War of the Dragon: The Wheel of Time Interview With Dire Wolf

In the realm of epic fantasy, few names garner as much respect as Robert Jordan and The Wheel of Time. The beloved fantasy epic spanning 15 books follows Rand al’Thor, Mat Cauthon, Perrin Aybara, Egwene al’Vere, and Nynaeve al’Meara - young villagers from the Two Rivers whose fates are all woven into the fate of the very world itself. Now, the epic Final Battle is moving from your bookshelf to your tabletop with the upcoming War of the Dragon board game, currently on Kickstarter from Dire Wolf Games.

The War of the Dragon is a game for 2-4 players where you will play either as the forces of Light, working to prepare yourself for the final battle by gaining allies and strengthening yourself, or the forces of the Shadow, spreading corruption across the lands and working to bring the powerful Forsaken back to the world. Inside the box, you almost get two separate games: a shorter Heroes game variant that supports up to four players, and the grander Epic Mode, which is limited to two players but lets each player control armies rather than individual characters. Regardless of which version you play, both sides will play slightly differently from the other, providing an asymmetric experience that players can enjoy.

War of the Dragon is, at its core, a mix of area control and tableau building. Players will be competing to complete missions and expand their influence across the map, empowering their forces along the way, be it with individual heroes in Hero Mode or whole armies in Epic Mode. On your turn, players will pick from a host of different actions to help them in these endeavors, some of which include recruiting more allies to their player board for various effects, moving units around the board, empowering units that are out, and even manipulating the One Power and Weave itself to grant you benefits and help complete your mission.

Needless to say, there looks to be a lot to this game, so we wanted to go to the source to get a better idea of things. IGN had a chance to speak with Scott Martins, President of Dire Wolf Digital, and Andy Clautice, the Director of Design, to learn more about not only how the game plays but also where it fits into the larger Wheel of Time story.

The Dire Wolf Interview

IGN: Can you elaborate more on where the game takes place in the book timeline and why?

Andy: War of the Dragon: The Wheel of Time starts in Book 4, The Shadow Rising,

when the heroes are spreading across the world after taking the fortress of the Stone of

Tear, and multiple Forsaken have been established as active. Taking the Stone of Tear at

the end of Book 3 kind of marks when the scale of the conflict really steps up to the level

that we use in the game, where the whole world is in play, and entire nations can be

affected by your actions. Although events from the earlier books are still referenced and

even given the chance to play out as if they were happening a bit later. The story we’re

reflecting here really is supposed to be a new turn of the Wheel, and a lot can happen

differently.

The game then carries through the entire rest of the series, to the end of the storyline at

The Last Battle. That conflict is the focal point for the characters themselves and all their

actions, all the preparations and maneuvers that lead up to it, and we wanted to match

that importance.

Image Credit: War of the Dragon Kickstarter

IGN: Does War of the Dragon include any elements from other Dire Wolf games?

Scott: Sure, but not directly. Mike (Mihealsick) and Ryan (Schoon) started the project

before Dire Wolf got involved on the design side, and it has a pretty different skeleton

from other games of ours.

Andy: There’s some tableau building and light character progression like in Invincible,

along with a deck of cards with special abilities, which is something you can see in

Dune: Imperium.

IGN: How much do rules and mechanics carry over between the Hero and Epic modes?

Will folks know how to play both games by learning one of them, or is War of the

Dragon functionally two different games in a single box?

Andy: The rules carry over pretty substantially between the two modes. Epic Mode adds

more systems to interact with, and it adds a much deeper battle experience, and all of

that goes on top of the basics that you learn in Hero Mode. They might feel like different

kinds of games because of the length and the depth, but the rules are very much shared.

We think of Hero Mode as the way to learn and explore some of what’s possible in the

game, and Epic Mode is where you can really dig in and see your strategies take shape.

"Epic Mode adds more systems to interact with, and it adds a much deeper battle experience"“

IGN: How did War of the Dragon come about? Was it always planned to have these two

game modes?

Scott: The two modes weren’t always planned, but as we got further into development,

we knew that the deep strategy game we were making probably wasn’t going to be as

accessible as it could be to fans of The Wheel of Time who were less hard-core board

gamers. A game on the scale of Epic Mode is an experience! And not everyone is

necessarily ready to jump straight into the deep end. In exploring how we could offer a

better entry point, we took particular inspiration from the Character Game from SPI’s

classic 1977 War of the Ring board game, where you zoom in from the big epic conflict

to really focus on the heroes and villains at the center of it all. Having an experience

that’s easier to get into - or easier to fit into your schedule - lets more folks get in on the

fun.

As for how the whole thing came about, well, it was a lot of love and a bit of luck. Mike

and Ryan had been working on their project, we had been involved with the property,

and we fell together at the right time with the chance to actually execute.

IGN: In developing this game, are you working with or have consulted with Harriet

(McDougal) - Jordan’s wife and editor - or Brandon Sanderson at all? And if so, to

what extent?

Scott: We have not, but we’ve had the benefit of a great lore team and a collaborative

approvals process to make sure that our representation of The Wheel of Time is faithful,

thorough and exciting for fans.

"We’ve had the benefit of a great lore team and a collaborative approvals process"“

IGN: Dire Wolf is a pretty big name in the board game space, with the likes of Dune:

Imperium, Clank!, and others and The Wheel of Time is a big name too. With that

all being the case, what was the decision to go the crowdfunding route for this

title instead of direct to retail / game stores? Is this Kickstarter serving more as a

pre-order or is it to get the game actually made?

Scott: For us, Kickstarter offers a great way to reach fans – particularly internationally –

and some valuable insights into what demand looks like in different parts of the world,

which helps us manage shipping logistics and keep costs down for everyone. For a lot

of publishers (including us), crowdfunding is an important way to build community and to

get early feedback from some of your most passionate fans; “dollars raised” is an

exciting benchmark, but it’s really only one of the considerations that go into the

decision to go the crowdfunding route.