Overview of the board game Dominion Deck-Building
Overview of the board game Dominion Deck-Building
Dominion is one of the most played deck building games in the world. The basic Dominion game is a great introduction to the mechanics of deck building for both new players and veteran players. Players will love the aspects of the Dominion that allow for creativity and customization.
- You can create your own personal decks
- You will perform funny combinations (to the disappointment of teammates)
- Each game will look different, but the overall concept remains the same
With new extensions still coming out and countless supply deck combinations, this game is much loved. Get ready to learn everything you need to know about the basic game of Dominion, strategies, cards and combinations and why this game is such a modern gaming phenomenon.
We hope you enjoy this detailed resource! Feel free to skip around and don't forget to let us know how you like your first game of Dominion. Check out our full review of Dominion card game below.
Note: Dominion: Second Edition is the current edition available on the market. They changed the art of cards and replaced some old cards with new ones. In this article, we will only talk about the maps from the second edition.
- The 2nd edition contains updated cards, artwork and simplified rules
- Tactical game for 2-4 players
- 30 minute playing time
Read the full Dominion Deck-Building Game overview below.
Introduction to Dominion and deck building
In the Dominion, each player takes on the role of the monarch of the land. Each deck represents your own "Dominion". What does every monarch need to increase his wealth and influence? Land!
The winning points in the game are land maps that assess the prosperity of your lordship. Additional cards on board will represent various forms of wealth, wealth, and citizens with which you can increase your wealth and increase your land (earn winning points).
The strategy of the game is closely related to the way you build your decks. No strategy is better than the other and 4 players if you start with exactly the same combination and have the same options, everyone will have a completely different deck and strategy by the end of the game.
A brief overview of the lordship
Dominion was first released in 2008 by Rio Grande Games and was designed by Donald X. Vaccarino. He’s probably a really fun guy for beer because the policies (any extensions) include a funny introduction:
Dominion’s main mechanic of the game is building decks and was the first of its kind. Inspired by his love of games and previous work on Magic: The Gathering, Donald X. Vaccarino has created something truly special in Dominion. The idea of a large board game with boxes, where players can design or build a deck from cards in a box instead of buying individual deck cards to make a deck (Magic, Yugioh, Pokemon), can be traced directly to it.
The lordship was often imitated, but never completely repeated.
It is the first and most popular of its kind and is usually the player’s first introduction to deck construction. Unlike other card games where players draw from a split deck, each player starts the game with the same 10-card deck and buys others with their starting cards to essentially “build their deck”.
Since its first appearance in 2008, Dominion has released a total of 10 games with large boxes and 3 extensions for small boxes . Both sets of basic games (Dominion & Intrigue) have recently been updated with new cards and repaired to fix some of the problems with the original games. It’s very easy to play just a few Dominion games, and then wake up the next morning on a shelf full of extensions. (I'm a terrible impulse customer in games. We have every extension.)
List of all extensions
The good news is that if you like the basic game, a real treat awaits you! Dominion has a huge expansion that will keep the game fresh and exciting for years to come.
To delve into the extensions, check out the Wild Cows in-depth guide to the best dominion extensions !
Players who enjoy strategy and planning will especially enjoy building their decks and performing chain combinations ... to the annoyance of their peers.
We played Dominion with every combination of players from 2 - 6 and thoroughly enjoyed it. Once we even made up the rules ourselves and played 7 players by adding extra cards from the second base set we had.
- The 2nd edition contains updated cards, artwork and simplified rules
- Tactical game for 2-4 players
- 30 minute playing time
Ideal number of players: 4
Playing with four players ensures that each person has plenty of options and that the table won’t look too crowded. Attacks also have a lot of targets, so players won’t feel like they’re trapped, which can sometimes happen in a five-player game .
Unpacking the Dominion
Step 1: Open the field.
Step Two: Cut a hole in the box ... Wait, what? No no no! Stop it.
It won’t look like much at first glance. It simply includes several sets of cards put together.
