Dragon Dance
a fast-paced card-laying game for the whole family
Be the first to successfully complete the dragon dance.
At Spel Antwerpen 2025, I had the pleasure of meeting Christian Van Gils, founder of Frog Dog Games. There, he proudly presented the company's diverse range of games, including Dragon Dance, a game he devised and illustrated himself.
Rating
Overall 7
Story 6
Game system 7
Design & art 8
Replayability 8
Dragon Dance is a fast-paced card-laying game for 2 to 5 players aged 3 and over. It is very accessible and has a manageable playing time of around 15–30 minutes.
Story
Dance along with the only mythical creature in the Chinese zodiac: the dragon, which symbolises fire, mystery and power. Can you make the dragon shine by growing its scales and creating colour combinations?Objective: The aim is to be the first to play the last card from your hand for the second time when playing as the white dragon. Please note: this must be a dragon's head card, and you must have scored at least 15 points to do so.
Rules of the game
Dragon Dance is a game in which you must be the first to play all the cards in your hand. You do this by placing your cards on top of the cards already played on the table.
For each card you play, you score points based on the number of squares of the same colour that the card overlaps (see step: playing a card).
Points are kept track of using a dragon head token and the corresponding coins. These are awarded to you at the start of the game. You begin with the dragon head token on its black side. Once you have managed to play this, you then flip the dragon head token over to its white side, signalling the start of the end phase.
Important: When a player attempts to win the turn by discarding their last dragon head card, the other players can prevent a win if one of them can place a dragon egg card of the same colour on top of the dragon head. If this happens, the player who played their last dragon head card must draw a card from the face-down draw pile. The game then continues as normal.
If this is not successful, the player receives 5 extra points. The other players finish their turns.
Please note: If, as another player, you also happen to play your last card at that moment, you receive a further 2 extra points.
Tip: You can omit the scoring element, so that the game is not played for points. This is particularly advisable when playing with children under the age of 7.
A players turn
You may only play one card onto the table per turn. You cannot pass in this game, which means that if you can play a card, you must do so.
A turn consists of one of the following steps:
- not playing a card onto the table;
- playing a card.
• Not playing a card onto the table
If you do not have any cards in your hand that you can play onto the table according to the rules, you must take a card from the face-down draw pile and add it to your hand.
If the card you have just drawn can be played onto the table correctly, you may play it immediately.
• Playing a card
If you can play a card, you must do so. You are therefore not allowed to deliberately hold cards in your hand.
You must always play a card over an open card on the table. The sections you are overlapping must therefore have the same colour. So do not play a card next to one.
The different ways of playing a card and the corresponding points:
- Overlapping 1 section of the same colour: the card lies 3/4 of the way off the card already played. 1 point;
- Overlapping 2 sections of the same colour: 2 points;
- Overlapping 3 sections of the same colour: 3 points;
- Overlapping 4 sections with the same colour: 4 points;
- Dragon's head: this must overlap at least 2 sections of the same colour. 2 points + 3 points for playing the dragon's head;
- Dragon's egg: this must overlap at least 2 sections of the same colour. 2 points + 5 points for playing a dragon's egg.
End of the game
The game ends when a player who has collected at least 15 points with their white dragon has successfully played their last card, a dragon's head. If you are the only one to do so in this turn, you win the game.
If, in the same turn, another player has also successfully played the last card in their hand (the dragon's head card), the player with the most points wins.
Content and design
The game design and illustrations are by Christian Van Gils. The colours used in the game have been chosen to ensure that people with colour blindness can play the game as easily as possible. Symbols have also been added to the colours to assist people with colour blindness.
The rulebook clearly illustrates the different types of combinations. These images are very clear.
The graphics are simple but of good quality.
Also in the box
- 1x rulebook (Dutch);
- 16x dragon head cards (4 cards per colour);
12x dragon egg cards (3 of each colour);
5x dragon score cards;
20x dragon coins worth 1;
30x dragon coins worth 5.
Conclusion
The game plays very smoothly and offers an enjoyable experience for all members of the family.
The recommended age range starts at 3 years, which could have been explained in a bit more detail in the rulebook. The game is, of course, not suitable for a three-year-old to play in the way I've described here, with the scoring system.
It is, however, perfectly playable if you play the game without scores. In that case, the game simply ends the moment you play your last card from your hand, provided it is a dragon head card. Even then, it makes sense for a parent to team up with their three-year-old.
This does not detract from the game; it is simply an observation. It is inherent to Frog Dog Games that they strive to develop a fun game that everyone at the table can join in with and enjoy.
It's a real bonus that the game can be adapted – without altering the gameplay itself – to suit the time available, attention span, situation and company.
This game therefore certainly falls into the category of family games.
Do bear in mind, however, that you'll need quite a bit of space for the game.
A minor criticism: I find the dragon-head tokens and coins to be of slightly less sustainable quality, as well as the box being rather large. After speaking to the designer, I understand that this will change in future. Christian sees his games as prototypes that can be adapted at any time.
I particularly appreciate the fact that people with colour blindness were taken into account during the game design and artwork. Of course, it's something you have to bear in mind when designing a game that relies heavily on colours, but here it's clear that this has been done thoroughly.
During the fair, I had the chance to delve deeper into Frog Dog Games as a company and the people behind it. You can find the in-depth interview here.
Text and photography: Esmeralda Wolf