Dominion Rules (PDF)

Players: 2 to 4
Ages: 13 and up
Length: 30 minutes

Contents: includes 500 cards: 130 Treasure cards, 48 Victory cards, 20 Curse cards, 7 blank cards (for replacements), 252 Kingdom cards and rule book

Perfect if you like… deck building card games, Magic: The Gathering, Thunderstone deck building card game, Resident Evil deck building card game

What to Expect

No two games are the same.

You have the option of choosing pre-determined starting Kingdom cards or playing a random set. These cards offer additional help during your turn such as more actions, more cards, more gold and other special abilities.

The two other card offer what you’d expect them to. Treasure cards offer additional purchasing power on your turn and Victory cards award more points at the end of the game.

Each turn involves drawing and playing a hand of 5 cards. During that turn you are allowed to perform one action (as stated on the card) or make a buy (purchase) using the treasure you have in your hand. Depending on Kingdom cards you play, you can increase your turn to include additional actions, cards, buys and more.

There are multiple strategies of play and your starting Kingdom cards will force you to vary your play from game to game. Typically you want a lean deck that can produce the highest amount of Treasure each turn.

The game continues until one supply pile of Victory cards has been depleted or and 3 of the supply piles of Kingdom cards are empty. Players will add up all Victory points in their deck to determine the winner.

A Simple Review

As a former Magic: The Gathering or other collectible card gamer, you’ll feel right at home playing Dominion. You’ll construct your deck as you play from a set of randomized Kingdom cards. Points are gathered through collecting Victory cards.

No two games are ever the same as you’ll randomly select a new set of cards to play with every game and each player has their own opinion of what cards are worth having in their deck or not. Strategies can easily change in mid-play when you realize your card choices start working against you.

Very few games offer the varied play that Dominion does. Each game is different and ultimately the best part of playing it. Balancing your deck construction between Treasure cards, Kingdom cards and Victory cards is the key to winning this game.

From the Publisher

Designed by Donald X. Vaccarino

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.