Rio Grande Games - Dominion: First Edition
| Age Range (Description) | Adult |
| Number of Players | 2-4 |
| Brand | Rio Grande Games |
| Included Components | Cards |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 11.81 x 2.76 x 11.81 inches |
About this item
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- Tactical Dominion card game
- Play time is about 30 minutes
- Designed for 2 to 4 players
- Recommended for ages 13 and up
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Product information
| Product Dimensions | 11.81 x 2.76 x 11.81 inches |
|---|---|
| Item Weight | 3.09 pounds |
| ASIN | B001JQY6K4 |
| Item model number | RGG370 |
| Manufacturer recommended age | 10 years and up |
| Best Sellers Rank | #249,797 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games) #6,099 in Collectible Card Games |
| Customer Reviews |
4.6 out of 5 stars |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Manufacturer | Rio Grande Games |
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Contains small pieces that may be a choking hazard
What's in the box
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Customer Review: Fun for the family too
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Customer Review: MY VERY FAVORITE CARD GAME
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Dominion Game Overview
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Customer reviews
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonReviewed in the United States on July 12, 2019
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Enter a wife and two wonderful children (actually second wife, MtG may have been a contributing factor in the disappearance of the first /grin). Gaming time drops to near zero... My wife is an adamant non-player. We played poker a lot back before the kiddos, and some low-strat board games. After the kids, we no longer had time to play decent strategy games - most of which required a lot of preparation or extensive attention for several hours to really feel like you'd done it justice. Two items that were simply out of stock for newly-parents. I still checked up on the world of board games, salivating over Settlers of Catan and Agricola and Carcassone... Then I saw Dominion popping up with incredible reviews - so I took a flyer and bought it to play on holiday with my venerable opponent - my brother, a single dad who had a very similar history. We played it to death once the kids went down for the night, while my wife chit chatted with us and paid a little attention to the game. Endlessly we played, shuffling cards over and over, and we found the strategic intricacies to be incredibly deep. Thanks to the shifting of the available cards each game, no two games were the same - basic strategies emerged for every card and for combinations of those cards, but the improvisational-deck-building-mechanic was incredibly addictive. My wife watched, but did not bite. The holiday ended, and I moped that I would no longer have the time or the opponents to play the game to which I was now deeply addicted. Then DW surprised me and said she would play it with me as a Christmas gift. Her revelation to me was that games that required strategy seemed too "brainy" for her - that it would require so much thinking as to ruin the fun nature of playing - whereas in Hold 'em, it was less what you had than knowing what your opponent had and a little clevage could throw him off his game. I nursed game one along so that she got a feel for the mechanics, and she won. I certainly did not give 100%, because a win for her meant the potential of a game two for me. She won game two - this time a little less passivity on my part. Then game three...and the night was over, but my addiction had been satiated for a day. Today, she ASKED to play again. She ASKED to play a high-strategy game. I'm setting the hook to pull in a lunker.
Dominion can bridge the non-gamer gap - the basics are simple enough that nearly anyone can play. The depth of the game is deep enough to whet the appetites of all but the most intense miniatures players or historical war gamers. The Magic playing friends will absolutely love the draft-style construction, and the casual gamers will appreciate that a game takes only 30 minutes in most circumstances after a couple learning games. Dominion is really fun with two players, but adding up to two more increases the fun-quotient. Rio Grande has released several expansions which seem to add even more depth and breadth to the mix - Intrigue can be merged with the base set to allow for games of up to EIGHT players; which would seem to get very hairy, but no less fun. I very heartily suggest Dominion for those who are looking for a strategy game with the convenience of a card game without forgetting that card drawing will diminish strategy - since you are building your deck on the fly, refining it leads to the odds and probability factor that you see in games like MtG. The prices here at Amazon are amazing - if you feel like a spending spree, they've recently offered a base set + a couple expansions for a great price, with a bonus of a card mat to help the layout of the game - it seems well worth it if you are fairly confident you want to give this game a go.
I don't think I could be happier with this purchase.
1. 25 groups of action cards, victory cards, and money cards, in total over 250 cards.
2. Card storage and organizer box designed specifically for organizing the game components.
3. The Rules.
Game Play:
A game starts with each player holding an identical 10 card deck. As the game begins a group of 10 special action cards are selected from the 25 categories in the box. The rules outline specific selections for scenario play or you can design your own lay out. There is no banker or moderator; all players start entirely equal with access to the exact same cards.
During each player's turn they may take actions and purchase new cards from the communal decks. Each player has to balance the need to buy new cards and money with the purchase of victory points (which remain in the player's deck but don't help them until points are totaled.) The decision of when to stop building one's deck and start buying victory points is one of the most critical choices the player will make. Too early, and you'll find yourself bogged down with a deck full of moderate victory cards while other players' resources have increased to the point where they blow by you. If you wait too long, all of the good cards will have been bought out and you won't have anything to spend your resources on.
