Fortunately, one man named Donald X. Vaccarino came up with Dominion.
How It Plays
Dominion distills the complicated, time-consuming, and costly undertaking of deckbuilding into a single, thirty-minute game.
During the game, each player has their own deck of cards, which starts out rather pathetic - a few coins and a few worthless pieces of land. Over the course of the game, you will build up your deck (thus the term, "deckbuilding game" by purchasing from a limited selection of cards from the Kingdom supply. These cards will be more valuable coins to increase your purchasing power later, action cards that let you do more things such as draw additional cards into your hand, buy more cards at once, or remove cards from your deck that you no longer need, and finally special Victory cards that award you points, but do nothing for you during the actual game. The actual set of action cards available to purchase is made up of 10 unique piles of cards, accessible by any player, and drawn from a set of 25 included in the base set (with many more available in the expansions).
With a very simple series of steps (play 1 Action card, Buy 1 card with your treasure, Clean Up - it even fits the A, B, C acronym) each turn and a wide variety of action cards to obtain featuring special abilities, you will eventually control a significantly more powerful deck to purchase the ever-so-valuable Province cards.
The game ends when a certain number of Kingdom piles runs out, or when all the Province cards have been claimed.
Does It Dominate?
Dominion, simply put, is an amazing game. It does so many things so right, resulting in an engaging, balanced experience with essentially infinite replayability.
I want to say "the thing that makes Dominion so amazing is..." but really it's not limited to one thing.
The game is essentially perfectly balanced. Since every card is available to every player, there is no ultimate "god" card that guarantees victory. Even if there was, everyone could get it, so it would all balance out. In addition, everyone starts in the same, very weak position, so no one will have a distinct advantage based on the Kingdom cards in play in any particular game.
The simple framework of the game allows the rules to get out of the way, and strategy to really shine. You would be surprised at the variety of action cards there are based on that framework, and the single currency. Whereas some games force you to keep track of money, attack power, defense, etc. etc. etc., Dominion basically comes down to one thing: treasure. You need to get as much treasure in your hand as you can. But there are so many ways to manipulate your deck to do that. Some action cards let you draw more cards; which is great, it gives you more chances to get the money you need. Some cards simply provide more treasure all at once, so you need fewer cards to get what you need. Some cards let you remove cards from your deck, getting them out of the way so you have better access to the cards you want. Some cards allow you to play more cards afterwards; some do not. There is so much variety available, and the simple framework allows incredible depth in the choices you make and the cards you use.
There is randomness in the game - the cards you buy (and use) go into your discard, and the discard gets shuffled every time your deck runs out. These means you can't predict what order the cards will show up, or guarantee that two cards that work really well together will appear in the same hand. But the game is all about deck management - if you add the right cards, they'll be there when you need them. You have freedom to choose and your choices matter. Sure, luck might make the difference between winning and losing occasionally, but better choices will always beat out luck-of-the-draw.
There isn't a lot of meanness to the game either. A few cards are "attack" cards which hurt your opponents by forcing them to discard, or to add useless cards to their deck. But these attacks are limited in nature, and a player who over-does it on attacks will find themselves losing to players who focus on building better, treasure-rich decks.
It takes a few rounds, or a game or two, for new players to start to figure out what's going on. But once they do, the game clips along at quite the rapid pace. Half the time it'll be your turn again barely after you finish shuffling, so there is very little downtime. It means no waiting in boredom for your next turn to come around; and even with a relatively slow or new player, you won't have to wait long. The game is also pretty short, landing at around 30 minutes most games, with a few card combinations pushing the game upwards of 45 minutes. The very nature of the game and it's ending conditions prevent the game from dragging on and on, even on slower games.
