How to Play Dominion: A Comprehensive Guide

Dominion board game

Featured Image: [Image of Dominion game components]

Dominion, a deck-building card game released in 2008, has captivated players with its strategic gameplay and countless possibilities. The game’s fundamental concept revolves around acquiring and playing cards to build a powerful deck that ultimately grants victory. With a plethora of cards to choose from, each with unique abilities, the game offers a captivating experience where strategy and adaptability reign supreme. Whether you’re a seasoned card game enthusiast or a newcomer to the genre, Dominion promises an immersive and engrossing challenge.

At the heart of Dominion lies a simple yet profound premise: players start with a basic deck of cards and gradually enhance it by purchasing new ones from a central supply. These cards represent various actions, abilities, and treasures. By carefully selecting and combining cards, players can craft strategies that generate wealth, control the game flow, or attack their opponents. The game’s brilliance stems from the intricate interplay between these cards, creating a dynamic and ever-changing landscape where every decision holds significant weight. Whether you opt for a strategy focused on amassing treasure or dominating the battlefield, the possibilities are boundless.

Beyond its tactical depth, Dominion boasts an impressive level of replayability. With multiple expansions available, each introducing new cards and mechanics, the game’s versatility ensures that no two playthroughs are ever the same. The ever-evolving card pool keeps the experience fresh and challenging, inviting players to constantly adapt their strategies and explore new card combinations. Additionally, Dominion’s streamlined ruleset makes it accessible to players of all skill levels, while its strategic complexity provides ample depth for experienced gamers. Whether you’re playing with friends or engaging in competitive tournaments, Dominion offers a rewarding and unforgettable gaming experience.

Introduction to Dominion

Gameplay Overview

Dominion is a deck-building card game where players compete to build the most valuable deck of cards. Each card represents a different type of resource, such as money, victory points, or actions. Players take turns buying cards from a central supply and adding them to their decks. The goal of the game is to acquire the most victory points by the end of the game.

Card Types

* Action Cards: Allow players to perform various actions, such as drawing more cards, gaining money, or attacking opponents.
* Treasure Cards: Provide money, which is used to purchase other cards.
* Victory Cards: Provide victory points, which determine the winner of the game.
* Curse Cards: Penalize players by costing them points or preventing them from using other cards.

Game Setup

1. Shuffle the Kingdom Cards: Create a pile of cards that will be available for purchase during the game.
2. Select the Base Cards: Depending on the number of players, select a set of base cards (usually 10 or 12).
3. Deal Starting Hands: Each player starts the game with a deck of 7 copper cards and 3 estate cards.

Turn Structure

Phase	Actions
Buy Phase	Buy a card from the supply
Action Phase	Play any number of action cards
Treasure Phase	Play any number of treasure cards to gain money
Clean Up Phase	Discard all used cards, draw 5 new cards, and end turn

Winning the Game

The game ends when the supply of one of the three piles (provinces, duchies, or estates) runs out, or when the third pile containing these cards is depleted. The player with the most victory points wins the game.

Setting Up the Game

1. Prepare the Cards

Kingdom Cards: Shuffle each pile of Kingdom Cards separately and place them face down in a row, forming the Supply.
Treasure Cards: Shuffle the Copper pile and place it face down next to the Supply. Shuffle the Silver and Gold piles and place them face down on top of the Copper pile.
Victory Cards: Shuffle the Estate, Duchy, and Province piles and place them face down in separate piles next to the Supply.
Curse Cards: Shuffle the Curse pile and place it face down near the Victory Cards.

2. Distribute the Starting Cards

For 2 Players:

Each player draws 7 Copper cards.
Each player also draws 3 Estate cards.

For 3-4 Players:

Each player draws 5 Copper cards.
Each player also draws 3 Estate cards.

For 5-6 Players:

Each player draws 4 Copper cards.
Each player also draws 3 Estate cards.

3. Choose Starting Hands

After distributing the starting cards, players look at their cards and remove any combination of 5 cards. These cards are placed at the bottom of the player’s draw pile.

4. Set Up the Trash

Place an empty discard pile near the Supply. This will be the Trash, where players can discard cards.

5. Play Order

Determine the starting player randomly. Play proceeds clockwise from the starting player.

