kanosthefallen

Red Dragon Inn is a comic game about what the adventures do after they have looted the treasure and returned to the tavern. The goal in Red Dragon Inn is to be the last player still conscious at the bar. Each player will have one of 4 unique decks that represent the adventures. Another deck known as the “drink deck” serves as the drinks the adventures will be consuming over the course of the evening. Each player also has 10 gold and when they run out of gold they are throw out of the tavern for their inability to pay for drinks. Each player also has a track from 0 to 20 and two gems that they place on the track. The red gem is placed at 20 and represents the character’s health and the clear gem starts at zero and represents the character’s alcohol content. If these two ever meet then your character passes out and is thrown out of the tavern also (or carried up to bed if you prefer to be nicer about it).

On your turn you’ll discard any cards you want and then draw until you have seven. Cards are divided in to Actions, Sometimes, and Anytime cards. On your turn you may play one Action. The Sometimes cards will tell you when you can play them and the Anytime cards are just anytime. After you have played an Action or passed you will then take the top card of the drink pile and place it face down on any other player’s drink pile. Then you will flip the top card of your drink pile and apply any effects it has (usually gain alcohol content).

The game has a fun style and the characters really make the game. Such as the Priestess’s ability to turn wine into water, the Rouge can slip mickeys in peoples drinks, and the Wizard who’s magical pet rabbit can get into all sorts of mischief. Rounds of gambling on cards move the money around and when the drink deck runs out each player must pay the inn to bring more.

I really adore this game as the atmosphere it tries to create really comes through. Each time my group plays we are constantly trying to one up each other and flaunt the talents of our characters. The game says it can be played with 2-4 but I highly recommend having four each and every time. The drinks go faster and the money moves a lot more with all the players. Although the play time with four seems to be a bit longer than the 30-60 minutes suggested by the game.

I highly recommend this game. It has been a great staple in my collection and creates a good time whenever I pull it out. And if you want more characters and more drinks there have been two or three expansions for the game that each adds four new adventures and a whole new drink deck. With the new expansions you could play more than four people, but be prepared to wait a while for it to come back to your turn.