Vikings Tournament

The final game of Vikings has been played and congratulations goes to Adam8 who managed to fend off Earthquake and DeanrThomas to take home £10 store credit.

Final scores were

Deanryhomas : 41
Earthquake : 53
Adam8 : 65 ***THE WINNER***

The next tournament will be Arkadia, so if you are interested sign up here.

And trusts no one...

And trusts no one.... A review of Cutthroat Caverns

Cutthroat caverns is produced by Smirk and Dagger games. In the game you are one of a band of adventures grouped together to explore nine dungeons and aiming to be the one with the most prestige points after the ninth cavern has been completed. Its a very fun card game with a huge element of back stabbing. You have to work as a team to complete the challenges of the caverns, but always try and come out on top to be the only person to win prestige.

Opening the box you get

• Deck of cards
• 6 Character cards
• Encounter cards
• Encounter health chart
• Tokens and glass beads
  

The build quality of the game is very good, essentially its a deck of cards and some large card sheets and tokens. The artwork is very well done, its typical fantasy but the monsters have a dark and brooding style about them. It all looks good and will certainly last a large number of plays.

Setup is very easy, every player takes one of the character cards. There are 6 to choose from and all have an image of the character and a health meter on the side showing number 100 to 0 in multiples of 5. All characters are the same so its purely an aesthetic choice of character. Each player then gets dealt 7 cards to make up there hand.

The pile of encounter cards are then shuffled and the top card is drawn. This will depict the first monster the party encounters. It will show how many life points it has and describe how it can damage the players. A glass bead is used to mark how many life points the monster has on the chart. The party will now have to attempt to kill it by using cards from there hand. These are mainly damage cards showing a value from 0 to 100, item cards such as potions of healing or strength and interrupt cards which affect the damage being played by the other players.

Each player is dealt an initiative card for the first round, this will determine the player order for this round. Players then place face down one of the cards from there hand. Player 1 then reveals his card and lowers the damage marker by the amount of damage. Players can interrupt this action by playing any interrupt cards they have. These can do a number of things such as stop the damage with a critical miss card, double the damage with a critical hit card, swap cards with other players or change the direction of the damage. Play then moves on to the next player.

If a player has managed to kill the encounter only they take the encounter card and the prestige points marked on it. If the monster is still alive it deals damage determined by the encounter text. Again, you can play cards to redirect the damage or negate it using interrupt cards. Players then take a card to replenish there hand and the initiative cards are dealt out again.

The crux of the game is that you want to be the hero that kills the monster and to stop the other players from delivering the killing blow. This can be harder to achieve than you think, with interrupt cards being played by everyone sometimes a relatively easy encounter can take its time.

When the encounter has been finished, the bead that marks the number of counters is moved on by one and each player refills there hand to 7. The next encounter card is drawn and another battle is started. The majority of encounters are monsters, such as necromancers, orcs and Medusa's. Most will have a bit of text describing how they they damage the players, usually it will be player 1 takes 5 damage, or the player who deals the most damage will take 5 damage.

There are some not combat encounters in the deck. These are usually trick or trap type rules that damage the players depending on whether they pass or fail a task. These make a welcome change from the combat orientated encounters. The item cards can be used at any time, they usually heal the player or increase there damage. They can also be used to heal the other players, and if they agree the healer gains some prestige points.

After the ninth encounter the person with the most prestige points will win the game, if it is a draw then a final encounter is played. This is a great decider as everyone usually has a chance to win, even if they were not one of the tied players.

So Cutthroat Caverns is a very easy game to play and great fun. The opportunities to back stab your opponents are always there and you have to make sure that you take advantage of them. There are a number of expansions available for the game that add more encounters and cards to be played. This should increase the re-playability an already great game.

Summary

Presentation: Nice artwork and very readable cards. 7/10

Clarity of Rules: Well written rules make it an easy game to learn. 8/10

Game Length: Games take about 30 minutes or more depending on the number of players. 9/10

Value: Essentially a card game, but will have great re playability 7/10

Overall: A fun dungeon bash where its everyone for themselves. (8/10 not an average)

Spiel des Jahres 2009

The Spiel des Jahres is the biggest award in the world of board gaming. Its a German award and is presented to the best family game of the year. It's a big award and can easily increase the number of sales of a game.

Previous winners have included, Keltis, Zooloretto, Ticket to Ride and Carcasonne. The games have to have been released in Germany within the last 12 months and I believe to not have any moving pieces.

