Dominion

Dominion is the landmark strategy game that pioneered the “deck-building” genre. In this game, you step into the shoes of a monarch-the ruler of a small, pleasant kingdom of rivers and evergreens. Unlike your peaceful parents, you have grander ambitions: you want to unite the surrounding fiefs, freeholds, and petty lordships under your banner. However, you aren’t the only one with this vision. You must compete against rival monarchs to claim as much land as possible, hiring minions and constructing buildings to secure your legacy.

The core of the game lies in its innovative deck-building engine. Every player starts the game with an identical, modest deck consisting of just a few copper coins and basic estates. Throughout the match, you use the cards in your hand to “buy” more powerful cards from a central supply. These new additions-ranging from helpful actions to valuable treasures-are added to your personal discard pile and eventually shuffled back into your deck. This allows you to slowly transform a weak starting hand into a highly efficient machine designed for rapid expansion.

Strategy in Dominion is defined by variety and adaptability. Each session uses a different selection of 10 “Kingdom” card types chosen from a pool of 25, meaning the available tactics shift every time you play. You must decide whether to focus on Treasury cards to afford expensive land, Action cards to chain multiple moves together, or defensive cards to fend off rivals. The ultimate goal is to collect Victory point cards, but there is a catch: while these cards are necessary to win, they provide no benefit during play and can “clog” your deck if you buy them too early.

The game concludes when the most valuable Victory cards are exhausted or several piles in the supply are depleted. At this point, players tally the points in their entire decks to determine who has successfully built the greatest Dominion. It is a game of efficiency and timing, rewarding players who can tune their decks to peak performance before the kingdom’s borders are permanently settled.