Game Overview
Dominion, designed by Donald X. Vaccarino, is a card game for 2-4 players which shook the board gaming scene when first published in 2008 and continues to do so today with many expansions being published since then as well as games using the same unique mechanic of deck building introduced in Dominion. Let's see what are the elements that make this game so intriguing.
Dominion introduced the mechanic of deck building on-the-spot, being essentially a themeless game. Many games afterwards used the same challenging mechanic adding an interesting theme as well, like Thunderstone. But let's a look at what deck building means. If you have ever played a collectible card game (CCG) like "Magic the Gathering" or a living card game (LCG) like "Game of Thrones" you already know what this is but for the rest of you deck building can be described as having available a variety of cards with different abilities and trying to build a deck out of them by using cards that work well together in order to have a stable, synergistic deck that will lead you to the win. In most deck building games, before Dominion appeared, the procedure of deck building was done before starting to play the game. Each player built their own deck and then started playing with it. Dominion introduced an interesting twist to that: in Dominion you have to build your deck while playing, starting out with a very small basic deck, consisting of 10 cards, and gradually buying cards that are immediately added to your deck. This way you can gradually build a powerful deck, choosing wisely from a set of available cards. To add more complexity and depth, each game is unique in that all cards are not available to every game. In Dominion there are 25 different Kingdom cards but in each game, you use only 10 of them. The set of cards to use in each game is decided randomly at the beginning of the game. And of course a big difference from the old-school deck building games is that all the cards you need to play the game can be found in the box. You will never have to buy any extra cards like in Magic the Gathering, unless you want to buy an expansion game, which is not obligatory.
I have mentioned previously that Dominon is a themeless game which is not quite correct. Dominion does have a theme, however it's not a strong one and you will probably forget all about it while playing. Essentially you are a monarch, ruling a small pleasant kingdom. But you are not satisfied by that. You want a bigger and more pleasant kingdom, a Dominion! Your dominion is your deck of cards which you gradually expand. The player with the most victory points at the end of the game is the winner. Victory points can be gained by buying Estates (1 VP), Duchies (3 VP) and Provinces (6 VP). The game is played in turns. Each turn has three phases:
A) Action phase - the player may play an Action.
B) Buy phase - the player may buy a card and add it to his/her deck.
C) Clean-up phase - the player must discard both played and unplayed cards and draws five new cards. After a player completes all three phases, his turn ends.
Impressions
Dominion is a game that won't try to impress you from the very start. It doesn't have the looks or the style but it has the essence and the charisma. Moreover it's simple and clever. Once you have played a couple of games you will probably be yearning for more, curious to discover all the secrets and deep strategies of the game. If you are not familiar with deck building games the mechanics will seem a bit peculiar and you will need some time to adjust and get the hang of it. Luck isn't a big factor in Dominion, so expect to use your mind constantly in order to make the right decisions, populate and use your deck in the most effective way. It's probably not a game that everyone will appreciate but it will certainly capture the hearts of all strategic minds.
Once players fully understand the essence of the game they will be buying in-game more and more cards for their deck that will give them extra actions. (remember that normally each player can take only one action, that is play one card from their hand). It is possible that one can flip through their whole deck by playing consecutively cards that grant extra actions. That makes the game a bit broken sometimes and spares the fun from the rest of the players that will just wait for you to finish your round unable to do something in response.
Lets go through our usual rating system to talk about the aspects of a game that really matter:
Components:
As I said before, looks isn't Dominion's strong point. The cards are designed in an efficient way but nothing too impressive here.
Overall 6/10
Gameplay:
The heart of each game!. Dominion has a gameplay that will hook you if you like this type of games. It has player interaction, it is fast-paced and it will challenge your mind constantly.
9/10
Learning Curve:
At first it will probably feel a bit daunting especially for those who haven't played a deck building game before. Once you learn the ropes however, you will probably won't have to look at the manual again.
7/10
Theme:
Dominion's theme is so subtle that you will forget all about it after playing for a while. This may seem a bit disappointing and it probably is.
6/10
Replayability:
One of the strongest points of the game. You will be coming back for more and more after a game ends. Nothing better than that I suppose. Moreover there are a lot of expansions to choose from that will prolong interest in the game, adding a whole lot of brand new cards.
9/10
Fun:
It will not make you laugh but it is fun for sure. You can focus on your own wealth or divide your time between expanding and sabotaging your opponents if you have the right cards available to buy. Time will pass quickly as you play one game after the other. Will you be able to stop before you have the largest kingdom?
7/10
Pros:
Each game is differentPlayer interactionFast-pacedEasy to learnMany expansions that enrich gameplay experience
Cons:
Theme exists but is so lightly manipulated that quickly becomes absentProbably not everyone's cup of tee due to the deck building mechanicSometimes it will get difficult to keep track of your remaining actions / buys when you play cards that grant extra actions / buys. Plus it will be boring for the rest of the players to wait until all actions are completed.
Overall: 7.3/10
Like this game? Find more information about it in http://www.boardgamemaniac.com/Games/By-Genre/Strategy-Games/Dominion-l39.html
Maria Panagou is the owner of http://www.boardgamemaniac.com/ website.
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