This years nominations are looking really good, mainly because there are a couple of great games that have been released outside of Germany in the nominations list.

 

Dominion
This is a great card game where players are buying cards to add to there deck. Its been compared to CCG's but without the collectible element. Everyone starts off level and its not down to how many packs of cards you have bought.
I have posted a review of this earlier and really like the game. I think its got a good chance of winning even if its a card game which historically haven't done that well.

Pandemic
The second of the games that most of you have heard about or maybe even played. This is a co-operative game where the players team up to stop the spread of deadly diseases. It's another great game that deserves its nomination.

Fauna
This one is only available in Germany I believe and is by the same designer as Powergrid. Although this is probably as far from that game as you can get. Fauna is a trivia game where players guess statistics on animals. Such as weight, length of tail and origin. I am not sure of this one, I think Friedemann is a great designer just not sure that this one is the winner.

Fits
Reiner Knizia finally won the award last year for Keltis (Lost Cities the board game) but I don't think he will be adding another trophy to the mantelpiece with this one. Fits (Fill in the space) is essentially Tetris the board game. Players must use the shapes to fill in the spaces and match up symbols to score extra points.

Finca
This game is set on the island of Mallorca with the players growing and managing different fruits by placing workers on the island. The key is to be as efficient as possible in the distribution and delivery of the crops. This one looks very colourful and has all the ingredients of being a winner.

Personally I really hope either Dominion or Pandemic win this year. It would be great to see a game that originated from a non German publisher take home the title.

The winner is announced at the end of June, so stay tuned.

Small World Review

Small world is the latest offering from Days of Wonder and is a reworking of an older game called Vinci. Its an area control game set in a fantasy world with very oddball races. Play time is around 60-80 minutes and its a very easy game to play and the random elements of the game certainly add to its re-playability.

Opening the box you get

• 2 Beautiful double sided boards
• 14 Fantasy race's and tokens for each
• 20 special power tokens
• Numerous other tokens depicting lairs and forts and other items
• victory coin counters
  
• a custom 6 sided dice
• Rules booklet
• player aids

The first thing you notice when looking at the components is the quality of the artwork. Days of Wonder are up to there usual standard here, the components look beautiful.

Setup is very easy, the two boards are double sided so there is a board for each player number combination. Place the board down and then shuffle the race tokens and place 5 down next to the board. Next shuffle up the special power tokens and place one next to each of the race tokens. These sets of tokens lock together so that the special ability is connected to the race. Next a number of counters need to be placed on the board. There are mountain counters that need to be placed on ever mountain region plus lost civilization counters which go on other regions.
Deal out 5 victory coins and a player aid to each player. First player is the person with the pointiest ears!

The aim of the game is to end with the most victory coins and you gain these coins by using your different races to expand over the world depicted on the board. You do this by choosing a race and then using it to conquer the different areas on the board. There will come a point when your race has over expanded or has lost its way, you can then put that race into decline and start off with another race. This in effect allows you to score with two races at the same time.

Most of the fun of the game is playing the different race/power combos and these are very diverse. Each race has its own power and these are pretty stereotypical. The dwarfs gain extra victory points for controlling areas with mines, the humans for farm areas. The special powers add the twist, beserker gives combat bonus's while flying allows you to attack any region on the board. With 14 races and 20 power tokens available the number of combinations is pretty big. This has lead to Beserker Halflinks, Flying Skeletons, Commando Elves, heroic amazons, wealthy ratmen and stoutfull orcs to name a few. There are some very good combinations, some probably better than others but all are fun to play.

The first player gets to choose which race/power combo to buy, the first in the row is free all others cost victory coins one for each combo missed. So if the first player decided to choose the commando halflings which are the third race out of the five, they would put one victory coin on the first race and one on the second and then take the halflings. They now total up the large numbers on each token of the combo and take that number of counters for there race.

Now its time to start taking over some of the small world. Your first conquest must be either a coastal territory or one that borders the edge of the board. Each region requires two tokens to conquer it plus one for each other token in that region. So a mountain region would require 3 or a hill region with a lost civilization would also take 3. Some races and abilities will effect this. If you end with a single race counter in your hand you can perform one last attack using the special 6 sided dice for virtual reinforcements. The dice has 3 blank sides and the others are marked 1,2 and 3. You can roll this dice and add the reinforcements to that final battle. This will usually net you about 3 or 4 regions depending on powers and where you have attacked. You can then redistribute your tokens around the regions you now control.