The first step is to remove all the cards and sort them into the box. The Dominion is equipped with an insert that must fit perfectly between the two types of cardholders and will show you where each card belongs. Personally, the only things I think I can organize in life are my board games (or so Kendra tells me).
Sometimes when you unpack a game, you get a ton of components, and the box organizers are completely inadequate to handle it all ( Arkham Horror is an example of a horrible box organization). Every extension of the Dominion , however, is perfectly organized. Each card has its own individual home, and the cardboard insert fits snugly so you can read and see each card.
How to play Dominion
TL; DR - If you want to dive straight into the game, skip to “Your First Lordship Game” below.
Now that we’ve removed and organized our Dominion game, let’s actually start learning how to play it.
Goal of the game:
To gain more winning points on your board at the end of the game than any other player.
This is a complete simplification of the rules, but it makes it no less real. At the end of the game, your deck doesn’t matter. Your cool combinations don't matter. Your treasures are not important. All of this is a means to an end. It all depends on how many winning points are on your board at the end of the game. However ... getting to this point is a fun part of the game.
What can I do in turn?
In its simplest form, each player can take one action and make a purchase from a stock pile.
A lot of cards will change what you can do in each game, but we’ll discuss that later. You need to know that each player has one campaign and one purchase at each step.
End of the game:
The game can end in two ways. When any scenario occurs, players must then count the winning cards in their decks. The player with the most winning points wins (after counting the curses).
End-of-game scenario no. 1:
The last provincial card was purchased.
When the last map of the province is purchased, the game is over immediately. Players will then deduct Victory cards on their board and the winner will be announced.
End-of-game scenario no. 2:
Three (3) supply pilots are empty.
The game requires 10 stocks. These are cards that players can buy for their in-game decks. When three are completely empty, the game is over, no matter how many provinces are still in play.
That is the beauty of the Dominion. The rules are simple, easy to pick up and play, but it offers so much strategy and depth that you can spend your days around the rabbit hole and play different combinations of cards without ever reaching the limit you could do with a deck.
- The 2nd edition contains updated cards, artwork and simplified rules
- Tactical game for 2-4 players
- 30 minute playing time
Now that we understand the goal (gaining points), let’s take a look at the terminology and other types of cards you’ll see by the end of the game.
Treasure maps:
- Copper (cost: 0 / value: 1)
- Silver (costs: 3 / value: 2)
- Gold (costs: 6 / value: 3)
Treasure charts are used to purchase other charts. The more treasure cards you have on your board, the more likely you are to be able to buy more expensive cards. However, be careful, if you buy only copper batteries, you will find it harder to buy high-level tickets without the help of some combinations or action cards.
All three treasure maps are used in the basic layout of each game. You will take these out of the box every time you play.
Winning cards:
- Property (costs: 2 / value: 1)
- Vojvodina (costs: 5 / value: 3)
- Province (costs: 8 / value: 6)
- Gardens (cost: 4 / value: 1 for every 10 cards on your board) (not part of the core)
- Curse (cost: 0 / value: -1 winning point) (sometimes included in the core)
Victory cards will be marked in green. They represent the territorial wealth of your lordship and are the way to win the game.
"So," you might ask, "Why don't we buy winning tickets right away if we win like that?"
Good luck with that. You can definitely try this strategy, but I can almost guarantee you will lose. The downside to having too many winning cards in your hands is that they (usually) don’t do anything. They just take up space in your hand and your deck and have no value until the end of the game.
If you start buying winning cards early, you’ll find yourself with a hand full of useless cards that you can’t use. However, if you buy too late, you may find that you don’t have enough plants to buy winning tickets before the end.
When you decide to collect winning cards, this is an important aspect of the strategy of any Dominion player. Usually, however, when one person starts buying winning tickets, everyone else does the same so as not to be left in the dust.
Curses will be written in purple. They are their own separate category because they are worth the negative points. We will discuss them in detail with action cards.
