Tale of the Cowardly Knights (I Would Fight The Dragon)

The King of Dukesonberg has called his best and bravest knights together to go and fight the dragon that has been harassing the locals.  Unfortunately, the best and bravest were all eaten.  So, he called the last reserves.  The only way out?  Hide all the Armor, the Shields, the Horses, anything that would be required to go be a knight and fight that hideous, terrifying beast.  Any excuse to say: "I Would Fight the Dragon, buuuut..."



BACKGROUND:  I Would Fight the Dragon is a card game for 3 to 8 players, and was designed by Talon Coleman and published by Black Monk.  Players take the role of "brave" knights to go fight the dragon, but seemed to have misplaced their items.

GAMEPLAY:  Each round, all players start with 4 cards in hand.  Then, a player will start by putting an item in the pot, and claiming that they are missing something, like a weapon or helmet.  The next player continues by adding another card in and claiming something.  At any point, the next player may believe they are lying, and the claimed card is in the stack.

CHALLENGE:  At this point, it the accused believes that item isn't in the stack, they may call Stiff Upper Lip.

• NO STIFF LIP: If the item is in the stack, it is placed in front of them.  If it is not in the stack, the accused player takes an item from the pile and puts in front of the accusing player.  Players may never call items that are in front of them.
• STIFF LIP:  If the item is in the stack, the accusing player puts that item plus 1 other item from the pot or their hand in front of the accused player.  If the item isn't in the stack, the accused may either give them 2 items from either the stack or hand (in any combination), or give them an item from in front of themselves.  Any items given must be different.

LOSING:  Unlike most games, rather than a winner, there is 1 loser. The player that collects all 5 separate types of cards must go and die...I mean, fight the dragon.

CONCLUSION:  Half bluffing game, half luck, there's a certain charm and fun to be had with a group that is willing to be silly and take this game to its extreme.  This might be a decent cleanser game in between your session of Gloomhaven and Betrayal at the House on the Hill, but only if the people you're playing with are willing to be silly with it.  Mechanically, there's some neat ideas, but they are, like all card games, bogged down with luck and card counting, especially for this game.  I Would Go Fight the Dragon, but there are a lot of games to play, and this one is just alright.