Ante in Greek is used to express exhortation, like “άντε, πάμε”, which is similar to come on, let’s go.

Continuing our dragon theme, after Flamecraft. Three Dragon Ante: Legendary Edition is a fast-paced card game for 2 to 6 players designed by Rob Heinsoo that smells like Dungeons and Dragons.

The box

Inside the box, we find:

• 70 Standard Dragon Cards
• 15 Mortal Cards
• 15 Legendary Dragon Cards
• 60 Cardboard Gold Pieces
• 30 Cardboard Platinum Pieces
• 6 3DA Ability Disks for use with the D&D RPG
• 6 Reference Cards

A rulebook is also present with clear instructions to help you master the game easily. The box is made of sturdy cardboard and has compartments dedicated to holding the cards. However, like Sushi Go, if you like to sleeve your cards, they won’t fit back in. To be honest, sometimes it is even tricky to close the box, even without the sleeves, because the tokens take up much space. But I like to keep all components in one place, even if it means giving an extra push or two.

Art

If I had to use one word to describe the game’s art, it would be: majestic. The illustrations are filled with dragons of every color, and mortal cards like the kobold and the dragonrider are purple with sharp contrasts, giving off a sense of importance.

Card Types & Rules

These cards are bigger than the average deck cards, similar to tarot cards. Each card has either a dragon representing a specific colour, which determines the dragon’s alignment, or a mortal, which can be very powerful. At the top right and bottom left corners of the card, you can see the card’s strength, which starts from 1 and goes all the way to 13. At the bottom of the card, there is a short text describing the card’s special power, which varies from drawing and discarding cards to stealing gold or cards, or even altering the result of a gambit, like the druid card, where the player with the weakest flight wins the gambit.

That special power is not in effect unless it is triggered. If you are the first to play in this round, then yes, you activate it – aah, the advantages of being a leader. You also activate it if the strength of the card matches or is lower than the card just played by the person to your right.

But there’s more! What about legendary dragons? These are special cards with abilities that are always active. There are two types of special flights for those who enjoy collecting: a flight with 3 dragons of the same color, or 3 mortals, is called a color flight and other players pay you money equal to your second strongest card, while 3 cards of the same strength constitute the strength flight and not only you draw 2 cards from the pile but also steal gold from the stakes.

What happens if you somehow end up with no cards in hand, or it’s the start of your turn and you have only one card? You buy cards by revealing the top card from the draw pile, paying gold that equals its strength, discarding it and then drawing until you have four cards. There is no other situation where you get to buy cards.

Gameplay

A game of luck and bluff, a concept that resembles poker, fused with dragon vibes. Each player begins with a hand of 6 cards, with a maximum hand size of 10, that they cannot surpass at any time. The rest of the cards are placed face down in a draw pile. You basically play gambits where each player chooses one card, puts it face down in the centre of the table, and reveals it only when all players have chosen their card. These are the ante cards. If the cards are not tied, all players put that many gold in the centre of the table according to the card with the highest strength. The player with the strongest card is the leader, and you check that at every round, and it’s time to start the first turn.

On your turn, you pick one card from your hand and place it face up this time, in front of you and check if the card’s power is triggered. Then, in a clockwise order, the other players do the same. Each gambit has 3 rounds, but if you need to break ties, 4 or more rounds may be added. Each card you play, aka place in front of you face up, is part of your flight, and if you are the leader in a round or your card’s strength is less or equal to the card just played by the person to your right, then you get to activate its special power. After all players have 3 cards in their flight, the flight with the highest total strength wins the gold in the stakes.

At the end of each gambit, each player draws two cards, and the ante and flight cards are discarded. Of course, if the draw pile reaches its end, you shuffle the discarded cards and place them in the draw pile. When does the game end? Well, you keep playing until someone runs out of gold at the end of a gambit. The goal is simple: get all the gold and win the game!

Final Thoughts

Three Dragon Ante: Legendary Edition is a fast and charming game, perfect for tables that enjoy a mix of luck, bluff and tactics. And for the D&D fans out there, you could easily use it in your campaign as a tavern game, to immerse your players. So, next time you enter a tavern with some gold in your pouch, would you ask the inn patrons for a game?

Stay crafty and ante that dragon,
Your new favourite author.

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