Number of Players	Starting Deck
2	10
3-4	8
5-6	7

Gameplay Overview

Objective

Dominion is a deck-building game in which players aim to acquire the most victory points (VPs) by purchasing cards from a central supply. VPs are earned through various means, such as owning specific types of cards, discarding cards, or playing cards with VP symbols.

Gameplay

Dominion is played over a series of turns. On each turn, a player draws 5 cards from their deck and has 5 actions. Actions can be used to purchase cards from the supply, play cards from their hand, gain extra actions, or gain treasure (the currency used to purchase cards).

Types of Cards

There are three main types of cards in Dominion: Actions, Treasures, and Victory:

Type	Description
Actions	Cards that provide a variety of effects, such as drawing cards, gaining money, or attacking other players.
Treasures	Cards that provide money, which can be used to purchase cards from the supply.
Victory	Cards that provide victory points, which determine the winner of the game.

Attack and Defense Mechanisms

Dominion offers various mechanisms for players to defend their hands and initiate attacks against opponents.

Village Raiders

Cards like “Village Raider” allow players to attack opponents by discarding them.

Moats

Cards like “Moat” provide defense by preventing attacks from opponents, forcing them to discard their attack cards.

Witch

The “Witch” card curses opponents, forcing them to discard two cards from their hand.

Cutthroat

Cards like “Cutthroat” can be played to trash opponents’ cards, permanently removing them from their decks.

Thief

Cards like “Thief” allow players to steal valuable cards from their opponents.

Council Room

Cards like “Council Room” provide both attack and defense mechanisms by allowing players to draw new cards while forcing opponents to discard cards.

Bridge, Spy, and Chancellor

Cards like “Bridge,” “Spy,” and “Chancellor” offer various defensive capabilities by allowing players to view opponents’ hands or discard piles.

Card	Effect
Village Raider	Discard an opponent.
Moat	Prevent attacks.
Witch	Curse an opponent.
Cutthroat	Trash an opponent’s card.
Thief	Steal a valuable card from an opponent.
Council Room	Draw cards for yourself and discard cards for opponents.
Bridge	View an opponent’s hand.
Spy	View an opponent’s hand and discard pile.

Scoring and Victory

In Dominion, the goal of the game is to acquire the most victory points (VPs) by the end of the game. VPs are earned through various means, such as acquiring certain cards, playing certain actions, and discarding cards with VP tokens.

Scoring Cards

Many cards in Dominion have printed VP values. These values are added to the player’s score when the cards are in play or discarded.

End-Game Scoring

At the end of the game, players tally the following VP sources:

Type	VPs
Province cards	6
Duchy cards	3
Estate cards	1
Cards with VP tokens	As indicated on the token

Victory

The player with the most VPs at the end of the game wins. If two or more players have the same highest score, the game ends in a tie.

Variations and Expansions

Dominion has spawned numerous variations and expansions, each adding new mechanics and strategies to the game.

Official Expansions

There are 13 official expansions for Dominion, each adding new Kingdom cards to the game. These expansions are:

Expansion	Number of Cards
Intrigue	52
Seaside	51
Alchemy	52
Prosperity	51
Cornucopia	52
Hinterlands	51
Dark Ages	52
Guilds	51
Adventures	52
Empires	51
Renaissance	52
Nocturne	51

Variants

There are numerous fan-created variants of Dominion, each with its own unique rules. Some popular variants include:

Two-Player Dominion: A variant for two players that uses a smaller deck of cards.

Big Money Dominion: A variant that increases the starting money and victory point requirements.

Randomized Dominion: A variant that uses a randomizer to determine which Kingdom cards are available each game.

Legendary Dominion: A variant that adds new cards inspired by the Legendary Encounter series of board games.

Dominion: Empires Variant: A variant that uses the Empires expansion as the base game and adds additional cards and rules.

Dominion: Seaside Variant: A variant that uses the Seaside expansion as the base game and adds additional cards and rules.

Dominion: Intrigue Variant: A variant that uses the Intrigue expansion as the base game and adds additional cards and rules.

Dominion: Dark Ages Variant: A variant that uses the Dark Ages expansion as the base game and adds additional cards and rules.

Dominion: Guilds Variant: A variant that uses the Guilds expansion as the base game and adds additional cards and rules.