Dragon's Favor

What began as a simple idea during a family vacation created with nothing more than a few dice, sheets of cardstock, and a pencil in a hotel room slowly grew into something far bigger than I ever imagined. The original concept was unexpectedly fun, and I couldn't stop thinking about its potential. From the very beginning, I had a vision: I wanted to create a game where people with vastly different levels of board game experience could sit down at the same table and genuinely enjoy playing together. A game where newcomers wouldn't feel overwhelmed, experienced players wouldn't feel bored, and everyone would have an equal opportunity to win regardless of how deeply they engaged with the strategy.

Turning that vision into reality wasn't easy. Over the years, the game evolved through more than thirteen different editions. Rules were rewritten, mechanics were redesigned, components were rebuilt, and countless ideas were tested and discarded. Every version taught me something new about what the game needed to become.

This project would not exist in its current form without the dozens of friends, family members, and fellow gamers who volunteered their time to playtest it. They challenged assumptions, pointed out flaws, suggested improvements, and helped refine the experience into what it is today. I am incredibly grateful for every person who sat down at the table and helped shape this game through honest feedback and enthusiasm.

I've spent much of my life inventing games. I've designed dozens of board games and played hundreds more, studying what makes people lean forward in anticipation, burst into laughter, argue over impossible decisions, and immediately ask to play again. Through years of experimenting with game design, I've developed a deep appreciation for balance, player psychology, and game theory. Those experiences have given me the confidence to say that this is a game you will truely enjoy.

The strongest endorsement I can give isn't my own opinion it's the reaction of the people who have played it. Every single person I've introduced this game to has wanted to play a second round. For anyone who has ever tested a prototype, they know how rare that is. Usually, people politely finish the game and move on. This one keeps finding its way back to the table.

While I've sold a handful of my other games locally and through entrepreneurial clubs, this marks my very first online crowdfunding campaign. Bringing this project to a wider audience than my other games have reached is both exciting and nerve-wracking, but I genuinely believe this game deserves that chance.

If this project speaks to you, your support whether through backing the campaign, sharing it with friends and family, or simply helping spread the word would mean more to me than I can adequately express. Thank you for taking the time to learn about a game that started as a hotel room idea and grew, through years of passion and countless playtests, into the game you see before you today.

I can't wait to share it with you.

At its heart, this is an engine-building game about adaptation, clever planning, and making the most of the rolls you've been dealt.

Each player takes on the role of a unique, hopeless wanderer attempting the impossible: ascending the summit in the hopes of earning the favor of the dragon that waits at its peak. The journey ahead is unforgiving, and every traveler must forge their own synergies to make it first.

At the beginning of the game, you'll start with a small collection of skills that define the foundation of your strategy. These skills present combinations of dice that can be used to resolve challenges along your journey, or even hinder other players climbs. You'll also have access to spells powerful tools that allow you to spend momentum to alter fate when luck isn't on your side. Standing between you and the summit are your path cards, each representing a portion of the perilous climb and demanding specific combinations of resources to overcome.

Your goal is simple: be the first wanderer to complete all of the challenges along your path and claim victory.

Each round presents meaningful decisions. You'll have opportunities to learn new skills into your growing engine or pursue alternative strategies that provide immediate rewards and short-term advantages. Then comes the moment that defines every turn: gathering a handful of dice and deciding how to use them.

Do you commit everything toward rapid progress? Spend precious momentum to salvage an unlucky roll? Use your engine to claw at the heels of your opponents with the hope that crippling them will ensure your lead? or invest in strengthening your engine for the rounds ahead? Success comes from finding the balance between calculated risk, long-term planning, and knowing when to seize an unexpected opportunity.

As your collection of skills grows, so too do the possibilities. Every skill offers its own unique ability, but they also belong to. One player may create a carefully orchestrated machine that transforms poor rolls into opportunities, while another may focus on explosive turns capable of surging ahead in a single round.

Adding even more variety, the game features four distinct sets of skills, each built around its own themes, strategies, and combinations. Only one set is used in any given game, dramatically changing the decisions available and the types of engines players can construct. Learning a new set doesn't mean learning an entirely new game it means discovering a whole new landscape of possibilities hidden within familiar rules.

No two climbs unfold the same way. Different wanderers, different skill sets, evolving strategies, shifting fortunes, and the ever-present tension between preparation and improvisation ensure that each journey to the summit feels fresh.

Whether you're the type of player who loves uncovering intricate combinations and optimizing every decision, or someone who simply enjoys rolling a fistful of dice and adapting on the fly, this game offers a satisfying balance of strategy, accessibility, and replayability that will keep players returning to the mountain again and again.