Supply deck:
- Action cards
- Attacking cards
- Reaction cards
- Victory cards
In each game there will be a combination of 10 selected cards (without the previously mentioned basic cards). These 10 cards will make up the supply deck.
Action cards:
These cards allow you to take action. If you start the turn with one action, it doesn’t mean you only get one action. Many cards will display +1 or +2 actions, allowing you to play multiple action cards in one turn.
Follow the order in which you play them to increase the number of cards you can play.
Withdraw and / or discard cards:
These are as they sound. Some action cards allow you to discard and / or draw them. This will allow you to draw more treasures to use on your turn, or if you are looking for a specific map.
Game Cow Tip: Time is of the essence when using the last action on the towing card, as you may end up drawing additional action cards that you will not be able to use.
Trash cards:
If you move the card, remove it from the deck and permanently out of the game.
Garbage cards go to their pile of discards, which is basically a graveyard that no one touches until the end of the game.
There are Dominion extensions (read more about extensions here ) that allow you to retrieve cards from the Recycle Bin.
Attack cards:
Attack cards are types of action cards that give you some advantage while putting other players at a disadvantage. These cards force other players to discard them, causing them to play the round with a smaller hand, thus limiting their strategic options. Attack cards can be given to other players by a curse, which eventually fills their decks with useless cards, which are worth -1 winning points in the end. (Curses are the worst.)
Attack cards sometimes force the player to move it (completely remove it from the game). Offensive cards, in addition to angering your teammates, can also bring you some advantage (just like an action card).
Reaction cards:
Reaction charts are a special type of action charts. When playing with them, they work just like regular action cards, but they also have additional text that can be activated when the conditions on the card are met.
- Reaction cards can be used as regular action cards.
- If the conditions on the card are met, he can perform an additional action that brings some kind of benefit to the user.
Take the Moat card for an example. If played as a normal action, the trench allows you to draw 2 cards in a row. If you have a ditch in your hand when a player is playing an attacking card on you, then you can reveal your trench to the attacker and the attack will not affect you.
Moat’s reaction condition is met when you are the target of an attack, and the result is that you are not affected by the attack and you can ignore the attack by discovering a trench in your hand. You don’t have to throw it away and you can still use it at the next turn.
Some reaction cards require you to discard or discard cards for other benefits, but in the base game, your only reaction card is Jarek.
For each game setting, there will be basic base cards that will always be in every Dominion game.
Delivery Deck: There will be 10 cards from the delivery deck for each game setup.
Discard: Each player will have their own discards for discards. When you can no longer draw cards, you will shuffle your pile of discards and place it under your current pile of draws.
Your hand: Players draw up to five cards, and actions and attacks can reduce or increase the size of your hand, depending on their abilities. Having multiple tickets is certainly an advantage, and sometimes you get a handful of exceptional tickets, but you’ll only have one promotion or one purchase available.
Draw a pile: Each player will build their own deck (deck, right?) Each deck of players will be unique and made mostly from the cards they choose.
Your first gentlemen's game
Step One: Gather your players and grab these basic cards.
- Baker
- Silver
- Gold
- Real estate
- Duchy
- Province
First, 7 copper and 3 properties are distributed to each player. This is the general starting combination for every Dominion game. Some extensions will sometimes change the starting maps and replace the estates, but each extension (up to this point) keeps the copper units the same. No need to worry about that yet, as we have just started the basic Dominion game.
Then you need to choose your setting and build your supply decks. In the instruction booklet of each Dominion game, you will find several preset settings and usually options on how to integrate this particular extension with others.
For your first game, I suggest the “First Game” setting, which is also listed in this article.
This setting is designed to give players even more advantage and get used to the cards and how they play. Overall, it’s a nice introduction to the game. When you play more, you can arrange the games randomly, but sometimes you might end up getting cards that don’t make sense together, and I’d rather see how the cards work together. This is one of my favorite parts of the game.