I love the sacrifices the game forces you to make in order to win. To get the most points, you need Victory cards. Which means buying them and adding them to your deck. But Victory cards don't do anything for you during the game; they're essentially blank cards. You need them, but they hurt you to take them. That makes it oh-so-important to decide when to start buying out provinces. Ideally, your deck will be able to handle the addition of 3-4 provinces and still be able to provide strong hands. But usually, another player will start buying Provinces before you feel ready; you don't want to fall behind, so you have to start moving towards Provinces as well. Again, it's all about deck management; getting bigger hands, better treasure, and superior actions. However, the first player to get a Province won't necessarily win; that province inherently slows them down, giving other players a chance to catch up. It's very, very balanced.
There is a bit of a learning curve to Dominion. The rules are easy enough to teach; once a player learns the 5-6 keywords (gain, buy, trash, discard, etc.) they will be able to read and interpret cards for themselves. A few rounds of play, or sometimes a whole game, will help them see how cards work. However, the overall strategy can be hard to grasp, and an experienced player will almost always emerge victorious in a landslide. It's tempting to go for a lot of fancy action cards, or grab certain action cards that look great but aren't as useful as the newbie things. Different cards are valuable at different times in the game or in different circumstances. Entire websites have been dedicated to Dominion strategy; we even have a multi-part strategy guide on this site. It can be tough for a newbie to jump in, but it is, at least, very enjoyable to play, in part because the game is more about building your own deck than hurting others.
On that note, some people do complain about the lack of interaction. It's true; most of what you're doing is self-contained. You add cards to your deck, and this does not affect anyone else. However, multi-player solitaire this is not. The interaction is subtle; and while, except for attack cards, you can't affect the other players, you do need to pay attention to what they are doing. If someone starts buying provinces; or targets a particular set of action cards, you may need to react. If you wait too long after the first province buy, you'll be too far behind to catch up. If you let one person get a whole slew of a certain action card to his or herself, it may make their deck an unstoppable force. You also need to pay attention to purchases of lower-point VP cards, which can break ties, or if certain piles of cards are running low and could result in a premature game end. There's a lot to watch for, and it sounds overwhelming at first, but it's not so bad once you start to play.
Dominion is simply a brilliant game. It has essentially invented the "deckbuilding" genre of games, but has packed a huge punch with all it has to offer. It is so strategic, so balanced, so much fun. Give it a try, and you'll soon be arguing about the best cards in the supply, and which cards work well with each other, and itching to play just one more time. And it gets even better with expansions.
Pros:
Invented Deckbuilding
Extremely streamlined
Well balanced
Wonderfully consistent game terminology and card text
Infinitely replayable
Highly strategic
Accessible and easy to teach
Fun to play even if you lose
Cons:
Not as directly interactive as some would like
Want another opinion? Check out the Dominion review on The Board Game Family or Play Board Games' Dominion review.
How It Plays
Dominion distills the complicated, time-consuming, and costly undertaking of deckbuilding into a single, thirty-minute game.
During the game, each player has their own deck of cards, which starts out rather pathetic - a few coins and a few worthless pieces of land. Over the course of the game, you will build up your deck (thus the term, "deckbuilding game" by purchasing from a limited selection of cards from the Kingdom supply. These cards will be more valuable coins to increase your purchasing power later, action cards that let you do more things such as draw additional cards into your hand, buy more cards at once, or remove cards from your deck that you no longer need, and finally special Victory cards that award you points, but do nothing for you during the actual game. The actual set of action cards available to purchase is made up of 10 unique piles of cards, accessible by any player, and drawn from a set of 25 included in the base set (with many more available in the expansions).
 |
| The basic "board" setup - Treasure and VP on the left, Supply on the right |
With a very simple series of steps (play 1 Action card, Buy 1 card with your treasure, Clean Up - it even fits the A, B, C acronym) each turn and a wide variety of action cards to obtain featuring special abilities, you will eventually control a significantly more powerful deck to purchase the ever-so-valuable Province cards.
The game ends when a certain number of Kingdom piles runs out, or when all the Province cards have been claimed.
Does It Dominate?
Dominion, simply put, is an amazing game. It does so many things so right, resulting in an engaging, balanced experience with essentially infinite replayability.
I want to say "the thing that makes Dominion so amazing is..." but really it's not limited to one thing.
