Dominion

[Phage]

Anyone else here play Dominion?

I've only been able to play with solely the Hinterlands expansion. Any suggestions? What stand alone sets or combo of sets do you prefer? What style of choosing which cards to play with do you like? We've been using a "draft" system, similar to drafting cards in a TCG, and using the drafted cards.

 

[SuicideBunny]

got the big box (basic set + cornucopia) and played it once before we collectively decided that it was very mediocre due to limited player interaction and the fact that any strategy i limited to how you build your deck.
only time it's somewhat bearable is when you use as many attack cards as possible.

 

[J1M]

I like Dominion. It's especially good for letting less skilled players participate while their betters actually compete. Additionally, it is one of the few games that is almost as fun with 2, 3, or 4 players.

New people can learn and attempt to emulate other players without worrying about the game's underlying probabilities. More importantly, they feel a sense of progression and motivation as they buy their first market or gold coin or province. Since the score is mostly hidden, they are not constantly demotivated.

I only have the basic set. I am still impressed at the number of different viable strategies that exist. Personally I think getting a 2/5 split instead of a 3/4 at the start of the game is a bit too big of an advantage, but it's not like I'm playing it in a tournament or something.

The key to the game took me a few times of playing to understand. You have to control the card ratios in your deck and understand when it is time to switch between getting action, treasure, and victory point cards.

Some fun things to try:
-Drown opponents in curse cards. Make your first couple of buys Witch + Cellar.
-Keep a super-lean deck. Combine chapel, moneylender, and something like a library or an adventurer. Trash all of your estates and coppers early.
-Remodel all the things. Estate -> Moat -> Remodel -> Gold -> Province.
-2-for-1 sale. Throne room the workshop and feast cards. If done correctly, you can end the game before the provinces are gone and all those 'useless' duchy cards you nabbed with your feasts will decide the outcome.

Some thoughts on balance:
-The thief, woodcutter, and smithy cards appear to be quite weak. Usually as a challenge I try to win with weird combinations, but I avoid these cards.
-The bureaucrat is too powerful for its cost. It dominates the early-game when I play with people who aren't new.

 

[Ulminati]

I used to play dominion a lot. It was one of our stable "filler" games we'd play in the club while waiting for people to show up or finish a longer game. I ended up playing it so much I eventually burned out on it. For expansions, I rather liked Intrigue as the cards prompted more player interatction. Masquerade, Torturer and Swindler are all pretty fun.

I wasn't a big fan of alchemy and prosperity as the additional mechanics and province types slowed gameplay down a lot. And dominions charm was in how fast the gameplay flowed.

For setup, we usually chose base game + 1 expansion or 2 expansions, no base game (save currency/curse/territory cards). Picked 5 cards from each, then every player got to pick one card to ban (or pass banning) with a replacement card being drawn from the same set as the banned card.

 

[Tripicus]

I found Dominion works best with the base set, Intrigue, and Prosperity. I don't like Cornucopia or Alchemy, and Hinterlands is middle of the road. Seaside adds cards that stick around to the next turn, but I haven't had much experience with it outside of Androminion on my phone.

We tend to split the randomizer cards among the number of players and choose the 2-5 cards to make up the Kingdom cards, with remainders determined randomly.

 

[Sukhāvatī]

Base game is free on Steam now.

 

[mastroego]

I knew about this because I own the Race for the Galaxy digital port.
Same devs.
I'm not sure if Race for the Galaxy getting the other expansions is even a remote possibility, at this point.
And this game looks very, very pricey (I mean for completionists of course)