Next you add up your victory points, 1 per region you control plus any bonus points. So for example if a flying human race had taken over 4 regions but 2 of them were farmland the player would receive 6 victory points. Humans get a +1 victory point for each farmland region controlled. finally the race/power tokens are rearranged with all tokens pushed up and a new combo drawn from the stack.

When each player has made there first conquest you now have the option in your turn to put your race into decline. This takes a whole turn and you simply remove all race tokens from the regions you own except for one which you flip over to its black and white side. you also flip over your race/power tokens to signify that its in decline. You still gain the victory points for the regions you control, but usually not for any special abilities or race bonuses. Why put a race in decline? Generally the race can't go any further, either all the tokens are used up or the race simply has no where to go. It's also the only way to get two races on the board that you can score with. So those 4 or 5 regions with your declined race will help boost your score with the new race. Choosing when to put your race into decline is one of the key points to the game.

Each game runs for a set number of turns, this depends on the number of players and there is a marker on the board to help you keep track. When the last player has finished the last turn everyone counts up there victory points and the player with the most wins the game.

Small world sounds incredibly easy to play, it is. There are basically only a few rules that you need to remember and they have made everything very simple. You will be up and playing very quickly and soon sending your crazy races across the board trying to score you as many victory points as possible. The number of race power combinations is certainly a huge draw to the game, I haven't got board with it yet after a couple of plays. Trying to get the right combo at the right time can be a huge bonus whether or not its a very aggressive race combo which allows you to quickly over run a large number of areas or one that allows you to strategically take specific region types. Either way you should see those victory points start racking up. Not being tied to one race is also a good mechanic, if you get board you can simply put it into decline and pick something more interesting or powerful.

Summary

A light Euro game with a lot of replayability. 8/10

Clarity of Rules: A well written rule book and simple rules. 8/10

Game Length: About 45-60 minutes for 4 players 9/10

Value: Lots of races and power for you to try, and beautiful components. 9/10

Overall: An interesting game that's easy to play and will appeal to most gamers . (9/10 not an average)

Jungle Speed Review

Jungle speed is a dexterity, pattern matching game that is played fast and furious. Its a huge amount of fun, but be sure that nails have been clipped and all jewelry has been removed!

So whats in the bag? The game does come in a box, but this just houses the zebra print bag full of components.

• 80 cards depicting coloured shapes and patterns

• Wooden Jungle Speed Totem

• Rule book

Not a great amount in there, but its all good and very well made. The pieces are made to last and its a good job as they will get plenty of play.

Game setup is easy, the cards are shuffled and dealt out to all of the players. The Jungle Speed totem is then played upright in the center of the table within reach of all of the players.
The first player then turn over his top card into a discard pile in front of him. It's important that the card is turned over away from the player, so in effect the other players get to see the card a split second before the dealer. Although this is going to be very quick.
Players then take it in turns to flip the top card in there stack over. If any two cards on the table have matching symbol, not colour the players with these cards must make a grab for the totem. The quickest player then hands over there discard pile to the loser who adds it his pile of cards.

This continues until someone has played there last card and wins the game.

It all sounds easy enough, but there are a few things that make the game a little tricky. Some of the cards look very similar but have subtle differences. One may have a pair of circles with a hex in the middle another will have a pair of circles with a square in the middle. During a quick game these can easily be mistaken for being the same.

There are also three types of joker cards. The first has 4 arrows pointing into the center of the card. If this is turned over then all players must make a grab for the cards in the center. Another shows 4 arrows pointing outwards. When this is played all players simultaneously flip over a card. The final special card shows 4 coloured arrows pointing into the center of the card, this changes the game from matching shapes to colours.

If anyone makes a wrong grab for the totem or knocks it over then they take every ones discard pile, so you want to make sure you only grab when there is a match. Again, this can get tricky when the game gets fast.

This game is a lot of fun, its quick to teach and play and can get a bit physical as the game speeds up. You have to be quick to grab the totem and false nails will fly. I have played it against all ages and its been well received. Maybe not for the deep thinkers of the group but most have come around to it, especially after a drink.

I have seem some extreme Jungle speed played on the web, where the totem is placed in a different room or further away from the table. This results in mad dashes for the totem instead of frantic table grabs.

Summary

A party game of matching shapes and reflexes. 8/10

Clarity of Rules Nothing to them, flip, match and grab. 9/10

Game Length Anywhere from 10 to 20 mins. 8/10

Value

Lots of re playability for a fast, quick game. 9/10

Overall A fun game of speed and reflexes . (9/10 not an average)

Pitchcar Review

Pitchcar is one of the finest dexterity games produced and one that everyone should try at least once.