So if you follow, we’ll play around with the “First Game” setting.
Let's get started! You will want to take the following funds out of the box. These will be your stockpiles for the first game.
- Basement
- Market
- Merchant
- militia
- Mine
- Moat
- Transform
- They forge
- You
- Workshop
Once you have selected all the cards you need, you can arrange them in any order. Alphabetically, depending on the price of the card, the color or whatever you prefer. It doesn’t really matter if everyone can reach out and see the cards. We usually like to arrange them according to the cost of the cards: at least to the most expensive ones.
My playing team pays special attention to the order of the cards and we arranged our cards that way.
Start the game
Now each player should have a deck of 7 copper batteries and 3 booths, the stock should have 10 piles, and all the basic cards should be fixed.
The first thing I like to do is read all the card descriptions in the group so that each player gets an idea of what the cards are doing. This allows us to start designing our strategies and planning the cards we want to buy.
When you finish, each player will draw 5 cards (your hand) and the first player starts. Since everyone starts with the same number of cards in their hand, the largest treasure each player can draw on their first turn is 5 copper and the smallest ever 2 copper. This may seem insignificant, but buying a 5-level card from the very beginning at the beginning of the game can make a big difference.
Your first purchase
The first player then decides to buy a card from the stock pile and shows the required number of treasure cards in his hand and buys one card from the stock. You don’t throw away treasures when you use them, you just show them to make a purchase and then you throw them away on your personal pile of discards along with the action / treasure / winning card you just bought.
On the first and second moves, no one will have action cards to play in turn, so the moves end after the purchase phase. When your move is over, discard the whole hand (even if you haven’t used all the cards) and redraw a new combination of five cards.
Here is an example of how to organize a personal deck while playing:
The rest of the game
Simply follow the instructions on the action cards and always carry out the campaign phase first and the purchase phase second. If you have questions, you can always refer to the more complete map descriptions in the policy.
Then the turns continue and players will play as many campaigns and treasures as possible so they can build their decks until all the provinces are bought or until three cards in the stock are empty.
That's it. It sounds so simple and therein lies the beauty of Dominion. The instructions are simple and easy to use, but the strategies can be insanely complicated and some turns can take quite a long time as players chain the card.
That never happens ... But it's still great
With the right setup from multiple extensions, one player was able to find a way to win the game right in the first turn by constantly chasing cards and abilities. This is not typical at all and required a special setting that was still technically legal, but you understood.
Simple rules. Endless possibilities.
Breakdown of cards for your first game
Basement (costs: 2)
If you continue to find yourself drawing a lot of winning cards on your turn, you may need to buy a basement. Basements will allow you to discard any number of cards so you can draw more from your lottery pile. You can discard winning points, actions you can’t use, or even copper.
The basement is a very useful ticket for the price, but it may not make the most of your actions.
Market (costs: 5)
- +1 card
- Action +1
- +1 purchase
- +1 $
This is never a bad card to have on your board. It gives you an extra card and if it’s a campaign, you can use it right away. If it is a treasure card, you can place it against an additional purchase, and if it is a useless card (such as a winning card), you will automatically receive an additional treasure that will increase your purchasing power.
Dealer (costs: 3)
- +1 card
- Action +1
- When you first play silver in this move, + $ 1
The dealer is another versatile good card you have on your board. When you buy a dealer, you will want to start picking up some silver cards (treasures) to increase his efficiency. On the turn, when you play silver, you will receive extra dollars in your treasure, which you will spend on tickets on that move. It may not be as useful as Market, but it’s much cheaper and easier to buy early in the game.
Militia (costs: 4)
- + $ 2
- + Every other player discards up to 3 cards in the hand.
This is your first attack card. The person playing this will receive an additional treasure and every other player will have to discard a 3-card hand. This can be especially devastating in the opening rounds, where players will need all the copper suitcases in their hands to buy anything.
My (costs: 5)
- You can discard the treasure card from your hand. You can get a treasure card that costs + $ 3 more than it.
