Entry 4: Dominion, the original deck builder

“You are a monarch, like your parents before you, a ruler of a small pleasant kingdom of rivers and evergreens. Unlike your parents, however, you have hopes… dreams! You want a bigger kingdom, more pleasant, with more rivers, and a wider variety of trees. You want a Dominion! 

In all directions lie fiefs, freeholds, and feodums. All are small bits of land, controlled by petty lords and verging on anarchy. You will bring civilization to these people, uniting them under your banner. But wait! It must be something in the air; several other monarchs have had the exact same idea. You must race to get as much of the unclaimed land as possible, fending them off along the way. To do this you will hire minions, construct buildings, spruce up your castle, and fill the coffers of your treasury. Your parents wouldn’t be proud, but your grandparents, on your mother’s side, would be delighted.” (Rio Grande Games) 

        Dominion is a deck-builder in which everyone starts with the same basic cards and over time you are building up your deck by purchasing cards in order to gain the most victory points. It is one of the first deck-builders that my wife was introduced to. Those that know us might be saying “but you taught her Magic: the Gathering so she knows how to build decks.” But, alas, Magic: the Gathering is a deck-construction game. 

Deck Building vs. Deck Construction 

        So now you might be asking what the difference is between the two. Board Game Geek define deck building as “a game featuring a mechanism where players each play from their own deck of cards but, through the course of the game, additional cards are selected for inclusion in the players' decks which will be drawn and used in future reshuffles of the deck. Often these games require players to discard their hand each turn forcing a high rate of card turnover.” 

        Dominion is considered the first deck builder game. Many others have followed but Dominion is the deck builder that is most referenced in this genre. 

        Deck Construction is more associated with Collectible Card Games (CCG) in which a player, ahead of time, builds their own individual deck to use against other players based on a set or sets of cards available to them. Each deck is unique in its own right and the players typically know how each of the cards in the deck interacts with one another and/or against other players cards. Decks built this way can be taken apart and rebuilt to meet the needs of the user. The most notable deck construction games are Magic: the Gathering, Pokémon, and Legend of the Five Rings. 

So why Dominion? 

        I think part of the appeal of the game is that with all the different expansions you are free to mix and match the cards from any expansion which can give you the probability of “no game is ever the same.” Give heed that a lot of the cards from the various expansions are designed to work well with other cards from within the same expansion (based on theme or mechanics); but you are not limited to just picking cards from the base game and/or one expansion. Based on that let me share with you all of the Dominion series so you can see what I mean: 

                • Dominion (Base) 1st & 2nd Editions* 

                • Intrigue 1st & 2nd Editions 

                • Seaside 

                • Alchemy 

                • Prosperity 

                • Cornucopia 

                • Hinterlands 

                • Dark Ages 

                • Guilds 

                • Adventures 

                • Empires 

                • Nocturne 

                • Renaissance 

                • Menagerie 

 * Note: there are also extra base cards and 2nd edition update pack for the base game which we don’t need 

        Part of the “fun” for me was being able to acquire all the expansions. Since my wife and I were in no rush to get them all at once and have them right away, we were able to receive a lot of them as gifts from family members. Conversations went something like this: 

                “Patrick, I need to know what I can get you for Christmas (or Birthday)?” 

                 “I still need XYZ expansions for Dominion.” 

                “Okay. Got it.” 

        And low and behold guess what my presents were. As of Christmas 2020, we are only missing the Intrigue 2nd edition set but there is no rush to get that one (at least not yet). 

        With Dominion you can create various combinations using the cards to help you gain the most victory points. Like with a lot of deck builders (but not all), the beginning of the game tends to play out quickly since you have limited cards in your personal deck to play with. As the game progresses, each player’s turn can take a few minutes to complete due to the combination of card actions in the game. Does this take away from the enjoyment of the game? For us, not really because we can learn from what other players are doing and learn how to incorporate the combos into our decks. 

So what’s next? 

        Other deck builder games on the market do have to add their own personal “pizazz” as to not just be a clone of Dominion. If you look at the popular Clank! series it adds an adventuring spin to the game and an actual game board. The Dale of Merchants games focus on getting the right number combinations to build up your market stalls. The last one I want to mention is The Valley of the Kings which has you collect items to assist you in becoming the greatest Pharoah in the land. Now there are more deck builders out there that you can play not just the ones I mentioned. I suggest you find ones that capture your interest but of course, never forget the game that started it all, Dominion.