feeling what is important or not in a game,
what is the reason for this or that rule. On the other extreme,
I'm not that good at games that require regular gaming and
experience, like Chess or Go. I was good at chess when I was a
teenager, but that's long forgotten. I'm not bad at poker, but I
don't play at professional tables.
MP: Are you still employed as a teacher?
BF: Yes.
MP: Do you ever play games with your students?
BF: No. I usually don't like didactic, pedagogic games. I
think a game must make you dream, take a break, and I don't like
the idea of putting game in everyday life - no matter for work or
studies. On the other hand, I can play games with my students,
but not during lectures and a pedagogic tool. Games are a very
bad pedagogic tool.
MP: As a teacher myself, I'd agree I haven't found many
games that I would use in my math classroom, at least not at the
high school level. Would you agree, though, that there are many
wonderful things we can learn when we play games, even as adults?
BF: Of course, we can learn many useful things when playing -
such as lying, bluffing, backstabbing, careful planning.... More
seriously, playing games has, for sure, a social dimension, and
we can learn some things about social interaction when playing.
But happily real life social interaction is usually more rich and
more complex than what we can attain while playing.
MP: Back to gaming with students, I sponsor the game club
at the school where I teach. I've found your games to be a great
middle ground between the American games the students are used to
and the great games coming from Germany that I try to introduce
them to. Do you consciously try to take the best of both worlds,
so to speak, when you design a game?
BF: I like the humor and the strong theme of many American
games. I like the simplicity of many German games, and I
deliberately try to make something "in the middle",
something with a stronger taste than most German games but also
less complex or fiddly than most American games. This is probably
due to my gaming culture. I've discovered gaming mostly with
American games, mostly Cosmic Encounter, then Magic
or monsters like Axis and Allies. And I've discovered
the German gaming tradition later. Since this time, I try to stay
on the border line.
MP: You've enjoyed a good deal of success with your games.
What's one goal you still hope to accomplish as a designer?
BF: Maybe designing a really good party game-something as good
as Taboo. Such games look simple, but they are probably
the hardest ones to design.
MP: I read one of your posts online about a new publisher,
Days of Wonder. Is it true they may be releasing one of your
previous, and personal favorite games, Murder in the Abbey?
BF: It's true. It is due for next year.
MP: And in the very near future they will release a game
called Fist of Dragonstones, that you created along with
Michael Schacht. Could you tell us a little bit about that game?
BF: I could send you to my webpage with the history of this
game: http://faidutti.free.fr/jeux/dragonstones/dragonstoneshist.html
But I'll try to tell a bit more. The last few years, I've been
more and more into cooperative design with various other game
designers - Michael Schacht being one of them. Michael is a
really nice and fun young guy, and it has been great fun working
with him. Fist of Dragonstones is our second shared
design after Draco and Co. Draco and Co was
more my reworking of Michael's idea. This time it's really a
common work from the beginning till the end. The game has the now
usual fantasy setting, which is very convenient for games having
cards with various effects. Any effect is possible - it's just
magic. It is somewhat related with my Citadels. The idea
was to "recycle" the character system of Citadels
in a completely different game.
Fist of Dragonstones is an auction game, in which the
players bid to hire various fantasy characters - magician, witch,
goblin, dwarf... and of course Dragon. These characters allow the
player to use their specific abilities, and it's with these
abilities that you first collect the precious Dragonstones, and
then use them to score points. Among my creations, this one is
probably one of my favorites, along with Murder at the Abbey
and Citadels. And it's not only a good game, it's a
beautiful one. The graphics are astonishing, the components are
gorgeous and, though the box is small, there's no empty space in
it!
MP: Well, I certainly look forward to your new game and we
wish you and Mr. Schacht the best with it. Thank you very much
for the interview.
|