I have to be honest, when I first heard about Dominion I didn't understand why my wife and several of our friends were so worked up over the thing. It sounded terribly dry, particularly to a person like myself who has played collectable card games like magic the gathering for many years. Nothing could have been farther from the truth.
Dominion has something for everyone, from the collectable card game nut, to the poker player, to the family looking for an alternative to trivial pursuit. Since everyone starts out with access to the same selection of cards and the same resources for advancement, everyone has an equal chance of victory. Because there are 10 different categories of action cards with each category having at least 10 cards in its pile, there is plenty of room for strategy as the game progresses and certain resources are bought up to the point of extinction.
The game is set up in such a way so that you can play cut throat games with lots of player-vs.-player actions or less interactive games where the victory is determined by who fields the most effective resource acquisition strategy. Those familiar with CCG drafting will feel right at home in this environment, while those with no card based gaming experience won't be at a disadvantage.
My only criticism of dominion (as has been said on several other forums) is that while the game is entirely self contained, I can easily see the cards (which are essential in exactly the numbers provided) wearing out or being lost. Because there are so many of them I recommend using card sleeves (available at most hobby stores from companies like rook and ultra pro.)
I started out one night thoroughly expecting to dislike this game and found myself 3 hours later wondering where the evening had gone. Dominion is completely addictive and doesn't loose its fun factor after the player has played multiple scenarios in one sitting.
Simply put, this is the best interactive casual game I've played in 32 years.
Note:
It's four years later and I still endorse this game without reservation. The basic set is still just as fun as when I played for the first time, while the addition of other optional sets have magnified the enjoyment.
Top reviews from other countries
If you’re not familiar with deck building, it is simply where each player starts with the same cards and has the opportunity to buy new and different cards which will hopefully propel them towards the goal of the game, which in this case is getting victory points.
As I said, the game is easy to teach, family friendly and sits about a light to mid weight game for me. It plays in about 30 - 45 mins and plays 2 - 4 players.
I personally love this game and the wife loves it even more, we’ve played it with friends and family and it is still an interesting and enjoyable game even after all the plays that we have had. The only downsides I think are that set-up and take down of the game can be a little bit of a pain and that the theme of the game is pretty thin, other than this I think it is an excellent game and worthy of your consideration.
Notable expansions
Dominion Intrigue
Seaside
Prosperity
From the description it seemed a little too nerdy (and I class myself as a bit of a geek) but after reading other amazon reviews I decided to give it a go.
Initially reading the instructions I haddn't a clue about how to play the game and thought I'd wasted my money. The game descriptions about the various types of cards and the "phases" of play just didn't seem to make any sense. As a last ditch effort I turned to YouTube to see if there were any reviews which show a game being played. I went through a few which weren't that easy to understand but eventually found a video about 6 minutes long which really helped and the I could start to see what you have to do.
On the back page of the instructions there is a list of suggested game types which tell you which cards to use, there is one titled "first game", I would recommend any new player does this. After playing this we had it all sorted and moved onto another 2 games, the only reason we stopped was because it was gone midnight and I had work in the morning.
I really can't recommend this game enough, it's also fairly future proof with all the expansion boxes available which allow games of upto 6 players and with different cards types will mean your strategy will always evolve.
It's easy to set up - simply lay the cards out - and easy to learn how to play - simply follow the instructions on the cards. Different people have different ways of playing the game. Generally, I like to buy Action cards that I can use to build up "runs" that hopefully earn me enough money to buy more Victory cards. My son likes to buy Attack cards wherever he can, frustrating other players, and my wife likes to focus on buying Treasure cards to build her wealth. The beauty of the game is that the strategy changes based on what cards are being used in the game. There is a selection of 25 Action/Attack cards to choose from. The game is played with ten sets from these 25. We always use the "Randomizer" cards to choose 10 at random but you can decide to always include your favourites.
Each game takes about half an hour, which is perfect for this family.
I think this Christmas we'll be buying one of the expansions - probably "Intrigue" because it's similar to the base game.
After two years and many, many games, the cards are showing very little wear - even the ones that are most frequently handled.
Highly recommended!
On a whim I decided I wanted a new game. I ordered this for the great reviews, and they were spot on.
I was surprised to see that it was a card game, for some reason I had it in my head that I was ordering a board game but nevermind.
The game is very diverse, every single game is different because of all the combinations of cards available, and they way you can construct your deck uniquely in response to the situation, or chase a game plan based on what combos you can see available makes it very fun.
I am very excited to see there are so many expansions available too, so if it ever becomes boring, I will grab one to freshen it up again! But I don't see that being the case for some time - very fun. Good purchase. Suitable for ny age bracket too.
I don't think the cards will stay in good condition especially long as the borders are black and after several games you can already see the most used cards are starting to wear slightly. However, it's a game for playing, not preserving in pristine condition!





