It's a finger flicking race game where you control the car around a race track.

Opening the heavy red box you get

• Six straightaways
• Ten 90-degree curves
• Rail pieces for straights and curves
• Eight car discs with stickers
• One Start/Finish line sticker
• Rule sheet
  

First thing is to put the stickers on, the 8 car disks each require a sticker your choice as to which colour. Then the start/finish line sticker needs placing on a piece of straight track. Next up is building the track.
The track pieces are made from MDF and fit together really well, they have a black coating to make them look like a race track and to also aid in the flicking. The rules booklet comes with some suggested tracks and all are very easy to put together.

After the main pieces of track are assembled you need to put the crash barriers on. These are plastic strips that come in two sizes. The longer is used on the curves and the shorter on the straights. It's worth double checking the track as the crash barriers are only used on one side of the track pieces.

A flat table is essential for this game. The slightest difference in height will usually result in a small lip where the tracks pieces join. This can cause a few irritations when it comes to racing.

Racing is easy, its all in the flicking and shoving techniques of the racers. But before you can race you have to qualify.
Players take it in turns to do a qualifying lap. The winner is the person who can flick there car around the track using the least number of flicks. If a flick results in your car coming off the track or ending upside down you have crashed. You have to put your car back to where it was.

Once everyone has qualified the cars are arranged on the grid in typical formula one fashion. The game can take up to 8 players so the start can be a little crowded, but the more players the better. Players now take it in turn to flick there car around the track. One flick at a time. Once everyone has had a turn it starts again with the player in the lead going first. If you accidentally knock an opponent off the track you put the car back on where it came off.

After 3 laps the first player over the start/finish line wins the game. It's that simple.

This game is a lot of fun, from setting up the board to trying to rebound your car around the track its all good fun. I have played this game with several groups of people of all ages and everyone has enjoyed it. The only minor point to the game is maybe the cost. It weights in at just under £40 but you get a hefty game for the money and one that will get a lot of play.

If the price is an issue there is a Pitchcar mini version available. Its about half the price and about half the size so it may be easier to play in smaller venues. It's the exact same game that has just been scaled down.

There are also expansions for both versions of the game. I think the most impressive is the first expansion for the main game. This adds a jump and tunnel. This component alone can really transform the game. If you think you have got your flicking action down, wait till you have a vertical element added to the track.
Other expansions add chicanes, longer straights tighter curves and an elevated section. So you can really change the tracks around.

Pitchcar Expansion 1 - Jump and Tunnel
Pitchcar Expansion 2 - Crossroads and Corners
Pitchcar Expansion 3 - Long Straights
Pitchcar Mini Expansion 1 - Ramps
Pitchcar Mini Expansion 2 - More curves
Pitchcar Mini Expansion 3 - Long straights


I really like Pitchcar, its a great game to bring out at party's or when you need a break from heavier games. It's quick to setup and tear down and a game will usually last about 20 minutes unless you get stuck in the tunnel

Summary

A fun game that will get the crowd going. 9/10

Clarity of Rules Ready, aim, flick. Not much more to it. 9/10

Game Length About 20 mins for a 5 player game, so it gets a few replays in. 8/10

Value

Quality components that will last. 8/10

Overall A fantastic game that will continually hit the table no matter who is around(9/10 not an average)

Army of Zero Review and Interview with Steve Mainprize

Army of Zero is the first game by Point Zero Games, designed and produced by Steve Mainprize. The game is a card game for 2 players who are using a squad of hardened warriors in a battle of strength and wits. The game also comes with a puzzle that can net the winner £1000 if they are the first to solve it.

Opening the box, what do you get.

• 3 packs of cards that make up the 84 different warriors and rules
• 2 dice
• Puzzle entry form.

The cards are made from good card stock and the artwork is very nice. There are a number of different clans that the warriors belong to, these take there names from animals such as Panda, Lion and Turtle. There is a slight oriental theme to the cards and they do remind me of a manga style comic. The animal clan affects the artwork, so for example the zebra clan members have white and black striped armour, while the lion clan all have long flowing blond hair.
The cards have the stats of the character at the bottom, these are Speed, Combat, Armour and Weapon. The value of each is from -2 to +2 with each character balanced out. i.e. if a character has +2 speed, they probably have -2 armour.
The cards also have a number of symbols down the left hand side. These are part of the puzzle but that's as much as I know.

