Dragons of Etchinstone Review: Adventure Anytime, Anywhere

Introduction

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I’ve always admired games that punch above their weight. Like, picture a chihuahua that confidently squares off against a rottweiler—and somehow wins. Yeah, that kind of confidence. Dragons of Etchinstone is exactly that chihuahua, an 18-card solo adventure that has no right being as engaging, strategic, and thrilling as it is. It promises a journey that fits entirely in your hands, which initially felt to me like a boast akin to claiming to fit an entire Thanksgiving dinner on a teacup saucer. Yet, after multiple games, I found myself consistently marveling at how the designer packed an epic adventure into a mere handful of cards. Interested in seeing how exactly this pint-sized dragon hunt works out? Buckle in–we’ve got dragons to slay.

Overview

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In Dragons of Etchinstone, you take on the role of an Ether Mage tasked with protecting Etchinstone, the last great nation in the realm of Valorfall, which is threatened by four ancient dragons. These dragons have captured strategic strongholds in the North, South, East, and West. Your mission is to embark on a perilous quest, defeat the dragons, and restore peace to the land. Designed by Joe Klipfel, Dragons of Etchinstone is a solo card game played with a deck of 18 cards, providing an immersive experience of tactical card management and strategic decision-making, playable completely in-hand.

The game is played solo and unfolds in two distinct eras: the Region Era and the Dragon Era. In the Region Era, you’ll journey through four distinct regions, each represented by Encounters—either Journeys or Enemies. These Encounters are resolved using a hand of Action cards, each offering different Move or Attack abilities. Successful completion of Encounters rewards experience points (XP), allowing you to upgrade your cards. Failing or narrowly overcoming Encounters results in penalties such as losing valuable time or downgrading your Action cards, making subsequent challenges harder.

After completing all four regions, you enter the Dragon Era, comprising two final challenges: a Final Journey followed by the Final Enemy—a dragon you’ve selected at the game’s outset. You will need to strategically form Action Sets from your upgraded Action cards, combining their abilities to overcome these daunting final trials. Completing the Final Journey and defeating the dragon earns you victory, while failure in these challenges leads to defeat.

Gameplay

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Right from my first play, Dragons of Etchinstone surprised me with how much tactical complexity it squeezed into its modest 18-card deck. Every card serves multiple purposes, forcing tough, rewarding decisions every turn. What truly stands out is how each game genuinely feels like a miniature adventure, complete with an epic boss battle finale.

Each turn presents a quick, engaging puzzle that frequently ends with a satisfying reward. It’s this addictive challenge and reward loop that makes the game flow. The balance between journey and combat encounters is thoughtfully executed, delivering a dynamic and varied gameplay experience. Both encounter types offer puzzles similar enough to avoid unnecessary complexity, yet their nuanced differences add interest and prevent gameplay from becoming monotonous. Additionally, upgrading your cards introduces strategic depth—you’ll carefully weigh upgrading actions that excel during journeys versus those more effective in combat.

One of my favorite gameplay elements is how encounters aren’t strictly pass-or-fail. Even partial successes move your quest forward, albeit with lingering consequences. The partial successes ultimately allow you to fail-forward, but they make you feel like you’re just scraping by. This constant tension leaves you continuously questioning if you’ll be strong enough to handle the climactic Dragon Era, keeping each choice deeply meaningful and the overall quest authentic and exhilaratingly uncertain.

Speaking of challenges, the Dragon Era lives up to its epic billing. Both the Final Journey and the Final Enemy dramatically ramp up the difficulty, clearly signifying you’ve reached the climax. Here, success isn’t about decisively crushing the dragon but strategically weathering its assault while inflicting enough damage to secure victory.

In terms of replayability, the four distinct dragons exceeded my expectations. Rather than escalating in predictable difficulty, each dragon presents its own unique puzzle and threat that demands adaptive strategies–one might be heavily armored, another particularly aggressive. Coupled with the random encounters throughout the regions, no two games feel exactly alike. For instance, after four playthroughs, I encountered the enemy Freeze ability only once, highlighting the game’s unpredictable but engaging variability.