This is a great choice if you can get it early. You could immediately start dirtying your copper to get silverware and upgrade your silverware to gold. This will give you a big early advantage when your deck is small and made up mostly of copper.
Trench (cost: 2)
- +2 cards
- Reaction: When another player plays the Attack card, you can first reveal this from your hand so that you are not affected.
This is the only reaction in the central set, but probably one of the most useful. If it is played as an action, you can draw 2 additional cards.
The true value of this card depends on the reaction. Whenever an attack affects you, you just need to reveal this card and the attack does not affect you. Once you uncover it, you can be safe from multiple attacks and you don’t have to throw it away, allowing you to draw extra cards with it. If there are attacks on the stockpile, raising a ditch is a good idea, especially considering the cheap cost of the card.
Transformation (cost: 4)
- Put the card out of your hand. Get a card that costs up to $ 2 more than in the trash.
Smithy (cost: 4)
- +3 cards
Extra cards in hand are always useful, even if it's just flipping through your winning cards. If all three cards you draw are winning or a curse, these are still three cards on your next move that won’t end up in your hand. Three additional cards can be treasuries used to increase purchasing power.
The only time Smithy could be bad is if you end up drawing really good action cards and using your last act to play smithy. So it is very good to try to connect the smithy with the Village (next card on the list.)
Village (costs: 3)
- +1 card
- +2 actions
This is another great cost chart. You get one extra card and two extra promotions. This is usually the start of all the combinations you can try in the first game. The first step usually gets enough promotions to play multiple cards, and gives you +2 promotions, which is extremely useful, especially with the aforementioned Smithy card.
Workshop (costs: 3)
- Get a card that costs up to $ 4.
Workshops can quickly help you fill your deck with cards. The deck can be filled with villages and Smithy’s, but you can also fill up with a ton of villages and workshops. When you can play these two cards continuously, you can fill your deck with an infinite amount of silver, which should be enough to afford all the provinces you need to play.
Not many combinations can be made in the "First Game" setting, but it does its best. You will have action cards, reaction cards and attacks. There are several cards you can connect to increase the number of purchases and actions to make the most of your move. There is only one attack card and fortunately there are no dogs. Enjoy learning with the first game! Try playing with some cards and see what works together and what strategy game you are looking for.
Advantages and disadvantages of dominions
Here is a list of recommended settings for playing Dominion Base Game. They are all fun and will give you a basis for more complex versions later.
First game: Basement, market, merchant, militia, mine, ditch, transformation, forge, village, workshop
Distortion size: Craftsman, bandit, bureaucrat, chapel, festival, gardens, guards, capital, witch, workshop
Top of the deck: Craftsman, bureaucrat, world hall, festival, harbinger, laboratory, moneylender, guard, vassal, village
Trick: Basement, Room, Festival, Gardens, Library, The Announcer, Militia, Poacher, Blacksmith, Capital
improvements: Craftsman, cellar, market, merchant, mine, ditch, moneylender, poacher, transformation, witch
Silver and gold: Robber, bureaucrat, chapel, harbinger, laboratory, merchant, mine, moneylender, capital, vassal
Basic combinations to get started
Gardens and Workshop - Gardens is an incredibly powerful card. For every 10 cards on your board, each Gardens is worth 1 point, so the more cards you can get through the game, the more points are worth. If you try to build a massive deck, the gardens will very often surpass the province.
By combining gardens with workshops, you can quickly assemble a large platform that can turn your gardens into a bunch of points. This is the first introduction for most players to add combinations to the game and is an easy strategy to play from the start.
Chapel - Chapels are fantastic maps. The issue that many players find themselves in is that they have a lot of cards that lose effectiveness in later parts of the game. Copper is essential in the beginning, but you will never be able to afford a landscape full of copper. Sometimes it’s better to destroy the dead weight of your deck and simplify it towards the end of the game with more expensive cards.
