Fantasy Flight Games

The Dragon Awakes

Published 26 June 2015 | Drakon

The Dragon Awakes

Drakon Is Now Available

You entered the dragon’s labyrinth alongside your rival heroes, but only one of you will escape alive! Advance further into the dungeon and gather as much gold as you can in Drakon, a classic board game of treasure and dragonfire, now available at your local retailer and online through our webstore.

In Drakon, you and up to five other heroes enter the lair of the legendary Drakon. Unfortunately, your attempts to pillage the dragon’s lair have failed and you have been captured by Drakon herself. Drakon seems to be in a playful mood, however. She has released you and the other heroes into her labyrinth with a simply directive: the first hero to gather ten gold will be allowed to leave with his spoils, but all others will be devoured by Drakon. Only the bravest hero will escape an untimely death!

In addition, the rules for Drakon are now posted! Head to the Drakon support section to learn exactly how you'll navigate the labyrinth.

Grab the Treasure

On every turn in Drakon, you are faced with a choice – play a tile from your hand to build the labyrinth or move your hero further into the dungeon. As we explored in our preview, playing chamber tiles allows you to shape the paths through the dungeon. You can come closer to victory by placing treasure and beneficial chambers in your own path, even while you lure your opponents into danger with chambers like the Magic Harp.

Although playing chambers allows you to change the shape of the dungeon, you cannot find the gold you need to escape without moving your hero from chamber to chamber through the labyrinth. Most chambers grant you access to special powers when you enter – you may steal a chamber tile from another player’s hand, you may destroy a chamber your opponent hoped to enter, or you may fly a Floating Chamber to another part of the dungeon, allowing you to escape danger or discover new riches.

As you play chambers and move forward, your ultimate goal is to collect ten gold and escape from Drakon’s clutches. In most cases, you gain more gold by entering Find a Coin chambers throughout the labyrinth. Not all coins are equal in value, however! A coin has a gold value between one and three, which means that a player could reach ten gold with only four coins. Every player keeps his gold coins facedown and secret from other players, so you’ll never know exactly how close a player is to victory. To stop your opponents from winning, you’ll need to work together with your rivals, while convincing them that you’re not a real threat.

Escape the Dragon

Six unique heroes are available for you to play as in Drakon, and each has a unique special ability that you can use once per game. You may play as the Sorceress and use your ability to move to any adjacent chamber, even ignoring the arrows that normally dictate movement. Alternatively, you may play as the Ranger and move in addition to your normal action, which lets you cover more ground on your turn or play a chamber tile and immediately move into it to use its ability. The Thief invites you to take coins from other players or Drakon’s hoard, while the Druid’s magic grants you protection from losing your coins to the wiles of other players. The Knight invites you to push another hero into a different chamber and steal a chamber tile from his hand, while the Fighter allows you to quickly cycle your hand of tiles by discarding any number and drawing an equal number of chambers. Each hero has his own strengths, and each hero offers a different experience of Drakon.

These heroes boast powerful abilities, but none of them are immune to dragonfire! Drakon herself stalks the chambers and hallways of the dungeon, looking for any hero foolish enough to cross her path. Certain chambers allow you to move Drakon throughout the maze, and if you can move her onto another hero’s chamber, that hero loses a coin and is returned to the entrance chamber – a significant setback! If you want to claim the gold and escape victorious, you’ll need all your wits and skill to grab the treasure and escape the dragon.

The Dragon’s Fire

Gold is what lured you to Drakon’s lair – and only gold can free you from her clutches. Race through the dungeon, forge temporary alliances, and try to escape unsinged! Pick up your copy of Drakon at your local retailer today.

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Enter the Labyrinth

Published 20 May 2015 | Drakon

Enter the Labyrinth

Preview the Gameplay of Drakon

Drakon snarled and the heroes she’d captured stumbled away. On other days, she would already have eaten them in a flurry of snapping jaws and pitiful screams. Today, it seemed her appetite was diminished. Still, to release these thieves would send the wrong message entirely. And a little game would certainly enliven the dreary chambers of her dungeon. Drakon opened her vast, toothy maw, and hissed, “One of you will be allowed to escape. The rest will be my next meal…”

The great dragon, Drakon, has captured you in the act of stealing from her treasure hoard. Rather than eating you and the other heroes immediately, however, Drakon proposes a cruel test. You must compete to collect gold, and only the hero who first succeeds will escape. Every hero who fails will be devoured.

In Drakon, you and up to five other players take the roles of these unlucky heroes. You must race through the dungeon, avoiding the prowling dragon and grabbing gold, even as you sabotage your opponent’s plans. In today’s preview, we’ll explore the fast gameplay of Drakon!

