Here Be Dragons Reviews
Here Be Dragons is actually a well thought out and detailed game, but the lacklustre characters and plot leave a lot to be desired. Mechanically the game is wonderful, the incredible enemies and art style working fantastically, yet Here Be Dragons falls short where it matters.
Apart from the humor, the well done mechanics, the unique presentation, the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have Here Be Dragons or the Romans ever done for us? My only real criticism is that while there is little to fault on that first go, the game does struggle to offer real replayability. It's an excellent strategy game. So play it once through for that good trip and let that be enough.
Hilarious satire, clever art style, and increasingly complex gameplay make Here Be Dragons a pleasant experience all around. Mild mechanic hiccups blemished my experience from time to time, but not enough to discourage from taking to the sea time and time again.
There’s a lot to enjoy with Here Be Dragons. Once the gameplay clicked, I was thoroughly absorbed
There's a good number of levels and the challenge is stiff enough that you'll be plugging at it for quite some time.
I still had fun with Here Be Dragons, mostly due to the art style and quirky satirical story, but the overall simplicity of the turn-based combat made it so dice rolls could easily sink your good time. This is a novel game, but go to it for the humor, not the technical gameplay mastery.
What do you get when you combine the randomness of the roll of the dice with a rule system that may be simple but has ample room for strategy (and mistakes) and a pretty sly sense of humor (though, as with all humor, it may not work for you)? Aside from a pretty good time if you're into strategy the answer would be Here Be Dragons...
To conclude, I want to reiterate my enjoyment with ‘Here Be Dragons’, despite the flaws noted above. Red Zero Games should receive mountains of praise for a funny, rich and beautiful game, which for me was one I found myself repeatedly drawn to. Yes, there are minor issues that cannot be overlooked, but these may or may not be problematic depending on the player. Some polish to the gameplay design would have served ‘Here Be Dragons’ greatly, as a focus on a more streamlined story and gameplay loop likely would have provided the icing on the cake. However, I can appreciate the attempt by Red Zero Games to create a deep, and ultimately enjoyable, experience for its players. I will keep my eye out for future releases from the developers, but until then, I’ll grab me rum, and set sail again with me mateys on adventures new.
While I have a couple of niggles as I stated above with Here Be Dragons, I do like what the game developers are trying to do. Though I think the game could do with some sort of sandbox mode, where you could tinker around and build up your ship’s skills. When you get deeper into Here Be Dragons, it does offer an enjoyable slice of strategy, and fans of the board-game genre would probably find Here Be Dragons to be entertaining.
Here Be Dragons delivers a differentiated strategy title in the realm of aesthetics and gameplay, with a system that closely resembles what could be seen in a board game. Perhaps its significant support in the dice and chance drives away players who like to have control over what will happen, but it is impossible to deny that this proposal is part of the charm of the game and generates good times. If you are a fan of the genre and theme, and are looking to try something new, here is a highly recommended title.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Here Be Dragons - Here Be Dragons is a production that I can strongly recommend. Although you pay 20 euro for few hours of gameplay with zero replayability.
Review in Polish | Read full review