Witch - If you’re playing with a witch in stock, then there really is no reason to never use it. The witch allows you to get 2 extra cards while forcing every other player to draw a curse (-1 point). Two extra cards can be an extra action (if you have multiple action to play), it can be an extra treasure, or even a point card that you remove from the deck into your discard. We hope you draw better next time.
Frequently asked questions about the Dominion
When do I shuffle my discarded pile?
Whenever you need a ticket from your deck (a bunch of draws) and you find it empty. Most often you draw cards for instructions or to refresh your hands after the turn of the turn. If you need to reveal or look at a card from it, you may also need a card from the deck. Note that an empty deck alone is not a big enough reason to move discards. Never reallocate your stack unless your deck is empty (unless there is a card that explicitly requires you to). Also, never combine a deck and discard a pile and rearrange them (again, unless the card instructs you to).
What does "get a ticket" mean?
Obtaining a card means taking the card from somewhere (usually Delivery) and placing it on your discard pile, unless you are instructed to place it elsewhere (for example, a mine tells you to get a card and place it in your hand). The result of buying a card is acquisition. However, this is only one way to obtain a card; it can also be obtained by other means (eg a mine or a bureaucrat). It is important to follow the instructions on the action cards correctly and check that they apply to purchased or acquired tickets.
What does "card resolution" mean?
This means following the instructions on the card, from top to bottom. As long as the instruction is optional (“you can ...”), you should do everything you can - you can only bypass something if it is impossible (for example, the card says you have to draw cards, but you have the entire deck in hand and without pile). However, in this particular case, you need to do as much as possible (in the same case, if the card tells you to draw 5 cards and you only have 2 cards in your deck / discard, you still need to draw these two cards). If the later part of the instructions depends on you doing the first part, this does not happen if you do not do the first part.
What does "card disclosure" mean?
Disclosure means taking a card from somewhere, showing it to other players, and returning it to where it came from (unless otherwise specified). Blue Reaction cards are a special type of card that can be disclosed (and partially resolved) from your hand outside your facility when certain requirements are met.
There are currently three reaction cards (Moat, Secret Chamber and Horse Traders) that you can reveal when other players are playing an Attack card, one (Watchtower) that you can reveal each time you get a card, one (Trader) that you can you reveal just before you get a card, one (Tunnel) that you can reveal when you discard it, and one (Fool's Gold) that you can reveal when the other player acquires a province. If you have multiple reaction cards, you can reveal and resolve them. Solve only the instructions relating to the ability to reveal, not the instructions you solve when playing a card in the action phase.
What if the card says I have to make a decision and one of the decisions can’t be resolved?
You can still make the “impossible” choice and follow the rule that you have to do everything you can. For example, a torturer attacks you by choosing between discarding cards or cursing. If the pile of curses is exhausted, you can still choose the second choice (i.e., “try” to accept the curse and it seems impossible to you).
Does every blue reaction card defend me from attack?
No. Reaction cards (and some other action cards) are defended against attack only if this is written on the card. Otherwise, you are still attacking. For example, the Secret Chamber card gives you the option of drawing and laying cards back on the pile of draws, but you still suffer the consequences of the attack.
Conclusion: a verdict?
No wonder Dominion created and defined his genre. It allows players to experience the fun of building a deck without having to play tons of time and hundreds of dollars on card amps for an hour. With one gift box , you have all the cards you need to play.
There are countless strategies and combinations of cards that can be played, so each game layout can have multiple winning strategies. If you ever feel like you should mix this up, there are some well-established expansion packs , each of which brings a range of new maps to spice things up. Some have some very drastic changes to the rules and ways of playing.
If you’ve ever played Magic: The Gathering and you want to make it easier to engage friends and family in games, then this is a great transition game. After a few Dominion games, you can clearly see if your friends and family are playing this type of game.
- The 2nd edition contains updated cards, artwork and simplified rules
- Tactical game for 2-4 players
- 30 minute playing time
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