Setup and play are both very simple. The 84 warrior cards are shuffled and 10 are dealt to each player. Each player then takes a dice and their 3 combat cards. These combat cards comprise of 2 sword cards used for attack and a shield card used for defense.
Each player then flips over their first character card. They then place face down either an attack or defend card. These are both simultaneously flipped and the outcome determines what happens. If they are both swords then each player rolls a dice and adds there speed value. Highest goes first and takes out there opponent.
If both players played a shield they stalk each other waiting for someone to attack.
If a shield and sword are played both players roll there dice and add there combat value. The highest hits the other and becomes the attacker. Both players now roll there dice and they add there weapon and armour values respectively. If the attacker is higher they have wounded there opponent and the card is removed.
If not then another round is started.
When a character is removed from play both players take back there combat cards, if not then only the defense card can be retrieved. This means that players can only get two attacks in before they have to defend. Knowing this can help the other player if they have been playing defensively.

The rules sound simple and they are certainly not as complex as other card based games. But they are very quick to learn and fun to play with younger children or as a filler before a bigger game.

The puzzle element and the £1000 prize is definitely an interesting concept and one that I haven't seen since the Perplexcity cards were released. I have spent a bit of time on the puzzle but so far I'm stumped. So if anyone has any clues then please pass them on.

Summary

Presentation 84 different warriors and a simple rule set. 7.5/10

Clarity of Rules Rules are clear, but a flow chart would be handy. 8/10

Game Length Games last around 15 minutes but could be altered by adding more characters. 7/10

Value Nice cards and an interesting incentive. 9/10

Overall A cracking card game that quick enough that it should hit the table during those odd times. (8/10 not an average)

Steve Mainprize is the designer and publisher of Army of Zero. He graciously took time out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions about his game.

Army of Zero is your first game, what inspiration did you have to come up with it?

I'd been on sabbatical from work for a while, particularly wanting to spend more time with my two boys. We were playing a lot of games, particularly trading card games, and I think the germ of the idea for Army Of Zero must have come from all that. I wanted a multi-character card game that was easy to learn and didn't require as much investment in time: I think other parents will know what I'm talking about! So basically, what we've done is taken some of the tropes of very "busy" games like CCGs and RPGs, and filtered them through much simpler game mechanics that are closer to trump games and even rock/paper/scissors.

You have decided to self publish, is it easier to do this than find a publisher?

I don't think either route is what you'd call "easy"! As far as self-publishing goes, I personally think there's definitely something to be said for the satisfaction of following an idea through from the initial concept to having a finished product in your hand, but it probably depends on the kind of person you are. The most creative people I know aren't what you'd call "finishers": they might have a dozen brilliant ideas a day but aren't built to see them through to completion. If you're that kind of person, you're going to need to have a publisher, or at least a business partner, who's going to make sure your scheme ends up fully baked (instead of half-baked!).

So it just so happened that we had the resources and the inclination to self-publish. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

The puzzle element is quite different. What made you decide to add this element to the game?

I read a story once - possibly apocryphal, possibly true - about two crossword compilers who disliked each other so much that they each independently started hiding insulting messages about the other in their crosswords. The problem was, the messages were so cryptic that neither realised the other was doing it.

I love codes, cyphers and hidden messages: at one point we were going to have the puzzles designed into the Army Of Zero cards but not even tell anyone! The plan was that someone would eventually realise that these unexplained elements on the cards meant something and would start figuring it all out, and the story would start to spread... but in the end we realised that that's a cute high-concept idea, but maybe not such a good business model. Ultimately you have to tell people about the puzzle competition because it's one of the things that makes the product unusual.

Do you have any plans to expand Army of Zero with additional characters or rules?

We've got plenty of ideas for new puzzles that could end up in a second edition. Some of those puzzles we didn't have room for in the first edition, some have only been thought of relatively recently. We've also got alternative sets of rules that we're playtesting at the moment: some of those just tweak the existing game, but others are basically whole new games, using the existing deck. The idea of an expansion pack that gives characters altered statistics - weapons, special items, that sort of thing - is an obvious option, but it's going to need a lot of playtesting because the balance of abilities between the characters is perfect at the moment and we don't want to mess that up.

Do you have any other games designed and waiting to be published?

Actually, no: we really like the Army Of Zero character designs, and there's a lot of time and effort that's been expended on them. We really want to develop the theme. Wherever we go next, it'll be an "Army Of Zero" product.

