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Dominion |
Voted "2010 Best Family Strategy Game" by Games Magazine
In Dominion, each player starts with an identical, very small deck of cards. In the center of the table is a selection of other cards the players can "buy" as they can afford them. Through their selection of cards to buy, and how they play their hands as they draw them, the players construct their deck on the fly, striving for the most efficient path to the precious victory points by game end.
From the back of the box: "You are a monarch, like your parents before you, a ruler of a small pleasant kingdom of rivers and evergreens. Unlike your parents, however, you have hopes and dreams! You want a bigger and more pleasant kingdom, with more rivers and a wider variety of trees. You want a Dominion! In all directions lie fiefs, freeholds, and feodums. All are small bits of land, controlled by petty lords and verging on anarchy. You will bring civilization to these people, uniting them under your banner."
"But wait! It must be something in the air; several other monarchs have had the exact same idea. You must race to get as much of the unclaimed land as possible, fending them off along the way. To do this you will hire minions, construct buildings, spruce up your castle, and fill the coffers of your treasury. Your parents wouldn't be proud, but your grandparents would be delighted."
Dominion is not a CCG, but the play of the game is similar to the construction and play of a CCG deck. The game comes with 500 cards. You select 10 of the 25 Kingdom card types to include in any given play -- leading to immense variety.
2-4 players.
- Ages: 10+
- Brand: Rio Grande Games
- Interests: Card Games
- Shipping Weight: 2.3
SKU: 65513200370
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Customer Reviews Of This Game
Average Rating
Review by Alliance Distribution, 4/2009
It is a card game which will appeal to Magic players (and in fact all the Magic players I know who have played it have enjoyed it tremendously.)
There are four kinds of cards: victory cards (estates worth 1 point , duchys worth 3 points, or provinces worth 6 points), curse cards (worth -1 points), money (copper worth 1, silver worth 2, or gold worth 3), and action cards. The goal is to end up with the most victory points when the game ends (representing how you have developed your dominion.) Players begin with a deck of 7 copper and 3 estates, drawing a random 5-card hand, and spend their turns buying cards for their deck. On each of their turns, a player may play one action card, buy one card from the supply to place in their discard pile to add to their deck, then discard all cards used and in their hands and draw a new hand of 5 cards. Should a player run out of cards to draw, the discard pile is shuffled into a new deck. The game ends when either the province pile runs out or any 3 piles run out. At that point, the player with the most victory points in their deck (counting the hand and discard pile) wins!
The deckbuilding component of the game is a lot of fun, as you are always hoping for an optimal draw with a good action card and enough money to buy something as well. While only 10 different action cards are used in any game, there are 25 different cards provided, as well as recommended sets of cards to use. This allows for a large variety of games. Many of the cards allow players to draw more cards, play more actions, and/or buy more cards, so you may see a player burn through his entire deck on one turn (if the cards come up in the right order.) Some cards encourage interaction between players, so some games are almost like each player is playing their own solo game while others can be very aggressive with cards played to affect your opponents. The ability to influence when the game ends by running down piles was also a factor in how the games play out; in one game, two piles ran out so quickly it was easy to buy down a third pile to end the game prematurely. Finally, the need to balance money, action, and victory points (cards which do nothing during the course of the game but are the whole point of the game) in the deck is a fine challenge.
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Park Place Mall Employee Recommendation 3/2009
Andrew -
Dominion is a card game for 2-4 players designed by Donald X. Vaccarino. The goal is to create your own deck of cards, your Dominion, which includes the most points worth of Estates, Duchies, and Provinces.
Game play is as simple as A, B, C.
A: Play an action card. Action cards include the Smithy, Villages, and Thieves, to name just a few, and they'll let you draw more cards, play more cards, or even steal those badly needed money cards straight out of your opponents' decks.
B: Buy one card. This is where you use the money cards in your hand to buy more money cards, one of the ten available action cards, and eventually those Estate, Duchy, and Province cards that will win you the game.
C: Clean up. This is where you throw everything you played, everything left in your hand, and everything you bought into your discard pile. Draw five more cards from your deck, reshuffling your discard pile into it if you need to, and you're ready for your next turn.
Games tend to run fast and smooth, often feeling like a race, and making for a very addictive game. After your first game, you'll probably want to immediately play again, and, if you're anything like me, you'll still have that feeling after your twentieth game.
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