Sunday, August 2, 2009

Dominion first impression




I got a chance to play the hot new game Dominion today in a four-sided contest at The Citadel in beautiful Groton, Conn.

In consideration that I was the only one who hadn't played before, the other three agreed to play the basic, starter game. It took a little over an hour to play through and was pretty enjoyable, although I came in dead last in the points. I felt that P put in a credible performance, though, as the third place player was only ahead of me by four points.

Previous experience with deck constriction games such as Magic: The Gathering was very helpful. Unlike M:TG, a player's deck is constructed during the game buying from a common pool of cards (not hidden, in other words, you know what you are buying.) This avoids a lot of the drawbacks of collectible games (wealth effect, randomization) while still providing the strategy of constructibility.

Like most euros, the theme is presented attractively, but it isn't very deep. It's no simulation.

I'm not sure I'd be buying this, as my usual gaming partners aren't into this sort of game, but I can see being very willing to play it anytime. I think I'll try to get in another game or two at WBC is I can.

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