Dominion (card game)

Dominion
Box cover art
DesignersDonald X. Vaccarino
PublishersRio Grande Games
Players2 to 4 (up to 6 with additional base cards)
Setup time5–10 minutes
Playing time~30 minutes
ChanceMedium
SkillsResource management, Planning

Dominion is a card game created by Donald X. Vaccarino and published by Rio Grande Games. Originally published in 2008, it was the first deck-building game, and inspired a genre of games building on its central mechanic.[1][2]

In Dominion, each player takes turns repeatedly drawing through their own personal deck of cards. Each player's deck starts small, but players can purchase new cards from a common supply to upgrade their deck; these new cards can then be drawn and used on future turns. Players ultimately seek to build the strongest deck with the most victory points needed to win the game.

The game has a medieval theme with card names referencing pre-industrial, monarchical, and feudal social structures. Comparisons about the game's feel are often drawn with collectible card games such as Magic: The Gathering.[3] As of September 2024, sixteen expansions to the original Dominion have been released.

When Dominion was released at the Spiel game fair in 2008, it was voted "best game of the fair" by the Fairplay polls.[4] The next year it won the Spiel des Jahres[5] and Deutscher Spiele Preis awards. It was one of five winning games in American Mensa's 2009 MindGame competition. By 2017, more than 2.5 million copies of Dominion and its expansions had been sold worldwide.[6]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference wired rev was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Zimmerman, Aaron (5 May 2023). "We're in love with the new Star Wars deckbuilding game". Ars Technica. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  3. ^ Varney, Allen (4 August 2009). "Dominion Over All". Escapist.com. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  4. ^ Eingestellt von Harald (26 October 2008). "Die beliebtesten Spiele der Spiel '08 – die Top Ten der Scouts". Fairplay online (in German). Retrieved 3 June 2012.
  5. ^ "Dominion". spiel-des-jahres.de. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Table-top Generals". The Economist. Retrieved 6 November 2021.