Objective

Take on the role of an imperial hatchery official and build the most magnificent Dragonarium. Select territory tiles, strategically place them outwards and/or upwards, and use the elements of fire, water, and air to hatch dragons. The player with the most valuable domains after 12 rounds wins.

Key Concepts

Domains: As territory tiles are placed, domains expand both outwards and upwards. A domain is a continuous group of connected squares (edge adjacent) of the same territory type: fire (red), water (blue), air (green), and royal (yellow). Grey is not a territory type. When moving the assistant and for final scoring (below), only consider the largest domain of each Territory type.

Tile & Component References

• Territory Tiles: Each tile consists of two squares. There are three kinds of squares:
  • With a territory type, namely fire, water, air or royal; and require two element stones to hatch.
  • Without a territory type (grey); require one element stone to hatch; and provide one pillar.
  • Without a territory type (grey); and provide two pillars.
• Dragon Eggs: They are depicted on the squares. They require element stones and then need to be covered by a later placed territory tile to hatch.
• Dragons: Once hatched, a dragon nests on any square. That square now counts as having two types: the original square type (if any) AND the dragon's type.
• Pillar Tiles: Used as supports to place territory tiles flat on higher levels.

Gameplay

The game lasts 12 rounds. Each round consists of player turns and replenishing the planning site (market). A turn includes three steps:

1. Draft and Place a Tile:
   • Choose one tile from the planning site.
   • Place it on level 1 (player board) or higher if able. There are no adjacency rules. Tiles on higher levels must lay flat (may use as many pillars needed for your supply to support one square).
   • Rules: Tiles cannot be placed on top of squares not ready to hatch (still require element stones) or on squares with dragons.
2. Hatch Dragons:
   • If the placed tile covers a square that has all its required element stones, its dragon hatches.
   • Take the corresponding dragon and place it on any square (including level 0 of the Dragonarium player board).
   • The square with a Dragon now counts as also having the Territory type of the placed Dragon.
3. Move the Assistant:
   • Choose one element (fire, water, or air).
   • Count the number of squares in your largest domain of the chosen element and move your assistant exactly that many steps clockwise.
   • At each step, place one stone of the element onto a matching empty egg space in that row or column.

End of Game & Scoring

The game ends when the supply of territory tiles is exhausted (two tiles remain) after 12 rounds.

• Domain Points: For each of the four types (fire, water, air, and royal), score your largest continuous domain:
  • Formula: Number of connected squares x Height of the domain (highest level or single highest point).
• Royal Dragons: Each hatched gold dragon grants an additional 3 points.

The player with the most victory points wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most dragons wins.

Solo

The solo ruleset plays very much the same as 2p, with the only differences being:

• After Move the Assistant, discard 1 Territory tile that has a square with the same territory type of the element you chose to move your assistant. If there are multiple, discard the right-most; if there are none, discard a random tile from the supply.
• Only replenish the planning site when one or two Territory tiles remain.

Scoring:

• 100+: Your imperial throne awaits!
• 90–100: The Ministry is yours
• 80–90: Suited to be an Assistant
• 70–80: An apprenticeship will do
• 60–70: Like getting shells in your yolk
• <60: Back to the Library...