Played too much Ascension to adjust to this...still have trouble understanding the mechanism of this game. Yes, online chat with async MP is a must
I figured it out about halfway through the game I played. They have some similarities. The main thing is that where you have two fixed card types you can buy in Ascension (mystics and heavy infantry) each game of dominion has fixed types (gold and victory point cards) plus a selection of other types you all players can buy. You have to work up a strategy based on which ones are available that game. Once you get your economy going, you start buying up the victory point cards. Unlike Ascension, only those cards are scored at the end of the game. You have to balance between buying them too early (and thus hampering your economy) and waiting too long and having he game end before you can score enough VP.
I have played a few games now and while I have a general feel for it, it isn't clear to me WHAT is it that ends the game? Once a certain stock of cards is exhausted or a player has gone through his deck x times?
The game ends when either all estates (6 VP cards) have been purchased or two different action cards (mine, village, market, etc; the cards in the middle of the play area) have had their stock depleted. There might be another condition that I'm forgetting though, I only played the game a few times and it was months back.
The game ends when all Province cards (The 6 pt VP) or when any other 3 card stacks are depleted, which ever comes first.
Dominion is the first game of the deck building boardgames to come out, it's actually pretty easy. I would suggest you read the rulebook for the base Dominion game if you want more information. http://www.riograndegames.com/uploads/Game/Game_278_gameRules.pdf
Thanks! While I like it, I miss a bit of Ascension's more "Booster Draft" feel, if you know what I mean. Sure your resources will vary from turn to turn in Dominion, but all of the cards are available once the game starts.
Actually, it was this game that got me to try to get back into Ascension. I find Dominion to be a great game so far, less tactical and more strategic than Ascension. What bothered me in Ascension was that I didn't really know all the cards, and they all were in play during the game. As such, most of the game was reacting to the cards in the centre row at every time. In Dominion, once you know the 10 cards that make the game you're playing, you can start designing your strategy from the start - as Misguided stated, whether to go for the VPs early, or to build up your economy - or even your Action cards. Great game - I had been wondering why there wasn't more activity in this thread.
I think it is much like the ghost town seen around Yeti Town, who wants to show support, even if the game isn't all bad, when you know it is an unsanctioned ripoff.
Do you think the official one will be better ? This one is free, and the gameplay seems to be well implemented. So what can we expect ?
If I am to be honest, I think that they mentioned something to the tune of "some basic AI for learning purposes"... Oh, here's the link: http://boardgamegeek.com/article/8303649#8303649 Still, I'd be honestly interested in the expansions and the AI, since I am not much of an online multiplayer gamer. If that's not the case, their loss.
Crap, that sounds discouraging. Unless this is only a starting point with improved AI something they'll work on post release.
Same here. I have played dozens of games of Ascension solo or pass & play mp, but no online. Online mp isn't something I get into.
So to sideline this slightly, why all the hate on Gundabad? Sure it is a BLATANT Dominion rip but at least it has original art and a clever Campaign that uses Dominion rules to create unique puzzley challenges.
In all fairness, since this app came out I bought the HD version of Gundabad (had bought the iPhone one, but hadn't played it before since I didn't quite know the rules - something I learned with the Dominion app). I don't really hate the app. It might be a "ripoff", I guess, but it has its own merits - and the Campaign mode is actually a very welcome thing, since most levels your goal is not to win the match per se, but to actually complete some sort of objective. It's interesting, I guess, and gives some sense of progression. If Ascension had some sort of campaign as well, it would give it some legs, single-player-wise. If I am to be honest, though, I was quite disappointed with the HD version of Gundabad, since the art was not upgraded to HD. There's some more real-estate being used, but I had hoped that the cards were more readable without having to zoom in on them - something Ascension does quite well on the iPad, and the reason why I can't play it on the iPhone (at least until I get to know all the cards). What lessens that problem in Gundabad is the fact that, just like Dominion, you only have 10 different cards in play in each game, so you get to know them fairly quickly and design your whole strategy around it. ...well, now I went off on a tangent of your tangent If I am to try to understand the hate on Gundabad, I'd say it's part because of the frustration that: - The gameplay is Dominion, but the game is not (so, it's a copy); "How dare anyone rip-off a game so popular as Dominion, and yet get away with it?" people claim; - There's no official Dominion app, so people have to either "give in" and buy the ripoff for their fix, or hope that the original app does indeed show up; As far as I'm concerned - and I may be calling some hate towards me - I see this Gundabad/Dominion thing more as a Muffin Knight/Super Crate Box scenario (disclaimer: I own both), than anything else. Far blown out of proportion - both are decent games, and they complement one another more than they detract. Your take?
BoG's AI seems much more competent to me than the folk in this game, but then I'm willing to bet in many of the campaign scenarios the AI gets a nice leg up on you with a few nice cards in its initial deck you didn't get.
No doubt there, they do - I recall some of them stating so in the intro, for instance that the opponents start with card X from the start. Maybe it doesn't state it in all of the scenarios where they get extra cards.