Building a Labyrinth

During a game of Drakon, you and your rival heroes start play in the same chamber – the entrance chamber. Each chamber tile shows a number of arrows that indicate how a hero can move out of it. Three distinct doors lead out of the entrance chamber, but before you can move out, one of the players must play a new chamber tile.

On your turn, you have two possible actions: you may build the labyrinth by playing a chamber tile from your hand or move your hero along the arrows to an adjacent chamber. When you choose to play a chamber tile, the chamber can connect to the labyrinth in any way, as long as two chambers’ movement arrows do not face each other. Because movement arrows can never point at each other, you can never return to to a chamber by the same path once you leave it. During the game, you hold four chamber tiles in your hand, giving you plenty of options for helping yourself towards your goal and hindering your opponents.

The examples shown above illustrate correct and incorrect chamber placements.

Of course, the tiles that you play and the chambers that you move through must bring you closer to your ultimate goal. You claim victory in Drakon if you are the first player to claim ten gold. You can gain this gold in a variety of ways, but the principal source of gold is by moving into the chambers of the dungeon.

Certain chambers in the labyrinth invite you to find a coin. Others allow you to steal a random coin from your neighbor on the left or right. Whether you gain these coins by fair means or foul, each coin offers a different gold value, making it difficult to determine exactly how close your opponents are to victory.

You’ll need to sabotage your opponents’ plans and steal their coins if you’re going to be the first player to grab ten gold and escape from Drakon. Fortunately, Drakon offers a massive variety of chamber tiles, and some of these chambers give you the power to upset the other heroes’ plans. For example, another hero may be about to walk down a corridor filled with coins. If you step into a Mind Control chamber, though, you can force the hero to set off down another corridor, which may lead him to some undesirable consequences. Alternatively, you may use the siren call of the Magic Harp to force heroes to move into its chamber if possible. You may even direct the fury of Drakon herself against the other heroes by moving the dragon. Any way you can turn your opponents from their chosen path is useful to claiming victory in Drakon.

Although some chambers invite you to attack the other players, other chambers can prove highly beneficial to your own quest. When you move into the Floating Chamber, you may move the entire chamber to be adjacent to any other chamber in the dungeon. If you’re caught too close to danger, you may play the Escape chamber and immediately place your hero on it. You could also use the Windstorm chamber to move two chambers for your next move, potentially bypassing some terrible danger.

The Race to Escape

Your fortune can change in a moment in a game of Drakon. Though it may seem simple to claim ten gold, your opponents are constantly attempting to undermine your efforts. For example, you might not want to play a Find a Coin chamber while another hero is in the same chamber, because playing a chamber takes up your turn. If you play a Find a Coin chamber while another hero shares your chamber, he can simply move into the chamber on his turn and find his own coin.

At other times, you may conspire with your rival heroes to keep another player from victory. For example, as shown in the diagram above, a player may place a Find a Coin chamber that connects to his current chamber (1), obviously intending to move inside on his next turn and claim more gold. You and the other players notice that your opponent already has four coins, and although you can’t know exactly how much gold he has, he’s obviously approaching his goal. Fortunately, your rich opponent is dangerously close to Drakon herself. You have a Drakon Moves chamber in hand, but you won’t be able to move into it before your opponent can move into his chamber and find a coin. However, you can play the Drakon Moves chamber in front of a third hero (2), who can enter it and move Drakon into your opponent’s chamber (3), forcing him to lose a coin and sending him back to the entrance chamber. In a game of Drakon, alliances are made and broken in seconds as players work together to keep any one player from achieving victory.

The Dragon Awakes

Many heroes are caught in Drakon’s lair, but only one can escape. Will you be the first to find enough gold and escape with your riches? Or will you become just another meal for a malevolent monster?

Determine your fate and pre-order Drakon at your local retailer today!

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Drakon

Published 27 January 2015 | Drakon

Drakon

Announcing a New Edition of a Classic Board Game

The knight stepped quickly down the spiral staircase, his chainmail clinking as he moved. His sword was drawn and clean, and it shone in the torchlight. The knight had already overcome trials in this unnatural labyrinth. He had escaped the allure of the magical harp. He had survived the dragon’s cruel games. He had collected nearly all the gold he needed to escape. Around the corner ahead, he saw it – an unmistakable gleam. Torchlight on golden coins. Only a few more feet and he would have his salvation. But as he stepped forward a windstorm rose around him, and the golden gleam vanished…

Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the new edition of Drakon, a classic board game of treasure and dragonfire for two to six players!