The game is essentially perfectly balanced. Since every card is available to every player, there is no ultimate "god" card that guarantees victory. Even if there was, everyone could get it, so it would all balance out. In addition, everyone starts in the same, very weak position, so no one will have a distinct advantage based on the Kingdom cards in play in any particular game.
 |
| Curses. Very bad. Stay away. |
The simple framework of the game allows the rules to get out of the way, and strategy to really shine. You would be surprised at the variety of action cards there are based on that framework, and the single currency. Whereas some games force you to keep track of money, attack power, defense, etc. etc. etc., Dominion basically comes down to one thing: treasure. You need to get as much treasure in your hand as you can. But there are so many ways to manipulate your deck to do that. Some action cards let you draw more cards; which is great, it gives you more chances to get the money you need. Some cards simply provide more treasure all at once, so you need fewer cards to get what you need. Some cards let you remove cards from your deck, getting them out of the way so you have better access to the cards you want. Some cards allow you to play more cards afterwards; some do not. There is so much variety available, and the simple framework allows incredible depth in the choices you make and the cards you use.
There is randomness in the game - the cards you buy (and use) go into your discard, and the discard gets shuffled every time your deck runs out. These means you can't predict what order the cards will show up, or guarantee that two cards that work really well together will appear in the same hand. But the game is all about deck management - if you add the right cards, they'll be there when you need them. You have freedom to choose and your choices matter. Sure, luck might make the difference between winning and losing occasionally, but better choices will always beat out luck-of-the-draw.
 |
| Highly desirable treasure; desirable but painful-to-gain Victory cards... |
There isn't a lot of meanness to the game either. A few cards are "attack" cards which hurt your opponents by forcing them to discard, or to add useless cards to their deck. But these attacks are limited in nature, and a player who over-does it on attacks will find themselves losing to players who focus on building better, treasure-rich decks.
It takes a few rounds, or a game or two, for new players to start to figure out what's going on. But once they do, the game clips along at quite the rapid pace. Half the time it'll be your turn again barely after you finish shuffling, so there is very little downtime. It means no waiting in boredom for your next turn to come around; and even with a relatively slow or new player, you won't have to wait long. The game is also pretty short, landing at around 30 minutes most games, with a few card combinations pushing the game upwards of 45 minutes. The very nature of the game and it's ending conditions prevent the game from dragging on and on, even on slower games.
 |
| This box insert is SO useful to keep the game organized. Until you get expansions. |
I love the sacrifices the game forces you to make in order to win. To get the most points, you need Victory cards. Which means buying them and adding them to your deck. But Victory cards don't do anything for you during the game; they're essentially blank cards. You need them, but they hurt you to take them. That makes it oh-so-important to decide when to start buying out provinces. Ideally, your deck will be able to handle the addition of 3-4 provinces and still be able to provide strong hands. But usually, another player will start buying Provinces before you feel ready; you don't want to fall behind, so you have to start moving towards Provinces as well. Again, it's all about deck management; getting bigger hands, better treasure, and superior actions. However, the first player to get a Province won't necessarily win; that province inherently slows them down, giving other players a chance to catch up. It's very, very balanced.
There is a bit of a learning curve to Dominion. The rules are easy enough to teach; once a player learns the 5-6 keywords (gain, buy, trash, discard, etc.) they will be able to read and interpret cards for themselves. A few rounds of play, or sometimes a whole game, will help them see how cards work. However, the overall strategy can be hard to grasp, and an experienced player will almost always emerge victorious in a landslide. It's tempting to go for a lot of fancy action cards, or grab certain action cards that look great but aren't as useful as the newbie things. Different cards are valuable at different times in the game or in different circumstances. Entire websites have been dedicated to Dominion strategy; we even have a multi-part strategy guide on this site. It can be tough for a newbie to jump in, but it is, at least, very enjoyable to play, in part because the game is more about building your own deck than hurting others.