For controlling difficulty, Etchinstone offers setup tweaks that give you two levels of difficulty easier than Normal and three levels of difficulty harder. At the time of this review, I was comfortably beating Normal difficulty with just the pesky Red Dragon giving me some trouble at times. Hard difficulty offered a good challenge but still felt achievable. I’m pleased with the considerations the designer has taken for difficulty scaling.

Dragons of Etchinstone also smartly includes variants for players seeking greater challenges. The “Cavalier” variant eliminates card fusing, requiring more thoughtful card management, while the “Glass Cannon” variant makes colored armor less effective, significantly altering defensive strategies. Additionally, the game includes a simple scoring system, encouraging repeated plays to beat-your-own-score (BYOS) enthusiasts.

Dragons of Etchinstone lived in my pocket for a couple of weeks, accompanying me everywhere—school pick-up, my kid’s karate class, and every random errand. If I had some downtime, instead of defaulting to my smartphone, I pulled out Dragons of Etchinstone and lost myself within Valorfall. Sure, I received my fair share of odd looks from other adults—who then immediately returned to being glued to their own phones, exactly as I would have been on other occasions. Engaging myself with Etchinstone’s puzzles felt like a genuine win over doom-scrolling or responding to emails off the clock.

My only minor gripe is that the advertised 30-minute runtime feels slightly longer than ideal for a purely in-hand experience. For me, 15-20 minutes would be perfect, but thankfully, the game never overstays its welcome. It’s also incredibly easy to pause and resume, fitting nicely into fragmented downtime during commutes or short breaks.

Overall, the turn-by-turn puzzle of evaluating multi-use Action cards is addictive and satisfying. There’s a thrilling ebb and flow between successes and setbacks. Time often flew by, and I found myself quickly progressing through regions, always eager to start another round.

Components and Design

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For an 18-card microgame, Dragons of Etchinstone impressively conveys its theme. The game’s compact cards manage to carry a compelling narrative, providing just enough storytelling to feel like you’re embarking on a genuine quest. I enjoyed playing it sequentially, aiming to defeat all four dragons in an informal campaign-style format to rid Etchinstone of all dragon threats as presented in the game’s premise.

The small yet expressive artwork on the monsters, journeys, and dragons effectively grounds the adventure in the fantasy realm of Valorfall. However, I would have loved to see artwork on the Action cards themselves. Considering these are your primary tools, thematic visuals would significantly enhance immersion. Currently, the only theme on these cards is the name, often easily overlooked amidst number-crunching and tactical considerations.

The graphic design is functional but requires a few games to internalize fully. Fortunately, the game includes a quick-reference guide directly on the box, which I frequently consulted during my initial plays. This thoughtful addition by the designer greatly streamlines the learning curve.

Given its design as an “in-hand” experience, it’s critical to mention its portability and ease of play without a tabletop. In this regard, the game largely succeeds. I comfortably played multiple sessions back-to-back while waiting during errands. The only slight challenge occurred during the Dragon Era when managing two Action Sets simultaneously became a little tricky. My solution was to try to stack Action Sets in one hand or briefly lay them on my lap. Nevertheless, this portion is brief enough that it never detracts significantly from the overall experience.

Final Thoughts

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Dragons of Etchinstone is a small game that leaves a lasting impression. Its innovative use of multi-purpose cards, meaningful strategic choices, and satisfying quest structure combine into an experience that feels genuinely adventurous, regardless of its minimalist components.

If you’re someone who appreciates tight tactical gameplay, enjoys puzzle-like challenges, and values portability for gaming-on-the-go, this is absolutely worth adding to your collection. Conversely, if you prefer expansive narratives, detailed miniatures, or require tabletop space for sprawling components, Dragons of Etchinstone might not be your ideal match.

For my part, I thoroughly enjoyed every playthrough. It’s compact enough to accompany me anywhere yet robust enough to offer strategic depth and replayability. Despite its tiny size, it delivers consistently thrilling adventures that leave me eager for “just one more game.” Dragons of Etchinstone firmly demonstrates that great games really can come in very small packages.