This week Mike checks out a game of chits and dragons.
Date: Thursday, December 01, 2011
Author: Michael Barnes
What makes Dragon Rage stand out more than anything, and what makes it still worth discovering 30 years after its initial publication, is how it remains a great example of how rules, process, and gameplay are more important in generating narrative detail than silly fluff paragraphs, artwork, or plastic miniatures. The game reminds me in some ways of the great Legend of Robin Hood in how it creates some very specific situations and actions that are rendered in vivid detail- with almost no attempt at contextualization beyond what is actually occurring in the game itself. The details are rich. Dragons busting through gates, getting shot down over the city and crashing, defenders desperately burning bridges, wizards casting whirlwinds and lightning, archers scrambling to get into position as the dragon makes another pass. Yet the game gives the players the agency and space to actually build the story around it all.
The main issues I have with the game aren’t really any fault of the designer or the design. It’s unfortunately an expensive, import-only title with a limited print run of 1500 that can only be purchased direct from the publisher. Of course, 1500 copies may very well be twice as many as people who would be interested in such an old school, hex-and-counter fantasy wargame these days and the small print run accounts for the high price. Younger gamers and those raised in the “Fantasy Flight Generation” might chafe at the simple production and artwork, but there’s really nothing else like this on the market right now. It’s a design that I think has aged quite well and its unique all-out monster siege concept is still fresh and interesting today despite its generic fantasy setting.
