Dominion Review

Dominion: Review

Information:

Mechanics: Deck-Building
Player Age: 13+

Player Count: 2 - 4 Players

Time to Play: 30 Minutes 
Game Designer: Donald X. Vaccarino

Publisher: Rio Grande Games

Year Published: 2008

BGG Weight: 2.35

Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.

Introduction:

Dominion is the first board game that took deck-building as its main mechanism. Deck-building is a great genre of board games that's always evolving and it is one of my favourite mechanisms. However, does the original mechanism of this game hold up to today's standards?

Card Anatomy:

Treasure:

Treasure cards are the main form of currency throughout the game. They come in copper (1 money), silver (2 money), and gold (3 money). As the game progresses, it is a strategy to fill the player's deck with more beneficial treasure like gold and sometimes silver, and remove the coppers from the deck.

Action Cards:

Each turn, a player is allowed to activate one action card from their hand. These cards normally allow players to draw more cards (+ card) or add additional actions/buy, as well as having a unique effect. 

Some action cards will cause a negative effect for the opposing players. These are the attack cards. To negate this, reaction cards (like The Moat) have to be revealed from a player's hand.

Victory Cards:

These are the cards that will be scored at the end of the game. The cost to purchase the card is on the bottom left, and the number of points it will award is in the middle of the card. Victory cards will still be drawn like normal cards in your deck, so the more you buy, the more your deck will be clogged. In terms of game strategy, gaining the high point province card is pivotal.

There is an action card in the game called ‘Gardens’ which will award one point at the end of the game for every 10 cards you have. This action card contains a stack of 12 cards instead of the normal 10.

Curse Cards:

Curse cards will grant negative one (-1) point at the end of the game and clog the players' decks. The witch in the base game is the culprit of these cards, when played it attacks and gives other players a curse card. 

Setup:

- Each player gains seven copper and three estates as their starting deck. They will shuffle this deck and draw five cards for their starting hand.

- Using the randomiser cards or through player selection, choose 10 market cards for the game.
- Display those decks in the centre of the table, as well as the copper, silver, and gold piles. 
- The estate, duchy, and province cards are placed in separate piles at the centre of the table. However, there will only be 8 of each in a two-player game.
- Place the trash mat within reach of all players.

How to Play:

Essentially, players will take turns until either the province pile depletes or three of any other card piles depleted first. At that point, when that turn is finished, the game immediately ends and every player will score the victory cards in their deck. The player with the most points is the winner.

On a turn, the active player will be able to perform one action and one buy from the five cards in their hand as a starting point. There is no maximum to the amount of treasures that can be played on a turn but there is a maximum to the amount of cards you can buy. Through the market cards, players will gain + cards, + actions and + buys that will allow additional occurrences of these actions in a turn. This is a deck building game that sequence of play really matters. Any cards not played on a turn will be discarded before the next five cards are drawn.

Final Thoughts:

- Great variety in the base game.
- Concise turns.
- The card piles are static which allows players to easily plan in advance.
- The theme isn't overly exciting.

When I first played Dominion I didn't understand the allure as I was more excited for current-day deck-building games. The more I played Dominion, though, the more I realised that it is a game about looking at the card selection after setup and coming up with a strategy to be the fastest in scoring the most points. Dominion is a game that is purely about choosing a strategy and keeping that strategy efficient. As players score more points, their deck will become more bloated. This is when players may have to pivot to find cards that allow for more draws or find new avenues to cut down on estate or copper cards from their deck. The allure of this game is how easy the gameplay is. It is a fast-playing deck-building game that holds true to the essence of deck-building. Dominion is definitely a deck-builder which holds up to today's standards and I'm excited to one day explore the vast array of expansions. It has earned a Go-To Golden Game Seal.

Click...feed the addiction: 

Rio Grande Games

Dominion on BGG

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