Customer Reviews

Iron Dragon

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Iron Dragon is a fairly complicated and really quite fun strategy game that is not so hard (though not so easy) to learn, and quite hard to master. Like most railroad games, the basic idea of the game is to make money by using your one train engine to transport goods from one city to another dictated by a hand of three cards. To move accross the map, the player needs to spend his money to build railroad tracks.

Iron Dragon is essentially an Empire Builder variant with a ton of special rules, such as foremen, ports and ships, random events, and the Underground. We've enjoyed all of these special rules, though many of our friends who started by playing Empire Builder do not like many of these rules. It is true that some of the special rules have rather strange and extreme effects on play balance.

The materials are quite appealing, and the erasable crayons that are used to draw the railroad lines are excellent. Unfortunately, we've found that the board can peel off if you aren't careful in erasing, and the crayons go fast.

I like this game because there is a lot of strategy involved and rather little cutthroat diplomacy (so you don't see a 3-1 gang up like in many other multi-player games). There isn't much player-to-player interaction (which I prefer, but many of my friends do not like), and the game can get very slow at times (leave an hour per player at least for play time). Still it is one of my personal favorites. END

Iron Dragon is not as good as Empire Builder, North America Rails or Eurorails, but it's a fun game just the same. I like the extra, underground realm of the Orcs. I also like the magical links between certain cities (similar to Star Trek's worm holes). The reason this game isn't quite as fun as other railbuilding games is, the board doesn't seem to be as even as other boards. It's easier to win if you start in one part of the board than another.

I bought this game for my son because I could not find Empire Builders. Our whole family loves it and we play it over and over again. The game is absolutely fantastic. Other families in our neighborhood liked the game so much after playing ours that they bought it. The game is very addictive, so be careful not to get caught. Adults like it as much as the teens. It is a great way for adults and teens to spend time together doing something they both enjoy. The only bad thing is that the board is really not made to be played the way we play it; the cover is starting to peel off. Also we have had a hard time finding different color grease pencils to use with it. Our crayons were used up long ago.

Fun, new version of Empire Builder with a few new tricks to keep your interest, the fantasy component (not being a real map to real places) made it even more interesting

I loved this version of Empire Builder because of my love for the fantasy genre...it is a great strategy game where you have to make decisions to ratio how much track you buy vs. the profitibilaty of the load your train has to carry on that track. Every time I have played and coerced my friends to play this game they, and I always loved it. The only downside is the length of play: one game can be about 3-4 hours. The other helpful hint is that instead of using the erasable crayons, which I don't like, I buy a set of fine point erasable board markers instead.
For durability I put three stars because there are a lot of little pieces that has the potential to get lost...the Mayfair Game site does sell replacement pieces.
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This game is definitely a very good choice for those of you who are into the fantasy genre. It's kind of like an RPG but in a different way. The goal is to build tracks of rail to different cities and deliver goods to them. You get money from doing this and can use it to keep building more track and upgrade your train. There are different terrain types and different characters who have advantages in the terrains. Dwarves for example can build through mountains for only 1 gold.

The game takes very long to play, about 4-5 hours and possibly up to 6 on your first time playing, but I don't mind it that much. It's very mentally challenging and you need to plan ahead a great deal in order to be successful. Lot's of skill involved, lot's of fun. Highly recommended.