
Tell HN: A Great New Card Game - andrewljohnson
I wanted to tell everyone about a great, relatively new card game I discovered, called Dominion. Some of you have probably played it, but for those of you who have not, you're missing out. I highly recommend spending the 30 bucks or whatever it costs on Amazon and purchasing it.<p>Everyone seems to be talking about Settlers of Catan these days on HN, but if you want a real strategy game, that doesn't have the huge amount of luck Settlers has, try Dominion. I used to play a lot of Magic: The Gathering - I played in all the big national tournaments for years, so I have a special place in my heart for card games.<p>If I were to summarize why Dominion is good, I would say:<p>1) Though it is a card game, there is less luck than most card games because of how many times you draw each card.<p>2) It takes the best part of Magic (the deck-building) and turns it into the entire game.<p>3) It can be learned quickly, but it is difficult to master. My eight-year-old nephew picked it up in one game and loved it, and his mother (my sister) liked it too.<p>4) It's fun for 2-4 players.<p>5) The constant shifting of the cards means the game does not get old fast.<p>Anyways, if you have some holiday loot, get Dominion. Take it from a hardcore gamer, who has no affiliation with the publisher, Rio Grande. I'm just writing this because the game is great.
======
bumbledraven
Dominion is one of the only games I know that's as fun for two players as it
is for 3 or more players. Everyone seems to love this game - it appeals to
non-gamers even more than Settlers. It's been out only 2 years, and it's
already won 7 awards (<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_(game)#Awards>)
including Mensa Select and German Game of the Year. You can play online for
free - just the basic set, with only a few cards from the expansions
([http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/348956/play-dominion-
onl...](http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/348956/play-dominion-online-))

As an aside, I was shocked when I saw the name "Donald X. Vaccarino" listed on
the cover of Dominion, because I remember that name. Back in 1998 or so, he
maintained a page of original aphorisms. I can't find the page any more, but
one of them realy stuck in my mind, to the point that I remember it word for
word, along with his name, to this day. It was " _any action you have to
rationalize the morality of is evil_ ".

------
roundsquare
The main problem I had with M:TG is that I needed to keep buying new cards to
keep up. I don't like games where the person who spends the most money is more
likely to win since that reduces the strategy level of the game.

Contrast that to settlers (or any other board game) where you just buy the
game and everyone is on equal footing with respect to resources (give or take
the random aspect). The expansion pack just makes the game bigger.

Which kind is Dominion?

~~~
city41
The Magic community solved the "he who spends more wins more" problem with
limited play. I particularly like Magic Drafts, which are a very cheap and
great way to play Magic. Wizards even formally recognizes limited play and
design all their sets with constructed and limited play in mind.

Limited play turns what used to be an obscenely expensive and obsessive game
into a very cheap one that is over in one evening. I really like it.

~~~
mechanical_fish
Agreed that Limited is better. But it still costs money, yes? A new deck every
time?

My problem with M:TG is that the _knowledge_ keeps turning over. In 1996 I
spent quite a lot of time playing, reading, tinkering with -- and buying --
Magic, and as a result I knew all about the best Magic strategies and could
follow the top players with interest. Then I looked away for six months, and
when I looked back I was a hopeless old man and had no idea what was going on.
Yeah, I had some appreciation of the format and the principles, but all the
standard tactics were different -- new cards meant new ascendant strategies.

I eventually decided that, if I take up gaming again in such a serious manner,
I'll play and study bridge or chess or Go or Scrabble or poker or something
where, should I happen to acquire any skill, it will persist for more than a
year or two. Heck, even Settlers would be a good choice; that game has legs.

~~~
city41
> Agreed that Limited is better. But it still costs money, yes? A new deck
> every time?

The draft I play in charges $8 for three boosters. You get to keep the cards
and you can easily sell your rares for >$8 most of the time if you want. $8
for an evening of entertainment isn't bad, cheaper than a movie.

> My problem with M:TG is that the knowledge keeps turning over.

It really doesn't though, it just changes form on the surface. The pillars of
Magic are card advantage, speed, efficiency and a good mana curve. Those
things apply universally, it really doesn't take long to get up on the new
cards. In draft you are rarely going to make an elaborate deck, it's much more
about bang for the buck (granted, this does mean you are missing out on a
entire side of the game, but that's the side that requires money and time,
so...) At most 3 expansions are legal at a time. I was a very serious/obsessed
player in the 90's, now I am a very casual for fun player. All the cards I own
fit easily in one tiny box. Draft/limited play really can be for fun and
simple.

------
makecheck
I love this game too.

There are 3 expansions, the 2nd is a self-contained game, but the 3rd requires
one of the first two. The 3rd is most interesting, however, because it expands
card effects across turns.

------
dave_au
And if you like it check out boardgamegeek.com for more ideas :)

Dominion isn't really my thing, but there's masses of really good games around
these days.

------
IChrisI
Dominion is quite fun, with or without the expansions. It's best 3-4 players;
with just 2, one player tends to draw ahead and stay ahead. If you've got the
original and the first expansion, there are rules for 5-6 players, but it's
best with 3-4.

------
andrewljohnson
Here is my list of favorite games:

Dominion

Puerto Rico

Settlers of Catan

Carcasonne

Ticket to Ride

Agricola (can be slow and hard to grasp)

Power Grid (just ok)

Go (this is actually my favorite, though most don't care for it)

~~~
btilly
The nicest thing about Go is the handicap system. You can play with a kid,
give the kid an appropriate handicap, and then you're free to play as well as
you possibly can.

OK, it doesn't feel like the real game when I'm giving my barely 5 year old a
19 stone handicap on a 9x9 board. But some day...

Another thing that I like about Go are the other games you can play. I bought
a second set of stones, split that into 6 groups, then spray painted them
different colors. That lets me play Pente with up to 8 people.

------
xiaoma
Yes! It's just gotten popular here in Taiwan over the last month. I love it,
and I've played it all through the night twice now.

I was a magic play way back in the day, but eventually got irritated about
having to either buy new cards each time an expansion came out, or fall behind
players who had the newer, more powerful cards. Fortunately, Dominion has
everyone drawing from the same cards, so this particular problem won't happen.

------
vyrotek
I keep hearing good things about Dominion. I'll have to pick it up sometime.
My friends and family really like Citadels and Bang!

------
gjm11
I've played several other games from Rio Grande (though not Dominion) and
their standard is generally very high.

~~~
spicyj
Ricochet Robots is a great game that requires lots of thinking but is not too
hard on time pressure.

------
wlievens
Dominion, meh. Play Power Grid or Small World. If you want a quick economic
game, try Chinatown. It's everything Monopoly should have been.

------
chaostheory
yeah if you don't like the luck factor as much - Puerto Rico is the best board
game IMO

Power Grid and Caylus are also pretty close

