So my birthday was this past April, and a couple that my fiance and I know got us this game. We had both never heard of it, but apparently it's pretty popular. So much, in fact, that there are fan-made "expansion sets" for the games.

Has anyone ever played this game? We finally got around to playing it about a week ago and it's actually pretty fun. The game itself takes maybe 30 minutes to an hour to play completely, and the rules / structure are incredibly simple once you understand them.

Thoughts?

5/27/2011 7:11:01 AM

Isn't anything simple once you understand it?

5/27/2011 8:15:29 AM

5/27/2011 8:18:39 AM

my friends like it a lot, but im not a huge fan.

i think its cool there so many card combinations and online they have "suggested sets."

that said, i often found with 4 ppl that 2 end up with a nearly identical strategy and it ends up being 1) what order you went in to see who gets the most of a certain card/card combo, or 2) just how the cards fall.

i played 2x and both times had a fairly simple strategy. one time i won bad, another time i lost bad. it didn't feel satisfying. ive heard similar complaints regarding games like settlers as well.

now all of that said, i appear to be in the extreme minority on this one.

5/27/2011 8:21:08 AM

I've played a few times, it is a fun game. Would play again.

5/27/2011 9:21:31 AM

It's a fun game but doesn't have as much replay value as I hoped. The one thing that really bothers me is some cards are so absurdly powerful (Laboratory) that you don't really have a choice except to get those. Some attack cards are just too game warping, especially if you play without a moat or use one of the dumb expansion defense cards instead.

In terms of speed though its pretty good. If you want another fast card game, try San Juan. It takes about 40 minutes and you can play it on a restaurant table. It has about the same replay value, but its expansion seems decent.

Favorite game is Agricola. Friends have played it off and on for over a year and a half. The replay value is retarded

5/27/2011 10:04:20 AM

Friends and I have a Friday night game group. Dominion is by far our favorite simply in terms of replay (and short setup). We currently have all the official expansions (I'd rate them Intrigue > Prosperity > Seaside >>>> Alchemy).

We like that the game changes each time you play, so it has ridiculous replay value. We also have players that don't necessarily want to win, but abuse the system to find ridiculous loops and strategies. Sure you can set it up so that you can buy a colony 910 pt) a turn, but how about trying to proc 50+ points in a single turn!

As per dumb / powerful attack cards, those are my favorite games! We had one with Spy and Pirate Ship where basically we all obliterated each others treasure cards so all the power was in action cards that provided money. Amazingly different game to game.

5/27/2011 10:26:41 AM

I dunno about amazingly different. I haven't tried whatever expansion uses colonies. Almost all games I've played have the same flow -

1) buy whatever resembles a lab/village/market when you can
2) buy money when you can't (or attack cards)
3) get 8 money
4) buy Province.

Some games are different for sure. Thief/Pirate ship and no moat - turns into a 2 hour game that becomes fun for 2/4 players. Same with Curse/no trash games. The base game was really no fun when a deck won because it got solid draws and was 8 labs + money + provinces. I think I tried Seaside and liked a lot of cards in it. Haven't tried whatever uses colonies.

5/27/2011 10:48:35 AM

W

T

F

So I've been designing a sci-fi CCG the past couple years, intending to pursue publishing within 6-12 months.

It's called Dominion.

I saw this thread title and naturally freaked the hell out.

Looks like I'll have to change the title...and the term used for the overall game mechanic.



[Edited on May 27, 2011 at 11:43 AM. Reason : so mad]

5/27/2011 11:40:19 AM

May want to check boardgamegeek. Don't pick Ascension either :p

5/27/2011 11:51:37 AM

Colonies are from Prosperity. It adds in the Platinum treasure (Cost 9, gives 5 money), Colony (Costs 11, gives 10 points), and has a bunch of other strange treasure cards (if you play this treasure and buy a Victory card, gain a gold; if you play this treasure, cycle your deck until you find another treasure and play / trash it).

If all your games have all ppl go for that strat, you aren't maximizing fun! Here are some of my favorite strats depending on cards...

1. Destroy your deck! Use cards to destroy your entire hand as you buy silver and then gold. Deck goes down to 7-10 cards which have some actions that cycle through your deck so that you use the whole thing every time and flat out buy 10 points every turn.

2. Cycle your deck! Similar to #1, but with a larger deck and much more actions. How many Minions, Markets, Grand Markets, etc, can you play in one turn?

3. Destroy their deck! Similar cycling as #2, but with attacks built in. Nothing says nerdrage like having a single Pirate Ship and Torturer and getting to play them every turn.

4. Bloat your Deck! Some enemy cards put more cards into your deck (ala Montebank). Why stop them, especially if you are playing gardens. Works for #6 as well.

5. Buy it all! We had an odd game where someone ended it out of nowhere by having a hefty buy-power deck that leveled 3 piles in 2 turns. Didn't see that coming.

6. Go for the Golden Proc! Counting House puts all your discarded copper in your hand. Coppersmith adds 1 to the value of copper. Get multiple buy cards. Cross your finger and hope it all procs at once and go from 0 to 50 points all at once. (This is just one example of a BS synergy that is tough, but amazing when it goes right).

--------------------

I suppose our games might be different because each person meta-games and then somehow chooses something completely different from one another.

5/27/2011 12:32:17 PM

Spam Village.
Win.

5/29/2011 3:55:07 AM

I love this game! We have Intrigue and recently bought Prosperity. Since we always play with the same people, you're playing the other players as much as the game. For example, TheBullDoza almost always goes with "big actions" and I almost always go with "big money."

My favorite card in Prosperity is the King's Court. (lets you play an action three times) That can get NASTY if you're playing with attack cards! makes the game take forever

6/1/2011 1:01:29 PM