Blue Orange's Dragomino (imported)Photo: Blue Orange Games
The landscape dominoesPhoto: Blue Orange Games
Playing as a familyPhoto: Blue Orange Games
Each egg hides a baby dragon or an empty shellPhoto: Blue Orange Games
Match landscapes to find dragon eggsPhoto: Blue Orange Games
Video

Family game

Dragomino

Kingdomino for five-year-olds: match landscapes, hatch baby dragons

2–4players · best with 2-4
15–20 minplaying time
5+recommended age
Learning curve
Very easy1 / 5
EasyDemanding
Luck & skill
More luck than skill
LuckSkill
Interaction
Low
Set-up
About 3 min
Reading
None

The quick verdict

Full verdict ↓

Great for Five- and six-year-olds who are ready for a real game with turns and choices, but not yet for scoring maths

Think twice if Your child is 8 or older. Kingdomino is marked 8+, gives them more to think about and has a much cheaper Indian edition from Bored Game Company

How we rate it

Learning curve. Pick a domino, place it touching your island, flip an egg for each match. It is simpler than Kingdomino (2 on our scale) and sits with Connect 4 and UNO at 1.

Luck & skill. Whether an egg hides a dragon is pure chance. The skill is in choosing tiles: matching two sides at once, or matching rarer landscapes like volcano whose smaller piles give better odds.

Interaction. Each player builds their own island and nobody can spoil it. The only contact is taking a domino someone else wanted and the Mommy Dragon changing hands.

Set-up. Give each player a starting domino, put the shuffled exploration dominoes in the box bottom, turn 4 face up and hand the Mommy Dragon to the youngest player. Sorting the 69 eggs into six piles by landscape takes longest; one review suggests mixing them face down in the box lid instead.

Reading. No words on the dominoes or eggs; an adult reads the rules once.

Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.

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Is Dragomino right for you?

Great if

  • Five- and six-year-olds who are ready for a real game with turns and choices, but not yet for scoring maths
  • Children who like the look of Kingdomino but are too young for its multiplication scoring
  • Parents who want to play too: each turn has a small decision about which tile to take and where to put it, and there is a bit of probability to think about
  • A gift with a strong record: it won the Kinderspiel des Jahres in 2021

Skip it if

  • Your child is 8 or older. Kingdomino is marked 8+, gives them more to think about and has a much cheaper Indian edition from Bored Game Company
  • You don't want to pay import prices. There is no Indian edition, so every copy is imported
  • Your children want noise and action. This is a calm, quiet game

A place on the honours list

Good company to be in.

Recognition from beyond our table.

Kinderspiel des Jahres (Germany's Children's Game of the Year), 2021 (Winner)

As d'Or, Jeu de l'Année Enfant (France's Children's Game of the Year), 2021 (Winner)

How Dragomino plays

Each player puts a starting domino in front of them; this is the beginning of your island. Four exploration dominoes are laid face up in the middle of the table. Every domino has two squares of landscape, chosen from six types: desert, snow, prairie, forest, mountain and volcano. The egg tokens are sorted into a pile for each landscape, egg side up.

  • Time to teach: about 5 minutes.
  • Reading and language: There is no text on the dominoes or the egg tokens. An adult reads the rules once, and after that a child who can't read yet can play. The only counting is adding up baby dragons at the end.
Match landscapes to find dragon eggs · Photo: Blue Orange Games

How to Play - Dragomino · How To Play

Choose a video · Watch right here

If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.

A turn, step by step

  1. 1
    Pick

    Starting with whoever holds the Mommy Dragon, each player takes one of the four face-up dominoes. Each domino shows two squares of landscape.

  2. 2
    Place

    Add it to your island so it touches at least one domino you already have. There is no size limit, so a domino always fits.

  3. 3
    Hatch

    Wherever matching landscapes touch, take an egg of that landscape and turn it over. A baby dragon is worth 1 point; an empty shell gets you the Mommy Dragon, so you choose first next round.

  4. 4
    Win

    When all the dominoes are placed, count your baby dragons and add 1 point if you hold the Mommy Dragon. The most points wins; a tie goes to the player with more empty shells.

Read the official rules (PDF)Dragomino rules (English) · English
The full explanation: how a game of Dragomino goes

The player holding the Mommy Dragon figure, who is the youngest player at the start, picks a domino first, and the others follow clockwise. You add your domino to your island so that it touches a domino you have already placed.

For every side where the same landscape meets on your island, you take an egg from that landscape's pile and turn it over. It is either a baby dragon, worth 1 point, or an empty shell. An empty shell isn't all bad news: you take the Mommy Dragon, which means you choose first next round.

Each landscape's pile hides exactly 7 baby dragons, but the piles are different sizes, from 14 eggs for desert down to 9 for volcano. Matching rarer landscapes like volcano therefore gives you a better chance of a dragon, which older players can take into account when choosing tiles.

