Once every century, the dragons of Underwing return to their ancient brooding grounds for a Great Hatching. Whelps, drakes, wyverns, and wyrms alike dart through the air as the world's most daring tamers try their hands at capturing and training these wondrous, winged beasts.

Armed with an array of colored Elements, players hatch a horde of dragons by strategically placing gemstones within nesting sites. Of course, different eggs thrive in the presence of different elements, so would-be tamers must optimize the use of their Dragon Handler underlings to stake claim, add gemstones, and fetch more resources. At the end of the Great Hatching, the tamer with the most Dragon Points is proclaimed Underwing's next great Dragonlord.

Underlings of Underwing is an award-winning, worker-placement and resource management game for one to six players. Gazing out into the Hatching Grounds, players imbue Dragon eggs using elemental crystals gathered by their Handlers in an attempt to successfully hatch the greatest collection of Dragons following the rules of color theory. It takes about 30-60 minutes; more players means longer playing time.

Originally designed by Alisha Volkman for the The Game Crafter's Learning Game Design Contest (co-sponsored by The Pericles Group), Underlings of Underwing not only took first place, but impressed us so much that we wanted to publish it under The Pericles Group brand. Underwing does so many things right with regards to helping players better understand the principles of color theory while simultaneously succeeding as a fantastic lightweight game, appealing to all ages, with potential for incredible strategic play.

Underlings of Underwing is played in rounds, otherwise known as hours during Hatching Day in the realm of Underwing. Each hour has 4 phases in order to maximize efficiency when it comes to hatching Dragons.

Element Collection

Move and Assign Dragon Handlers

Add Elements to Eggs / Hatch Wild Dragons

Hatch Eggs / Collect Completed Eggs / Discover New Eggs

At the conclusion of each hour (round), the Egg Token (indicating Player 1) is passed to the left and the hour pawn is advanced one space to the right.

Phase 1 - Collect Elements

Beginning with Player 1 and rotating to the left, each player draws the appropriate Element from the Element Bag for each Dragon Handler he or she has currently on the Field. If the player has no Handlers on the Field, it is a blind draw rather than a specific Element.

Colorful Elemental Crystals!

Phase 2 - Move and Assign Dragon Handlers

Handlers are your workers who perform all of your tasks for you. They can gather specific elements, stake a claim on eggs, or hatch eggs to ensure all proper safety protocols are followed.

A view of the Field and Hatching Grounds

Starting with Player 1 and rotating to the left, each player may perform one of the following actions until they have made all the moves they wish to make. These include managing Handlers on the Field, claiming Eggs, or recalling Handlers to use in future rounds.

Close up view of the Hatching Grounds

Phase 3 - Placing Elements on Eggs

Starting with Player 1 and rotating to the left, each player must place 1 Element they own on an Egg card for every Dragon Handler they currently have on their staff.

Eggs Infused with Elemental Energy

Elements follow the rules of colors and players are able to combine primary colors to make secondary colors. For example, a Red and Blue Element placed together on a slot for Purple Element fulfills that requirement.

Phase 4 - Hatching and Claiming Completed Eggs

At the beginning of this phase, players hatch completed Eggs they have claimed in the previous round. Players then claim completed eggs, fill vacant spaces in the Hatching Ground, and then play continues to the next round.

54 Unique Dragons

Ending the Game

When the Round Tracker reaches 1, this marks the final round of play. At the conclusion of this round, all players will tally up their Dragon Score.

The Player with the highest Dragon Score wins and becomes the next great Dragonlord!