Seek the help of powerful dragons in order to defeat an evil witch and save your kingdom in Dragon Keeper! Help the dragons raise their young in order to earn their trust and obtain powerful magical items from them. Care for the drakes, feed them and protect them from nasty adventurers. Efficiently manage the dragon gems and create a well-defended money-generating den in this fun time management game!
Dragon Keeper is a time management game in the style of farm/garden management games such as The Fifth Gate. However, instead of running a farm full of corn, ducks and pigs, you get to manage a dragon's den! And it's not nasty fire-breathing evil-looking dragons either. You'll be taking care of cute little baby dragons and watching them grow as you protect them from the nasty adventurers who come invading and searching for treasure.
You are a dashing prince, and the game begins as you are about to get married to your beloved princess. However, an evil witch gatecrashes the wedding and casts a curse. Your princess gets turned into stone, the party-goers get trapped in the castle, and you are banished from the realm. Desperate for help, you head to the mountains to search for the powerful dragons, hoping that they will be able to provide you with magical weapons to fight the witch. They agree, but there's a catch: you have to take care of their kids!
The way the game levels work is slightly different from other time management games. Rather than having quests for each day/level, Dragon Keeper has a whole set of quests for each chapter, and you can take as many days as you want to achieve those goals. However, you need to complete them in a specific time in order to achieve the Expert level. In this sense, the game is also more freeform, allowing you to choose how you want to play; whether to spend the first few days creating a strong economy before attempting to complete the quests.
You start with a baby red dragon (which you hatch by pounding the egg with a hammer), and must feed it when it gets hungry. When it is happy and well-fed, it produces gems (which is weird, but definitely better than other types of bodily waste!) These gems form the basis of the game's economy, and when collected will be used to generate cash which in turn is used to buy more dragons, other creatures and various other upgrades. The dragons are separated into different colors, with each color being able to produce 3 different quality gems as the dragons age. So a red dragon will be able to produce 3 different cuts of rubies.
At the end of each day, the gems you collect can then be converted into jewelry. The jewelry screen will let you convert gems into various rings, necklaces and crowns, each of which require a different combination of gems. The jewelry can then be sold for more than what you would get if you had sold the gems individually. A fun addition is that each day may have a special "daily deal", such as bonus cash for each necklace you make, or bonus cash for each emerald you use.
You can't just collect gems waiting for a well-paying jewelry combination though. There is the running cost of replenishing your food supply. Your gem chest also has limited space, and you won't be able to collect more gems once it is full. Thankfully, you can buy more chests using the money you earn. You can also buy more dragon eggs and more meat racks to feed your growing menagerie. Space is limited however, and you will also need to hire imps to clear the debris to make more space.
There is also the problem of intruders. Adventurers will randomly appear to try and steal your gems or attack your baby dragons. You can simply attack them yourself, or hire trolls to help whack these annoying intruders. Defeating these adventurers will provide you with loot that you can sell, as well as a special essence. If used during the day, these essences can be used to zap other adventurers. If you collect them instead, they can be used to upgrade your den, creating more efficient imps, more nourishing food and other effects that increase your efficiency.
The game is refreshingly more open-ended than normal, letting you choose how to play the game. If you are good at clicking things fast (ie. collecting gems, feeding dragons and fighting adventurers), you could fill your den with lots of dragon nests and imps to create more space. If however you prefer a slower and more strategic style, you can hire more trolls to do the fighting for you and invest in better food that requires less feeding time. It's all up to you, as long as you eventually complete the quests.
Dragon Keeper is a game that's high on cuteness factor and fun gameplay. You will spend many hours enjoying taking care of the dragonlings, collecting gems and making jewelry (especially if you are one of those who likes shinies!) You will love the Dragon Keeper PC game if you liked similar farm/garden management games such as The Fifth Gate or medieval-themed games like the My Kingdom for the Princess series. Get the Mac version here.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
You can read more about Dragon Keeper and try the game at http://gamepudding.com/r/dragon-keeper.html
Steven maintains the time management game review website at http://gamepudding.com/ - a website devoted to strategy, simulation and time management games for the PC and Mac. You can read game reviews, download games and play them online.
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