You have been caught looting the hoard of the dreaded Drakon. For such transgression, a fiery death should be the only appropriate response. But Drakon has decided to toy with you before she devours you. You and your rival heroes will each be released into the labyrinth, and the first hero to discover ten gold pieces will go free with his treasure. The rest of you will satisfy the dragon’s hunger.

In every game of Drakon, you and your opponents must fight to stay alive in the midst of the labyrinth. On your turn, you can either move your hero to another room, or add another piece to the labyrinth, placing beneficial chambers in your own path and throwing your opponents into harm’s way. But you must be cautious. The chambers of Drakon’s labyrinth are filled with danger and ancient magics, not to mention the dragon herself. To navigate these deadly corridors and survive, you’ll need to be quick and careful.

Shape the Labyrinth

On every turn, you have a crucial choice to make. You can either move forward into a new chamber, or you can expand the labyrinth by playing a new chamber tile from your hand. The new chambers that you play feature unique circumstances and magical objects that you may encounter on your adventures through Drakon’s lair.

The majority of these chambers offer powerful effects to any hero that enters the chamber. You may gain the power to destroy any chamber in the labyrinth, or call a windstorm to carry you along, increasing your movement. You may even take command of a floating chamber and fly it to the other side of the labyrinth. Other chambers force more harmful effects on those heroes unlucky enough to enter. A room may cause you to lose a coin as you avoid the dangers within, and any hero who hears the siren song of the magical harp is forced to move into its chamber. As you and your fellow heroes play these chambers from your hand, they form a cunning maze, and only the wise can find their way out.

Despite the power of these chambers, the central goal of your quest is to find gold: only by being the first player to claim ten gold can you escape the dungeon. Plenty of chambers allow you to find a coin or steal a coin from an opponent, but the gold value of coins can vary dramatically. Your most recently stolen coin may have a value of three gold or just one. Because coins are kept face-down, hiding their value, you’ll never know exactly how close your opponents are to victory.

The Heroes and the Dragon

Six heroes are trapped within Drakon’s sadistic labyrinth, and each hero has his own unique abilities to help him survive. Each ability can only be used once per game though, making the timing of the ability incredibly important. You may play as the sorceress and escape from a most dire situation by passing through a wall. You may play as the thief and collect the gold you need at the most opportune moment by preying on another hero. You may even play as the ranger and use a burst of speed to race across the maze when necessary. No matter which hero you play in a game of Drakon, you’ll need to take full advantage of your unique ability at the opportune moment if you want to grab the gold and escape from Drakon’s clutches.

Of course, the heroes are not alone in the labyrinth. The legendary dragon also stalks the halls and chambers of the maze, taunting any hero unlucky enough to encounter her. Certain chambers throughout the labyrinth allow you to move Drakon through the dungeon. If you can move Drakon into the same chamber as a hapless hero, that hero is immediately sent back to the entrance chamber and loses three coins, as Drakon toys with him before releasing him once more into the maze.

Escape the Labyrinth

You and your rival heroes are trapped. Your greatest threat may be Drakon or the other heroes. In this dark labyrinth, only one thing can save you: your own greed. Will you ruthlessly grab gold and undermine your opponent’s schemes before escaping to victory? Or will you fail and become just another meal for the dragon? You decide your fate, but only one hero can escape from Drakon!

Check out the Drakon description page for more details, and look for Drakon in the second quarter of 2015.

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The Dragon Is Hungry

Published 19 November 2008 | Drakon

The Dragon Is Hungry

An Intro to Drakon

Drakon 3rd Edition is a game of exploration and greed in a magical, chaotic dungeon. Two to six heroes will construct and adventure in the dragon's lair in a frantic search for enough gold to buy their freedom.

PLAYERSTwo to six players will take the role of the barbarian, the knight, the thief, the amazon, the dwarf, and the wizard, brave adventurers in search of gold and escape from the dragon's lair!

GAMEPLAYThe heroes begin the game clustered at the entrance to Drakon's maze, with uncertainty ahead and fear in their hearts. On each turn, players will either play a dungeon tile from their hand (and draw to replace it) or move through an open door into an adjacent tile. When heroes land on tiles, they will often trigger a special ability that may earn them gold, manipulate the dungeon, or foil the carefully-laid plans of their former companions! Some tiles even bring the deadly Drakon into the mix herself, causing her to rampage through the dungeon wreaking havoc.

SPECIAL ABILITIESIn the advanced Drakon 3rd Edition game, the six heroes each have a unique ability that can be used to give each player just the edge they need to win. Each of the abilities are useable once per game, and are tracked with special hero ability counters.

VICTORYThe winner is the first hero to collect gold coins with a total value of 10. Since the coins range in value from 1 to 3 and their value is hidden from your opponents, be very wary of any hero who has three coins. He might only need one more to win!

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