Let’s continue our week of mini reviews now shall we?
Dominion
What it is.
Dominion is a non-collectible constructable card game where each player plays the part of an ambitious minor noble who aims at turning its modest estate into a dominion of provinces and duchies. Players play cards from their decks to generate enough wealth to purchase new cards, some of which are victory cards needed to win the game. The game is very fast paced and lasts about 40 to 50 minutes each. The player with the highest point total of ‘territory’ cards (useless at any other point during the game) in his deck wins. The game also features a set of 25 different action/attack cards, 10 of which are in any given game, making each game very different from one another.
What I like about this game
Absolutely everything! It’s exceedingly clever and has a very low learning curve. Everyone I’ve showed the game to, from my non-gamer wife to my 7 year old son, have caught on and loved it within minutes. However, the Magic player in me is downright gleeful to see that the game is based on established CCG concepts such as resource/action balance, card synergies and sweet sweet inevitability (the point where you can no longer lose a game). The fact that everyone starts with the same deck evens out the elements of initial chances and focuses the game on good decision making.
What I dislike about the game.
I’d be hard pressed to say anything negative about the game so far, even the box was designed so that you would never have to sort the cards ever (I dropped it, while closed, on the floor and the cards were still sorted). I would say that the game is designed such that when you aren’t going to win, you really know it and there’s little you can do about it. That can dampen the fun, but it’s usually always related to sub-optimal decisions in adding cards to your deck, it gets better with experience. The game also has limited player interaction. There are some attack cards that will affect all opponents’ card draws, hand sizes and victory points, but mostly you only have to focus on building the best deck to generate maximum income at every turns.
So if you haven’t tried it, go to your game store and ask for a Demo, I guarantee you’ll love it!
This game is really something. I could not resist to buy it for myself after playing it twice with you…
I’ve bought the expansion instead of the basic one which basically can be played stand alone or together with the basic one for added versatility or for bigger group of player.
I noticed that there seems to be more interactive card in the expansion but then again I could be wrong having played only twice the basic game.
Yan: I agree that Intrigue makes it more interactive.
Seaside comes out next week, then I think the expansions slow down for a while. Seaside has some more things that Magic players will enjoy… one of the cards already spoiled shows the “Duration” mechanic that do something this turn and next turn, which increases some of the long term strategy.
.-= Dave T. Game´s last blog ..Inq. of the Week: Gaming Women =-.
Dave: Thanks for validating my point. 😉
I’ve pretty much left Magic as my skill and collection far surpass those from my entourage making it boring for all those involved. Beside my interest as wane with the constant release of new product. The last card I’ve bought never made their way in any deck…
This game takes what I like from magic and spun it into a manageable package that is a lot more accessible giving no advantage with personal collection.
Tell me you didn’t just say that I suck at Magic Yan?
I could still wipe your butt about half the time 🙂
Hehe!! I knew that you would react on this… 😉
That being said you’re the only exception. Although I would not say about half the time more like you won around 40% of the time… 😛
Whaaaatever man. It’s lnot like I’m going to start building decks and challenege you to prove how wrong you are! If it wasn’t for your dirty Jedi mind-tricks, I’d be the one with a 60% win record.
Sheesh, people nowadays…
lol!
I’ll sell tickets to the showdown.
The bickering reminds me: 🙂
On a semi-related tangent: How do you feel Chatty/Yan about publishing thoughts online that you know the people involved will find out about?
Does it stop you from being completely honest? Do you hide information or revelations that you don’t want your players/DM to see?
I, for example, have a campaign recap thread on another forum that I have let my DM know about, but not the other players. I don’t want to have to censor myself for their benefit. I invited the DM in with the intention of using it as a method of providing feedback, but sometimes I wish I hadn’t – it’s really hard to be brutally honest about things you didn’t enjoy if you know the person involved will see it.
I have an old old blog post that talks about the golden rule of blogging that basically says don’t post something online you wouldn’t want your friends to read.
I am personally against most form of brutal honesty because I fail to see the use of being brutal, ever.
Being honest, yes 100% but it doesn’t have to be delivered with a hand grenade.
If you have issues with someone in the game, I would refrain from posting about it online. Deal with it face to face or by email.
If you have issues with how a game went, I suggest that you describe how you felt about specific situations and how the issues affected you.
When friends are involved, diplomacy and caution are usually the best recourse… at least that’s how I try to live my life.
Perhaps ‘brutal’ was the wrong word, and gave the wrong impression. Let me rephrase: Do you find that there are things you want to talk about on the blog that ideally the players shouldn’t know about (eg. your latest and greatest monster creation, set-piece, or plot arc) and if so, how do you handle that?
And while it’s obviously best to address personal issues face-to-face (even things as non-serious as sessions a player did and did not enjoy), having done that do you still feel uncomfortable addressing them on the blog?
.-= Colmarr´s last blog ..Co-operative Storytelling: DM vs Player roles =-.
I refrain from blogging about what’s comming in my game, Although I will let details and excitement leak out on Twitter where my players are among my followers.
After a game, I usually am forthcoming about preety much everything. If tempers flare up at the table I will mention it on the blog (maybe not identying who said what) as a learning experience.
This does sometime leads to players asking me if I’m sending them messages when I talk about a minor issue I didn’t think needed face to face discussion… but I try to be clear that it’s not what I’m doing.
Is that more what you were asking?
Yep, thanks.
I suppose my question was more of a sociological one. How do people alter (or feel about) their form of expression when they know that the expression is going to be public?
You answered it pretty clearly. Thanks
.-= Colmarr´s last blog ..Co-operative Storytelling: DM vs Player roles =-.
I’ve never played Magic but I love Dominion! So easy to learn. So quick to play. Tons of interesting combinations that aren’t apparent until the middle of a game. I will get Seaside as soon as it’s available.
.-= David´s last blog ..Future of the Planet May Be Decided by Scientists’ Card Game =-.
Colmar: You included me in your question also… Funny as I’ve not really written article (except a few game report). But I imagine since I’m the vocal part of the group you meant as the other players perspective.
Like Phil said we pretty much always talk about our issue and we exchange a truck load of email… Still anything that gets mentioned here is nothing really personal well at least on the players.