Ya Dominion!

It is official - we have a new darling tabletop game: Dominion. We have now played 6+ games (3 player), and we are all eager to play more.

In short, it is a CCG without the collecting. In the base game you have 25 types of 'kingdom' card from which you select a set of 10. These 10 card types, along with money card, and victory card, give you 16 or 17 different types of card. There are at least 10 of each card type, giving you a 'supply' of +150 cards. You start with 10 cards (7 money and 3 victory). During play you buy more cards, and when your deck is exhausted, you recycle from your discard pile. So you build up your hand as you play.

The nice things about this are the re-playability, since you select 10 of 25 cards in each game. There are also pretty clear strategies that change from early to mid to late game. We are still coming up with both strategies and card sets.

There are several suggested card sets in the rules, and a method of randomly selecting card sets. We've also played with a card set of our own design. Lots of good possibilities in designing card sets, and theorizing on strategy.

Boardgamegeek is, as usual, completely out of control when it comes to this game. Going through the forums and files I've found iPhone apps, various other apps and utilities, as well as simulators to test card sets and play strategies. Much fun.

The only down side is that there is a lot to remember (each of the 10 kingdom cards has special rules), so it is not an appropriate game for little ones. :(