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What Is Reading Dragons?

Starting at the Dover Public Library in Dover, Ohio, Reading Dragons is a collectable card game that rewards you for reading! Cards range from dragons to other mythical creatures, like unicorns and griffins. You can battle players with your cards, or collect them just for fun!

When you first sign up at the library, you will get a collector's card box*, three starter cards of each element type, a rules card, a reading tracker and an egg checklist .

*While supplies last

a stack of cards with a plant unicorn, phoenix and hippocampi on them

How Do I earn Dragons?

Reading Tracker for the month of January

Reading 8 hours will reward you the maximum number of cards each month:

4 eggs, 4 babies, 4 teens, and 4 adults.

Dragons are mostly earned through reading books using the reading tracker, although some may be available by participation in library events and programming.

Each month, a reader can earn 4 mythical families, shown by the rows of boxes. For every 30 minutes read, fill in a box . A card is earned in the family of your choice, starting with the egg, then baby, teen, and finally adult.

 

Bring your tracker to the library desk, and a librarian will help you get your cards and mark the row after you collect your cards.

 

Dragons go on a 3-month summer vacation every year, and return in September.

Battle Your Friends!

You can play two different games using your Reading Dragon cards! Just make sure you write your name on your cards so nothing gets lost.

Rock Paper Scissors

gemruleswithsymbols.png

Fire beats Leaf

Leaf beats Water

Water beats Fire

To play, you and a friend each choose one card secretly, keeping it hidden so your friend can't see what you chose. Then count to 3 and both of you flip over your cards to see who wins.

Fire beats Leaf

Leaf beats Water

Water beats Fire

If you have the same color you tie.

Dragon War

You will need to have collected several dragon cards before playing

Take all of the card decks, mix them up, and divide them into equal piles for each player. If a player has any extra cards, put them to the side so that both players have an equal number of cards to play.

 

Players will keep their piles face down and play the card from the top of their pile.

A graphic showing what the different dragon ages look like

Each dragon has 4 different ages: egg, baby, teen and adult.

Adult beats teen, baby and egg

Teen beats baby and egg

Baby beats egg

Who Wins Each Matchup

 

Just like with the Rock Paper Scissors game before, Fire beats Leaf, Leaf beats Water, and Water beats Fire.

 

The winner takes both cards and adds them to their win pile.

 

If both players have the same element type, next look at the age of the creature, where the older creature wins.

Egg < Baby < Teen < Adult

 

If both players' creatures are the same age and the same element type, then they will have a war.

 

How to Do a Dragon War

Each player puts 2 cards face down. Then each player plays one card face up. Again check the element type and creature age to see who wins. The winner takes all the cards both players laid down in the war.

The game ends when the players run out of cards to play.

 

Whoever has the most cards in their win pile is the winner!

At the end of the game, make sure to return everyone's card back to the original owner.

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