The box cover of Dominion |
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Designer(s) | Donald X. Vaccarino |
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Publisher(s) | Rio Grande Games |
Players | 2 to 4 (up to 6 with the Intrigue expansion) |
Age range | 10 and up |
Setup time | 5–10 minutes |
Playing time | ~30 minutes |
Random chance | Low |
Skill(s) required | Resource management |
Dominion is a designer card game created by Donald X. Vaccarino, and published by Rio Grande Games. The game was released at Spiel 2008 in multiple languages, and voted best game of the fair by the Fairplay polls[1] with a rating of 1.75 from 147 votes. Within two months of its release, Dominion was one of the top ten games according to BoardGameGeek ratings.[2] In 2009, it won the prestigious Spiel des Jahres and Deutscher Spiele Preis awards. It was one of five winning games in American Mensa's 2009 MindGame competition.
The success of Dominion has spawned a series of imitation games or games that utilize the "deck building during the game" dynamic central to Dominion.
Contents |
Dominion is a deck-building[3] card game in which the players compete to gather the most valuable deck of cards, representing a Kingdom. There are five main classes of cards:
Some cards share multiple types.
The game is set up with three stacks of Victory cards, one stack of Curse cards, three stacks of Treasure cards; these cards do not change from game to game. In addition, ten stacks of Kingdom cards (most of which are Actions) are added to the tableau. The Kingdom cards can either be selected by the players or chosen randomly. Finally, each player receives the same starting deck of ten cards, consisting of the lowest value Treasure and Victory cards, and randomly draws five cards to start the game.
Each turn, the player performs the following phases (abbreviated as "ABC" to help new players remember the order):
If at any time the player must draw from an empty deck, the player shuffles their existing discard pile and uses it as the deck. Some Action cards can trash cards, removing them from the game permanently. In the base game, trashing is the only way[4] of preventing undesirable cards from being reshuffled into the deck.
The game is over under two conditions: when the Province stack (the highest-value Victory card in the base game) has been exhausted, or when any three other stacks have been exhausted. At that time, the players count the number of Victory Points in their complete decks, and the player with the highest score is the winner.
The game has been compared to the "draft" gameplay style of collectible card games where players vie for the best deck from a common pool of cards. The game's main strategy is to strive to have hands that provide 8 coins for which to purchase a Province card; this often results from creating Action card chains, using cards that grant additional actions and benefits to build one's available coins to 8 or more. The game's strategy is also one where the players must balance effective deck building to reach this coin goal with the acquisition of Victory cards to win the game; Victory cards have little value during most of the game, and dilute a player's deck of Treasure and Action cards, clogging up their draws.[5]
During development, Dominion was originally called "Castle Builder" and then, later, "Game X".[6][7]
Color | Name | Release Date | Size | Cards | Theme |
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Dominion (Base game) | October 2008 | Standalone | 500 | The original game. | |
Kingdom Cards: 25 | Adventurer, Bureaucrat, Cellar, Chancellor, Chapel, Council Room, Feast, Festival, Gardens, Laboratory, Library, Market, Militia, Mine, Moat, Moneylender, Remodel, Smithy, Spy, Thief, Throne Room, Village, Witch, Woodcutter, Workshop | ||||
Intrigue | July 2009 | Standalone or Expansion | 500 | Decisions among multiple possible effects; victory cards with an in-game effect. | |
Kingdom Cards: 25 | Baron, Bridge, Conspirator, Coppersmith, Courtyard, Duke, Great Hall, Harem, Ironworks, Masquerade, Mining Village, Minion, Nobles, Pawn, Saboteur, Scout, Secret Chamber, Shanty Town, Steward, Swindler, Torturer, Trading Post, Tribute, Upgrade, Wishing Well | ||||
Seaside | October 2009 | Expansion | 300 | Effects that persist to the player's next turn. | |
Kingdom Cards: 26 | Ambassador, Bazaar, Caravan, Cutpurse, Embargo, Explorer, Fishing Village, Ghost Ship, Haven, Island, Lighthouse, Lookout, Merchant Ship, Native Village, Navigator, Outpost, Pearl Diver, Pirate Ship, Salvager, Sea Hag, Smugglers, Tactician, Treasure Map, Treasury, Warehouse, Wharf | ||||
Alchemy | May 2010 | Small Expansion | 150 | Introduces the Potion, an alternate card cost; emphasizes the creation of decks with large numbers of Action cards. | |
Kingdom Cards: 12 | Alchemist, Apothecary, Apprentice, Familiar, Golem, Herbalist, Philosopher's Stone, Possession, Scrying Pool, Transmute, University, Vineyard | ||||
Prosperity | October 2010 | Expansion | 300 | Treasures, victory point tokens, and expensive cards. | |
Kingdom Cards: 25 | Bank, Bishop, City, Colony, Contraband, Counting House, Expand, Forge, Goons, Grand Market, Hoard, King's Court, Loan, Mint, Monument, Mountebank, Peddler, Platinum, Quarry, Rabble, Royal Seal, Talisman, Trade Route, Vault, Venture, Watchtower, Worker's Village | ||||
Cornucopia | June 2011 | Small Expansion | 150 | Variety in player decks. | |
Kingdom Cards: 13 | Fairgrounds, Farming Village, Fortune Teller, Hamlet, Harvest, Horn of Plenty, Horse Traders, Hunting Party, Jester, Menagerie, Remake, Tournament, Young Witch | ||||
Hinterlands | November 2011 (Originally October 2011) | Expansion | 300 | Cards that have an effect when purchased or otherwise gained. | |
Kingdom Cards: 26 | Border Village, Cache, Cartographer, Crossroads, Develop, Duchess, Embassy, Farmland, Fool's Gold, Haggler, Highway, Ill-Gotten Gains, Inn, Jack of All Trades, Mandarin, Margrave, Noble Brigand, Nomad Camp, Oasis, Oracle, Scheme, Silk Road, Spice Merchant, Stables, Trader, Tunnel |
Mini-expansions consisting of a set of a single card type have been released as promotional items.
Preceded by Keltis |
Spiel des Jahres 2009 |
Succeeded by Dixit |
Preceded by Agricola |
Deutscher Spiele Preis 2009 |
Succeeded by Fresco |