When Your Life Needs a Little Wild In It
Does your life need a little bit of wild in it? Do you have the mid-summer blues? If so, I'm reviewing Draul -- a wild card game -- and a wild conference in this post today to help you out.
First the Wild Game: Draul
Draul, is advertised as a swift-swapping, flip-flopping, wild-wagering card game. I had reviewed The Rank Game during the pandemic -- a game our multi-generational family thoroughly enjoyed -- so was happy to agree to review another game put out by the Storyastic folks.
Up to six people can play Draul, so Kevin and I asked (arm-twisted, begged, bribed) three of our family and a friend to join us. Those four were all in their 20's. My husband and I? Young at heart.
draul card game
How Draul is Played:
Each player is dealt 7 cards to build the best 5-card hand. A player might have a perfect hand, but then they have to pass three cards to their right. And then 2 cards across. And then 1 card to the left!!
Play is fast and swapping is swift. Just when you think you have your hand figured out, you have to trade again and re-think your strategy.
The similarity to poker is obvious with flushes, pairs, and straights, but we liked the added twist of trying to go for the lowest hand OR the highest hand possible. One person had never played poker in the group and several of us had not played for years...errrrrr...decades, so there was a bit of adjustment to the rules and what constituted the best hand.
My Review of Draul:
We all agreed we enjoyed the fast pace. A complete game of ten rounds could be played in less than one hour. The game received a positive response from all six of us. I give the game an A.
One of our sons felt his game-playing friends would enjoy the layers of bluffing in the game and took down the info for ordering, which I am NOW going to tell you!!
Kickstarter and How You Can Get the Game:
Draul is one of three new Storyastic games that are debuting on Kickstarter July 10. Did you catch that. Not one game! Three! Each game starts at $10 on the 10th and increases $1 a day throughout each day of the campaign ending at $30 when the campaign ends July 30th. This is a great deal for such high quality games, but Storytastic believes that we all need a break from technology (can I get an "Amen!") and a chance to play together in real life. Check it out at GetTheseGames.com to learn more about the Kickstarter and their current giveaway.
Draul card game
The Wild Wonder Conference
I just finished a five-day virtual event, The Wild Wonder Conference. My creative juices were energized by hanging out with over 800 artists, writers, poets, scientists and journalers from around the world as we explored nature journaling and our mutual love for being outside.
It will be another year before this conference happens again, but they will be making the recorded content available soon. Sign up for John Muir Laws' Nature Journaling newsletter to be notified when that happens.
I give the conference at A++++++++.
One Finished Page:
I have dozens of pages of notes and sketches, poetry, and thoughts from the conference. Here is one finished nature journaling page from several photos I took before we evacuated our cabin due to forest closures in northern Arizona. I found many of my entries focusing on that event. Love (and grief) for a place can seep into your soul. I like this thought from poet, Emilie Lygren, who taught at the confference - "I have been here long enough for here to change me."
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