Name: DominionDesigner: Donald X. Vaccarino
# of Players: 2-4
Playtime: 30 minutes
MSRP: $58.99 CDN
Link to Rules
Synopsis: Dominion is the original, the granddaddy of the deckbuilding genre. As in other games of this type, players spend their turns playing action and treasure cards from their hand of 5 cards in an attempt to acquire better treasure, action or victory point cards to add to their deck. During game setup, a set of 10 action cards that will be available for purchase is chosen or randomly selected from a group of 25 cards. This gives players a huge spectrum of card combinations to explore from game to game. The in-game challenge is deciding between acquiring victory points to win, or getting the treasure and action cards to help you get the victory points later. The victory points have no real value during the game and can ‘slow’ your deck down, but without them you cannot win!
Numerous deckbuilding games have been released since Dominion, especially after its 2009 Spiel des Jahres win. Even so, I personally think Dominion is still the best of the deckbuilding genre so far.
First, Dominion is the most approachable in the genre. The rules are literally as easy to comprehend as A-B-C and also come with several predefined sets of cards that allow new players to learn about key card interactions. On the other side of the coin, more experienced players, especially those from a CCG (Collectible Card Game) background, can opt to choose the cards they want to build from or just randomly select them for a new challenge every time.
The biggest appeal of the game for many is exploring the interaction between the various cards. You have to quickly determine which cards interact well together and lead you towards your end goal of acquiring as many VPs as possible. Each card in your deck can have a significant effect on the effectiveness of your combos and strategy.
Since the game scales well for 2 – 4 players and plays extremely quickly, it is a perfect game to sit down, setup and play at any time. It can be a great opener for a game night with friends, or you can end up playing a few games in a row for an entire evening of entertainment.
Once you have had a taste for the original base game, you'll no doubt enjoy exploring the cards from the other expansions. We'll have all of the Dominion expansions available for sign-out as part of the FallCon Open Game Library. It's a great opportunity to find out which expansions you like best!
Darren
Numerous deckbuilding games have been released since Dominion, especially after its 2009 Spiel des Jahres win. Even so, I personally think Dominion is still the best of the deckbuilding genre so far.
First, Dominion is the most approachable in the genre. The rules are literally as easy to comprehend as A-B-C and also come with several predefined sets of cards that allow new players to learn about key card interactions. On the other side of the coin, more experienced players, especially those from a CCG (Collectible Card Game) background, can opt to choose the cards they want to build from or just randomly select them for a new challenge every time.
The biggest appeal of the game for many is exploring the interaction between the various cards. You have to quickly determine which cards interact well together and lead you towards your end goal of acquiring as many VPs as possible. Each card in your deck can have a significant effect on the effectiveness of your combos and strategy.
Since the game scales well for 2 – 4 players and plays extremely quickly, it is a perfect game to sit down, setup and play at any time. It can be a great opener for a game night with friends, or you can end up playing a few games in a row for an entire evening of entertainment.
Once you have had a taste for the original base game, you'll no doubt enjoy exploring the cards from the other expansions. We'll have all of the Dominion expansions available for sign-out as part of the FallCon Open Game Library. It's a great opportunity to find out which expansions you like best!
Darren
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