When all 28 exploration dominoes have been placed, everyone counts their baby dragons, and whoever has the Mommy Dragon gets 1 extra point. The most points wins; if there is a tie, the player with more empty shells wins. The rulebook also has a variant called Dragon's Thirst: when a match includes a square with a watering hole, you draw two eggs of that landscape, secretly keep one and put the other back egg side up.

What's in the box

The landscape dominoes · Photo: Blue Orange Games
  • 4Starting dominoes
    one per player to begin your island
  • 28Exploration dominoes
    two squares each, from six landscapes: desert, snow, prairie, forest, mountain and volcano; some show watering holes for the variant
  • 69Egg tokens
    14 desert, 13 snow, 12 prairie, 11 forest, 10 mountain and 9 volcano; each landscape hides exactly 7 baby dragons, so 42 dragons and 27 empty shells in all
  • 1Mommy Dragon figure
    called the Mummy Dragon in the European rules
  • 1Rules
    illustrated

From Blue Orange's English rulebook (blueorangegames.eu) and the contents list on Blue Orange's US page (item 09011). The egg breakdown is from the rulebook. The US box, the European multilingual box and Pegasus Spiele's German edition hold the same parts. Copies in India are imports, and which language box an Indian listing ships was not confirmed.

Where to buy

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How to make sure you get a genuine copyEditions and the details worth checking.

About the editions

There is no Indian edition, so every copy sold in India is an imported Blue Orange box. Imports can cost far more than the game's usual price, so check the price before you buy. Our Amazon.in link goes to an imported Blue Orange copy.

Before you choose

  • Look for the Blue Orange logo and the designers' names, Bruno Cathala and Marie and Wilfried Fort, on the box.
  • Check the contents: 4 starting dominoes, 28 exploration dominoes, 69 egg tokens and 1 Mommy Dragon figure.
  • Turn over the egg tokens for one landscape: each landscape's pile should hold exactly 7 baby dragons, with the rest empty shells.
  • Check the name. Other dragon-themed board games on Amazon.in have similar-sounding names but are different games.
  • Be wary of a 'Dragomino' from an unfamiliar brand that costs a fraction of the usual price; that would be a warning sign.

What reviewers and players say

Reviewers treat Dragomino as a model of how to turn a family game into a children's game: it keeps Kingdomino's tile laying, drops the maths, and adds the surprise of hatching eggs. They praise the bright, varied dragon art, rules a five-year-old can follow alone after one game, and that nobody is punished for a poor turn. It won Germany's Kinderspiel des Jahres in 2021. The catches: hatching is luck, so a careful turn can still find only shells; the two green landscapes and the Mommy Dragon changing hands can confuse the youngest; and children of about 8 and up, and adults, will find it too simple.

What people love

  • Bright, varied illustrations: every baby dragon looks different, and children love collecting them
  • Rules a five-year-old can follow after one game, with quick turns that keep young children engaged
  • No penalty for a bad turn: an empty shell still wins you the Mommy Dragon and first pick next round
  • A gentle first taste of probability, because rarer landscapes hide their 7 dragons in fewer eggs

Common complaints

  • Hatching is luck: a well-planned turn can still turn up empty shells, which frustrates some older children
  • The two green landscapes can be hard for young children to tell apart, and the Mommy Dragon changing hands can confuse them at first
  • Too simple for children of about 8 and up and for adults, who are better served by Kingdomino
Based on 8 reviews and discussions

Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.

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Players2–42–42–42–4
Best with2-42 or 42-42-4
Play time15–20 min15–25 min15–30 min15 min
Age5+8+6+4+
RulesEasyEasyEasyEasy
Indian editionImportedAvailableImportedImported
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Questions people ask about Dragomino

Is there an Indian edition of Dragomino?

No. Blue Orange makes the only edition, so copies sold in India are imports. Our Check price on Amazon.in button goes to an imported Blue Orange copy; make sure the listing names Blue Orange, and check the price, since imports can cost far more than usual.

Should I buy Dragomino or Kingdomino?

Dragomino is made for ages 5 to 7: you only match landscapes and count baby dragons. Kingdomino is marked 8+ and uses multiplication to score. For a 7- or 8-year-old, Kingdomino is the better buy in India, since Bored Game Company makes a much cheaper Indian edition.

Can a 4-year-old play Dragomino?

The box says 5 and up. Each turn only asks a child to match pictures of landscapes, so a 4-year-old may be able to join in with an adult helping them choose and place tiles, but the game is designed for 5 and older.

Does my child need to read or count to play Dragomino?

No reading is needed: there is no text on the dominoes or eggs. The only counting is adding up baby dragon tokens at the end, and an adult can help with that.

Game facts

Designed by
Bruno Cathala, Marie Fort, Wilfried Fort
Publisher
Blue Orange Games
First published
2020
Players
2–4
Language
No reading – There is no text on the dominoes or the egg tokens. An adult reads the rules once, and after that a child who can't read yet can play. The only counting is adding up baby dragons at the end.
Awards
Kinderspiel des Jahres (Germany's Children's Game of the Year), 2021 (Winner); As d'Or, Jeu de l'Année Enfant (France's Children's Game of the Year), 2021 (Winner)
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.

Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.