Reign of Dragoness is Grandpa Beck's Best Game Yet
I love Grandpa Beck’s Games for many reasons. I love that they’re a family-run business. I love that they specialize in original family card games. I love that they include one of Grandma’s original recipes in every box. But, perhaps most important of all, I love that they back it all up with games that are legitimately fun!
You may have seen our previous article when we wrote about Antiquity Quest, or maybe you saw when we’ve shared pictures of their games on Instagram through the years. And I’m always curious and asking which game in the Grandpa Beck’s catalog is someone’s favorite, because their variety is pretty great.
I know that Gnoming A Round is a very popular and well known game, and, for my part, Skull King has long been my person favorite. But I have a big announcement to make. It’s time to shake up my Grandpa Beck’s standings, because they’ve recently released a new game called Reign of Dragoness, and it is undoubtedly my favorite one yet. It’s so great, in fact, that it was an easy choice for our February 2023 Game of the Month!
Disclosure: Grandpa Beck’s Games shared a copy of Reign of Dragoness with us - with no expectation of being featured. All thoughts and opinions are our own.
Reign of Dragoness stands out to me as a favorite for a few different reasons. First of all, it’s really easy to teach and understand. We recently had a game night with friends, and we were already playing a practice round within 1 minute of me explaining what you’re trying to do in the game. And the 5-minute practice round, everyone understood the game completely.
Another reason I love this game is that it’s very original for us. It’s unlike anything else we have in our collection, or anything we’ve ever played before - but it’s also such a simple concept. It’s also simple enough for our kids to play along - which is always a huge bonus for us - and it’s interesting enough for an adults-only game night as well. It was a very memorable hit with our adult friends that came over recently.
It’s also worth pointing out that Reign of Dragoness has that certain something in the game design that makes it special. Despite the fact it’s very easy to learn, it contains several moments of interesting decisions to make - and lots of unpredictability and twists and turns that leave people screaming with a single card in their hand. And it’s probably those very moments that make me love it so much.
How to Play Reign of Dragoness
Here’s what my one minute instructions sound like to get you ready to play your first practice around. Everyone has 13 cards, and the point of the game is very simply to get rid of all of your cards before everyone else. Whoever leads chooses to play a single card, a set of cards (two-of-a-kind, three-of-a-kind, etc.), or a run of cards (three-in-a-row or more).
After they lead with this pattern, play continues clockwise - and everyone must follow this same pattern. If a set of three-of-a-kind was lead, then you must also play three-of-a-kind. But you must play a three-of-a-kind that is more valuable. That means it either must be made of higher numbers, or made with a stronger dragon clan.
Playing a run of three cards in Reign of Dragoness
If you can’t play you must pass, and there are also times you might want to strategically pass. But whoever plays last in a round gets to lead the pattern for the next round, which is typically extremely important for getting rid of your cards first.
The various dragon clans each have cards numbering from 1-12, but there is also one single Dragoness card which is a 13 and cannot be beaten. You’ll also find a few wild cards and a few revive cards that allow you to continue in a round.
As I alluded to before, there are many occasions where you might end up with one single card in your hand, but are unable to play it. If you lose the right to lead with the pattern of your choice, you might just be stuck with that one card - and you’ll have to watch sadly as someone else leads with a four-in-a-row that you couldn’t dream of matching. And this has already lead to many fun and dramatic moments in our house.
The different dragon clans in Reign of Dragoness
Who is Reign of Dragoness For?
One of the best things about this game is that it works with 2-8 players. That’s a really wide range! I can attest to the fact that it’s very fun with a larger group, but I’m also happy to say that my wife and I had a lot of fun just playing against each other too. It says 3-8 on the box for some reason, but there are very clearly instructions for 2 players in the instructions, and it worked well for us!
The recommended age on the box is 8+, and I think Grandpa Beck’s has done a great job with this age recommendation. Our 10-year-old learned how to play just as quickly and easily as the adults, and understood the strategy well too. Our 6-year-old could be told when she has to play a three-of-a-kind, for example, but most strategy about saving certain cards or choosing what to lead with might elude her for another year or so.
As you add more players to your game, you actually add more cards to your game as well. The more players you have, the more sets of dragon clans you add to the deck. Clans are denoted by their name, as well as a number of jewels on the sides of the cards. The more jewels a dragon has, the stronger the clan it belongs to, and this is basically what decides ties when numbers match.
And overall I think it’s probably safe to say that Reign of Dragoness shines the most with as many players as possible. It’s fun to add every dragon clan to the deck, because it means you’re going to end up consulting which clan a dragon belongs to more often. It’s also so much harder to puzzle out the best way to play the more opponents you have.
On top of this, only 3 players score at the end of every round. 1st place is the one who gets rid of all of their cards, while 2nd and 3rd place are decided by who has the fewest cards remaining in their hands. With more players, there are more players who score a zero each round - and ultimately I think this makes a 5-round game much more interesting in a way.
A closer look at two dragon clans - Lochen and Aetherie
I’m always saying that we need to get more card games - but it still feels like the good ones are few and far between. I think it’s extremely impressive that Grandpa Beck’s almost has this market cornered in a way. There just aren’t many companies out there creating new and original card games like this. It’s the type of game you’d bring to a family holiday for all the cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents - and feel confident that everyone would enjoy it.
My wife’s extended family in particular has a long history of playing classic card games using a normal deck of cards. It’s fun to get together and play all of those set-making and trick-taking games that they’ve been playing together for decades. And I mean it when I say that the card games that Grandpa Beck’s creates are really the only ones out there I’m aware of that give me the same feeling - or that I feel confident enough about to bring along to Thanksgiving or Christmas!
Did you know that Grandpa Beck’s has created a code that our readers can use at GrandpaBecksGames.com for 15% off any purchase? Just use code DADSUGGESTS at checkout to get 15% off!
What’s your favorite card game from Grandpa Beck’s? Let us know in the comments!
