Dragonslayer

Dragonslayer is an older online game that continues to have a following of serious players.

It was first mentioned in Andromeda Chained as a habit of Brenda Hodunk. Another Spearfish Lake resident, Jason Bailey, also plays it at a master level. Brenda introduced it to Wendy Carter as something she could do well despite her handicap.

"It’s a little hard to explain if you don’t know much about games. It’s set in a mythical medieval kingdom named Kithfenu, and you play it with assumed names, like mine is "Portia". It’s pretty complicated, partly because the players design the complexities and add them to the game. I’ve been playing it for years, and I still don’t know all the ins and outs." She sighed and went on, "There are some people who just about live on the game."

"A lot of it involves logic puzzles," Ben explained. "There’s a real complex system of points in various categories, and you can trade points with other players in one category for points in others. It’s possible to just log on occasionally and make a few moves, but if you really want to get good at it, you have to spend some time at it."^CF22

It is later discovered that Ben and Joy Russell first met while playing it.

Players were known by their self-assigned game names:

• Cassiopeia: Wendy Carter far and away the highest ranked player in the game
• Falconswing: Jason Bailey, a master level player, and frequent opponent of Cassiopeia
• Mithrian: Brenda Hodunk
• Ragweed: Ben Russell (he picked the name for his allergy)
• Portia: Joy