 |
| Actions are fun! Just don't get carried away |
On that note, some people do complain about the lack of interaction. It's true; most of what you're doing is self-contained. You add cards to your deck, and this does not affect anyone else. However, multi-player solitaire this is not. The interaction is subtle; and while, except for attack cards, you can't affect the other players, you do need to pay attention to what they are doing. If someone starts buying provinces; or targets a particular set of action cards, you may need to react. If you wait too long after the first province buy, you'll be too far behind to catch up. If you let one person get a whole slew of a certain action card to his or herself, it may make their deck an unstoppable force. You also need to pay attention to purchases of lower-point VP cards, which can break ties, or if certain piles of cards are running low and could result in a premature game end. There's a lot to watch for, and it sounds overwhelming at first, but it's not so bad once you start to play.
Dominion is simply a brilliant game. It has essentially invented the "deckbuilding" genre of games, but has packed a huge punch with all it has to offer. It is so strategic, so balanced, so much fun. Give it a try, and you'll soon be arguing about the best cards in the supply, and which cards work well with each other, and itching to play just one more time. And it gets even better with expansions.
Pros:
Invented Deckbuilding
Extremely streamlined
Well balanced
Wonderfully consistent game terminology and card text
Infinitely replayable
Highly strategic
Accessible and easy to teach
Fun to play even if you lose
Cons:
Not as directly interactive as some would like
Want another opinion? Check out the Dominion review on The Board Game Family or Play Board Games' Dominion review.
I agree with your points, which is why Dominion has quickly become one of my favorites.
ReplyDeleteI used to be big-time into CCGs, but the problem was always that winning favored investment. That is, you could win with a deck composed of mostly commons and uncommons, but you had a better chance of winning if you had a deck composed of rares, which meant either buying lots of packs until you drew what you needed (expensive) or buying individually the cards that you needed (also expensive). My friends had an advantage over me every time because they either had a bigger allowance or a job, so it was hard to keep up.
Another thing in Dominion's favor: simplicity. It's so easy to explain. Each turn has A, B, C. What you can do within that framework is practically limitless, but the concept is simple enough to make it comprehensible, even to non-CCGers. (Hence, why Abby will play [and even enjoys] this one.)
I've experienced similar frustration with playing MTG. I'm a casual player who doesn't want to sink money into making a Tournament Legal Deck (the 'fairest' way to play) mainly because the Legal Decks change with every edition that comes out.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if you play Legacy decks (any card from any addition being legal) you end up with uber-God-smiting decks that new players can't compete with. It's tricky. You can't just find a fried who plays Magic, you have to know what kind of Magic they play.
There is one game variant that has been equally entertaining to novice and expert and I wholeheartedly recommend it. The Stack. The Stack works for 1-on-1 or multiplayer. Every player contributes cards (1 copy of any given card) to 1 massive stack in the middle of the table. Around the stack are ample piles of all the basic land types. Players take turns and play as normal, but during their draw phase they may choose to draw either from the Stack or from any of the land piles. This guarantees against being land screwed, due to the ridiculous and varied nature of the shared deck.
It's a good way for the experienced player to have a fair game with the inexperienced or new players, though admittedly not the heart of the game.
Sounds like you could use rule 17b with your parents to eliminate the bad-dice-roll blues: http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/wwdnbackup/2008/09/gaming-with-kid.html
ReplyDeleteHaha, Josh, yeah, I probably do.
ReplyDeleteDoes it take a long time to setup and break down afterwards? It seems like it would be a chore to constantly be separating the cards back into their predetermined piles after a game or shuffling them into your deck so often during play.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's too bad. It's more work to put away than your typical card game, but the game is short enough that I can usually play two games of Dominion--with setup and take-down--over my lunch hour at work. Once you're used to it, it goes even faster.
ReplyDeleteI will second Farmerlenny. It's really not a big deal. Even with multiple expansions, if it's organized it doesnt take long to pull out the 10 Kingdom cards, plus base cards, that you need. And you only have to put away 10 sets of cards.
ReplyDeleteYou don't use every card on the table, and as long as each player sorts out their deck, it's no more difficult than any game that uses pieces, minis, cubies, or other tokens.