By Jasmine Durst | Photo Credits to Jasmine Durst
A one-of-a-kind game has been brought back to life after its discontinuation by fans who still loved and cherished its memory.
School of Dragons is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) based on the How to Train Your Dragon franchise that allows its players to raise, bond with and train their own dragons while exploring the world within the films.
According to Fandom, “The game features educational elements, incorporating science experiments and problem-solving challenges into gameplay.”
School of Dragons was originally released on July 17, 2013, and it was officially discontinued on June 30, 2023, 17 days shy of 10 years running.
The fans of the game created a renewed version and put the download links of the Discord called Project Edge Official, which had a new change in management in February of 2024.
Project Edge Official was created in 2023 after the discontinuation of the game, and the first non-management member joined on December 27, 2023.
The basics involve creating an account with a username, password, birthday, and email. Then you create your Viking character by customizing whether it’s male or female, its general appearance and what it’s originally going to wear, which can be changed throughout your playing of the game. You will finish by naming the character, which may take a few tries if someone already has the name you typed in.
There have been several generations, or editions, of the introduction of the game. In the current edition of the introduction, you will be spawned into a cave that you are trapped in with Hiccup after rocks seal the exit, and Hiccup will teach you the keyboard controls to navigate on foot and jump.
Your first task will be to find the axe in the cave to free a dragon that was trapped in a cage by dragon hunters. You will go to the cage and click on the button that has a picture of an axe to break the lock. You will get the option to free a Monstrous Nightmare, a Gronckle, a Hideous Zippleback, or a Deadly Nadder as your first dragon.
Hiccup will give you an adult age-up token to raise your chosen dragon from a baby to an adult to break out of the cave. You click on the rocks blocking the cave entrance, and you have the dragon fire at it and break it. As you are leaving the cave, collect the box of dragon eggs that were left by dragon hunters in their hurry to escape.
Hiccup will suggest starting a campfire to send a smoke signal for help, and he explains that the smoke will increase with more material. You will be asked to collect 5 leaves for the fire, and Toothless, Astrid, and Stormfly will soon come to the rescue.
Hiccup will teach you how to mount your dragon. You can click on the mount button on the screen or even press R to ride. You will learn to fly your dragon with 5 rings set up in the sky as pinpoints to go through. It will teach you turning, flying higher, diving, speeding up, and slowing down.
After that, you will be given your School of Dragons acceptance letter and transition into the introductory screen at the School of Dragons island.
When you arrive, Hiccup says, “Welcome to the School of Dragons! I have a feeling you’ll fit right in.” You will be asked to give the box of dragon eggs you found in the cave earlier to the headmaster, who also welcomes you to the school.
Branch quests are all the journeys you can take as a dragon rider. These quests are called: Dragon Care, Battle Skills, Flying and Racing, and Adventures.
A newer feature of the game is the ability for players to join or create a clan. Created clans must have a minimum of 4 members within 15 days, or the clan will be disbanded.
Your Viking will start with 75 gems and 400 coins, which is the currency in the game used to buy supplies in the store or open chests across the map. You can buy expansions, dragon eggs, dragon skins and saddles, dragon stables, adult age-up coins, titan age-up coins, Viking clothes, Viking gear, hideout furniture, farming equipment, and fishing equipment.
The following are the expansions you can play to earn experience points, dragon experience points, dragons, and more. The chronological order to play them in is:
- Icestorm Island
- Call of the Death Song
- Battle for the Edge
- Return to Dragon Island
- Secret of the Leviathan
- Rise of Stormheart
- Wrath of Stormheart
- The Hidden World
- Curse of the Hobgobblers
- Age of the Night Lights
The School of Dragons location has two major spots that are frequently visited: the lab and the hatchery. The lab is where one of the characters, Heather, is stationed. She walks you through the scientific method and shows you how to create things like glass or prisms from materials.
The hatchery is where you hatch your newly obtained dragon eggs. The dragons lined up around the hatchery are the Gronckle, Monstrous Nightmare, Shockjaw, Flightmare, Rumblehorn, Sand Wraith, Hideous Zippleback, and Deadly Nadder.
Attached to the hatchery are the dragon stables. In dragon stables, you can send dragons on missions to gain experience points, dragon experience points, coins, gems, age-up coins, and more. Not all of the missions you go on will be successful, so as a dragon trainer, you must make the best decision of which dragons to send on which mission. Not all dragons are suited for every mission. Make sure to check the dragon’s specialties and look at the type of dragons that are recommended for the mission.
There are currently a total of 37 locations on the School of Dragons map. The locations are as follows:
- Dragon Island
- Helheim’s Gate
- Eruptadon Island
- Valka’s Sanctuary
- Icestorm Island
- Explore the Sea
- Armorwing Island
- Death Song Island (Melody Island)
- Auction Island
- Dangerous Waters
- Vanaheim
- Scuttleclaw Island
- Glacier Island
- Warlord Territory
- Outpost Island (Dragon’s Edge)
- Ship Graveyard
- Deep Dark Caves
- Dark Deep
- Sandbar
- Mudraker Island
- Zippleback Island
- Hobblegrunt Island
- Ruff and Tuff’s Dreadfall Racetrack
- Snotlout’s Sentry Station
- Warlord’s Outpost
- Stormheart
- Berk
- Berk Docks
- School of Dragons
- Training Grounds
- The Lookout
- The Wilderness
- Hidden World
- Titan Island
- New Berk
- Tradewind Island
- Impossible Island
Dragons will age up as you earn more dragon experience points. Levels 0-4 are when your dragon is a baby, levels 5-9 are teen dragons, levels 10-19 are adult dragons, and levels 20 and up are titan dragons. You have to manually age them up by clicking on your dragon and then clicking the age menu.
There are also exceptions to these levels, like when you purchase Toothless and the Light Fury (both adults at level 1), the Night Lights (all three teens at level 1), or if you get a dragon during one of the expansions (usually adults at level 1).
The age tokens fast-track the level stage. Adult age-up tokens take your level 1 baby dragon to level 11, since it adds 10 levels to your dragon. Titan age-up tokens take your level 11 adult dragon to level 21, also adding 10 levels. These levels will vary depending on the level you age up your dragon.
You can create several Viking characters to create a diverse realm of specialties. One could be a farmer, one a fisher, one a racing champion, one a great strategist, etc.
Whichever route you take, School of Dragons is a game for anyone to enjoy!