If your group groans at long waits between turns, 8 Dragons is built for you. Sönke Schmidt's dragon-themed strategy game lands on Kickstarter on 9 June 2026 from Wonderbow Games, and its big selling point is that you stay involved even when it isn't your go.
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See how it worksYou play a mighty dragon soaring across two kingdoms, Sinistra and Dextra, hunting for gold. The clever bit is the swarm: young wyrmlings hatch and join you, and crucially you can form swarms using the wyrmlings of any player, so your moves and theirs feed into each other rather than happening in isolation. It is shared action selection with a puzzly, spatial feel, and the designer promises minimal downtime as a result.
Around that, you are building the lair of a proper dragon, chamber by chamber, while collecting artefacts, completing missions and hoarding the biggest pile of gold to win. It plays 2 to 4 players in 40 to 60 minutes, suits ages 10 and up, and comes dressed in bright, characterful illustrations by Pauliina Hannuniemi.
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Find events near youIt is a fresh face rather than a licensed property, which makes it the kind of mid-weight game that is easy to get to the table without a rules lecture. If positive interaction and low downtime are what your group values, this one is worth a look when the campaign opens.
The Kickstarter goes live on 9 June. If it grabs you, that is your cue to round up the hoard and find a game night near you to give it a flight.
Sources: 8 Dragons | Wonderbow Games
