What's the right food to feed to a picky dragon? Cupcakes might just be the right answer in Cupcake Dragon, an all ages, family friendly card game designed by Wendy and Andrew Vogel, forthcoming from Outland Entertainment. Artist Aaron Palsmeier brings to life not only a dragon, but also the various creatures of the players' villages—and some very tasty looking cupcakes.
In this simple, family-friendly card game, players draw and play cards, following each of four animal suits, and putting a coin in the pot with each play. When a cupcake is played, that player takes the pot of coins and starts a new one. At the end of each round, the dragon comes to the village of the player with the most coins and eats a card. That player must play the next round with one fewer card in hand. Whoever entices the dragon at the end of the third round wins the game!
In addition to the card game, the Outland Team collaborated on a tie-in picture book, showcasing more of Palsmeier's fantastic spreads about a pack of bandits plaguing a village bakery, and it's up to the baker's two daughters to convince the local dragon to help. With story by Outland's Creative Director Jeremy Mohler and text by our Editor in Chief Alana Joli Abbott, the picture book includes aspects of the card game—such as each of the four animal suits—to enhance the game experience. Fans of the Tea Dragon comics and game by Katie O'Neill, and families who enjoyed introducing their young readers to fantasy tropes through books like Ben Hatke's Nobody Likes a Goblin, will find that both the game and book versions of Cupcake Dragon hit the sweet spot.
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Meanwhile, you might enjoy some of these other Outland kid-friendly games and comics: