Four Precious Baby Dragons (The Tea Dragon Society Card Game)

As you sit down for Tea, little Chamomile comes up and flops on your lap, sleeping and loving the warmth.  Ginseng starts playing with a leaf they found, and soon all the little ones start swiping and blowing on it, except sleepy little Chamomile.  Cham just yawns.  And you thought the Teddy Bear Picnic was the cutest thing you'd see.  Well, it's time to start this week's session of the Tea Dragon Society.

BACKGROUND:  The Tea Dragon Society Card Game is a deck builder for 2-4 players.  Originally a graphic novel by Katie O'Neill, it was designed by Steve Ellis, Tyler Tinsley, and Josh T. McDowell, and published by Renegade Game Studios in 2018.

GAMEPLAY:  Each turn, players may either draw a card from their deck, or buy a card from the Market or Memory Lane.  Whenever a player draws a card, they put it in their Hold in front of them, and apply any effect on that and any other cards in the Hold once.  To buy a card, players discard cards from their Hold whose numbers in the top left leaf (also known as Growth) equal or greater to the cost of the card in the top right mug.  Cards bought from the Market go to the Hold, while Memory cards are sent to the discard.  Any time a player has no deck, they shuffle their discard pile.

WINNING:  Each time there is only 1 Memory card, the season is over, and new Memory cards are drawn to replace the old one.  Once all 4 seasons of Memories have been bought, with one Winter memory left, the game is over.  Players tally up their points in the bottom teapot or circle, and the player with the most points wins.

CONCLUSION:  The art on this game is adorable.  It is well done, and the dragons are all precious.  That can only take you so far, though.  The gameplay is...lackluster.  It doesn't have anything mechanically different or unique from other deck builders.  There isn't a ton of replayabilty either, as it's easy to get through most of the cards in the market.  If you or a group are just getting into deck builders, or the theme and art really appeal to you, take a look at this game.  However, for most everyone else, this is one tea party I suggest passing by.