‘Dragons Down’ is ‘Magic Realm’ But for a Modern Table
Dragons Down seeks to take the experience and open world nature of Magic Realm but make it actually approachable.
Open-world fantasy is my jam. I dumped hundreds of hours into Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Mage Knight is still my favorite board game, and I’ve always held a deep appreciation for games like Magic Realm. And, if you actually read all the way to the end of that post, you’ll see my lamentation: “I wish I had the time or patience to play a game of Magic Realm.”
Well, now, I might finally have a chance.
Dragons Down Overview
Dragons Down is a board game directly inspired by Magic Realm. It builds on that fantasy sandbox foundation, filled with fame and glory in the form of hidden treasure, magic artifacts, deadly monsters, and more.
Looking at the map tiles alone, the inspiration is clear. But the updated components, like hero cards, custom dice, terrain packs, monster tokens, and more, highlight the improvements made over the source material. But at its core, the base gameplay is very familiar. Players will take their turns moving from clearing to clearing, searching for treasure, bartering with locals, learning powerful magic, and fighting monsters.
Combat in Dragons Down uses hidden cubes. Players engaged in combat each place up to 5 cubes in secret. These cubes can be distributed to the strength of the attack, the speed of the attack, or various items or spells. This allows players to choose on the fly whether they want to make a slow and powerful attack or a fast and weaker attack. Of course, there are a lot more details, but that’s the bare bones of combat.
It’s a fantastically simple and streamlined system that offers a lot of possibilities.
Sign Up For the Dragons Down Mailing List
The Dragons Down Kickstarter was successfully completed in November. But you can sign up to be notified when late pledging opens up. You can also check out the rulebook, which is still subject to revisions. And, you can check out the official Tabletop Simulator module.
Dragons Down was clearly designed out of love and respect for Magic Realm. It’s a game that has a ton to offer and especially allows for a lot of expansions, official or otherwise. If you’re like me and a fan of classic fantasy games but always felt the barrier of entry was too high, you might want to check out Dragons Down today.
