"A Game The Women Love" (Dominion)

When we purchased this game the store's owner boasted, "Hhhmm, Dominion. Now that's a game that the women love!" I usually respect and carefully internalize what the experts have to say, but that felt like a plain old upsell. Let's face it. How many times has he said that to the average gaming guy trying to sell a couple extra games. Can't blame him. It's a great line!

Well, I was wrong and right. (My apologies to the store owner.) That was a great line and Dominion is a game that the women DO love! It's got just the right amount of strategy combined with card play. You get to hold a little bling in your hand and use it again and again as it recycles through your own personal deck. What more could a woman want? Recyclable money! What!? It's a dream come true! But it gets better. You also get to spend your money on stuff that will make you more money, allow you to attack your opponent or just buy points. It's an awe inspiring thing. Gotta love easy cash flow management.

Plus it is 2009's game of the year. I'm a bit of a Speil De Jahres collector. Just can't get enough of that little red trophy on the game boxes.

While Dominion is recommended for 3 to 4 players, it also plays well with 2 players which is a rare thing. My hubby and I play Dominion over and over and it hasn't got old yet. He gets to super think the game and I get to recycle my cards until I buy that winning point. When he takes too long pondering upon his next move... I get to busy myself by shuffling my deck.

Dominion is also fun to play with kids. Our 10 and 9 year old kids also enjoy Dominion and kicked their parents cans easily making this a game that you don't have to play lightly with the kiddos. Go ahead and try to cream them!

I pride myself on understanding instructions and reading manuals (I'm a nerd), but the card play in Dominion had me a little confused. Probably because we were playing on a camp out and I hadn't had much sleep. Nonetheless, when I got my grubby paws on this little piece of paper I was thrilled! I even went to my local Kinko's and laminated the play matte for future use. We introduced Dominion to some friends with this play matte and it really made the game play run smoothly.

Get the original and better quality of the play matte by clicking here: Board Game Geek.

Board Game Geek Description of Dominion: In Dominion, each player starts with an identical, very small deck of cards. In the center of the table is a selection of other cards the players can "buy" as they can afford them. Through their selection of cards to buy, and how they play their hands as they draw them, the players construct their deck on the fly, striving for the most efficient path to the precious victory points by game end.

From the back of the box: "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 and dreams! You want a bigger and more pleasant kingdom, 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 would be delighted."

Dominion is not a CCG, but the play of the game is similar to the construction and play of a CCG deck. The game comes with 500 cards. You select 10 of the 25 Kingdom card types to include in any given play -- leading to immense variety.

Awards: I never buy a game unless it has won some kind of award. I learned my lesson on that wasting money on some not-so-great games. Can't beat the list of awards found with Dominion!

• 2009 Spiel der Herzen, Game of the Year
• 2009 BoardGamer.ru Card Game of the Year.
• 2009 BoardGameGeek Golden Geek, Winner, Game of The Year and Card Game
• 2009 Deutscher Spiele Preis, Game of the Year, Winner
• 2009 Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming winner
• 2009 Dice Tower Gaming Awards, Best Game of the Year, Winner
• 2009 Games 100, Best Family Strategy Game, Winner
• 2009 Guldbrikken, Årets Jurypris (Special Jury Prize), Winner
• 2009 FAIRPLAY Magazine, A la carte, Card Game of the Year, Winner
• 2009 Hra Roku (Czech Republic), Game of the Year, Winner
• 2009 J.U.G. winner
• 2009 Lucca Games Best of Show (Italy), Winner, Best Card Game
• 2009 Ludoteca Ideale, Games of the Year
• 2009 Mensa Select, Winner
• 2009 Origins Award - Card Game winner
• 2009 Spiel des Jahres winner
• 2009 Vuoden aikuistenpeli Adult Game of the Year, Winner
• 2008 Meeples Choice Awards

Chic's Purchasing Games Rule #1: Awards

How do you know if a game is good or not? Do you really want to own the game? Ask yourself the following questions and do it before you have to learn the hard way like I did.


Rule #1: Has the game won an award?


I learned my lesson the hard way. When I first got into gaming, I would pick up anything that sounded fun thus spending too much money on games we don't play much. Now I only buy games that have won some kind of award. 


I like the Spiel De Jahres award the best and have found myself collecting the awarded games. The German Spiel des Jahres is perhaps the world's most prestigious game award. Consider it the Oscar of this hobby. They try and focus on games that would be great for families - fun, relatively light, and not too long. Right up my alley!

Spiel De Jahres: The Spiel De Jahres official website is all in German, so I like to reference the list of winners from Wikipedia or Fun Again Games. The Spiel De Jahres also recognizes good children's games by awarding them the Kinderspiel.

GAMES Magazine: A good mix of nonelectronic and electronic games. The winners are often times different than the Speil De Jahres, but still has good suggestions and crictiques.

International Gamers Award: These guys judge based on three different types of criteria. 1- General Stragey for multi players, 2- Two player games and 3- Historical Simulation Game or Wargames (Not my favorite, but fun for the guys.) Another good mix of recommended games.

Mensa Select: These winners are good for the mind. The American Mensa selects usually 5 games to be recommend through its Mind Games competition.