What designer are you a fan of and who would you like to work with?

I like Todd Breitenstein for his game Zombies!!! (or however many exclamation marks there are), which is definitely the game we've played most in the last year or so. It works as a game and the atmosphere is spot-on. And although it's not a game as such, I think there must be something in Kit Williams' book Masquerade coming through into Army Of Zero as well.

I implied earlier that there are RPG influences: back in my role-playing days - and we're going back 20 years now! - I used to love playing Paranoia, so I'd probably suggest that working with Greg Costikyan would be a hoot.

Dominion Review by Count Zero

Dominion is a card game that borrows heavily from the CCG market. It's currently taken the Board Game Geek crowd by storm and for good reason. It's a fantastic game that has been warmly accepted.

Opening the box you get 5 decks of cards, a rules booklet and a plastic insert. Not exactly brimming with components but as its in essence a card game you don't need anything else. Also the re-playability of this game is amazing, you are sure to get your monies worth out of these 500 cards. The cards are of good quality and are going to last, although card protectors are always a good idea. The artwork is pretty good, maybe not as good as the Race for the Galaxy artwork but they convey the role of the cards very well and all tie together with a common theme.

The rule book explains the rules very well with a couple of examples and explanations of the cards and effects. The plastic tray allows you to sort out the cards and stack them to make things easier to use in the future. There is a inlay available on the geek that makes sorting out the cards and finding them much easier.

The huge number of cards are broken down into 3 main card type. First up are the money cards, these show golden coins with either a 1, 2 or 3 stamped in the middle. The cards are your currency cards and are used in the game to buy other cards. Next up are the green victory point cards. These also come in three flavors and are worth either 1, 3 or 6 victory points and are used in the end game scoring.
The main bulk of the cards are the action cards. There are 25 different types of action cards and there are 10 of each. These action cards cover numerous places in your dominion and provide you with the game actions of your deck.

Game setup is very easy. The money and victory point cards are separated and placed on the table. 7 single gold coin cards are dealt to every player along with 3 single victory point cards. This gives each player a deck of 10 cards. These cards are shuffled and placed in front of the player. Next 10 of the possible 25 action point cards are chosen. The rules have a number of set combinations that help you get started but you could easily randomly select 10 action cards and use those.
The table should now have 3 piles of money cards, 3 piles of victory point cards, 25 action point cards plus a trash marker and maybe some other card types. Each card has a cost associated with it and is shown in the bottom corner. This can be anything from 0 to 6 gold.

From now on each players turn consists of a single action point followed by a single buy although the cards that you are going to play will seriously affect this. The first couple of turns are very straightforward. You draw 5 cards from your deck, so your initial hand will be a mix of gold coins and victory point cards. As you have no action cards in your hand you skip this and move onto the buy phase. You now discard a number of gold cards to buy a single card from the numerous piles of cards in front of you. You are mainly going to start by buying the action cards, but you can buy more of the money cards and the victory point cards. The card you have bought and the gold cards used are put on your discard pile along with any cards left in your hand. You then draw another 5 cards as your next hand.
Each payer then has there action and buy phases. When it gets back to you you will have 5 cards that are again made up of the remaining gold and victory point cards. You will not have an action phase but you will get the chance to buy another card. Again the gold cards, the card you bought and the rest of your hand are all placed on the discard pile. You should now have 12 cards in your discard pile. These are gathered, shuffled and 5 new cards are drawn for your next hand.
When it is next your turn you should hopefully have an action card in your 5 cards. In the action phase you will play this card and then use the actions or bonus's that the card gives you. These can vary from drawing extra cards, gaining extra actions, harming the other players, gaining gold or managing your deck. These first few hands are all about setting up your deck to be as efficient as possible. After your actions have run out you then get a buy phase. Hopefully you will have enough gold to buy another card for your deck.

This is the main crux of the game, everyone starts out on an equal footing and its up to the players skill and a little bit of luck to get there deck working as efficiently and effective as possible. There are numerous card combinations available. Some basic ones involve the village card (+1 card, +2 actions) followed by the smithy (+3 cards). This pairing allows you to in effect draw 4 cards from your deck then get to play an additional card. Other cards such as the market (+1 gold, +1 buy, +1 card., +1 action) are a good all rounder giving you a number of benefits. You can stack up any number of cards, so you could start with a market, the card you drew was a village, you play this and grab another card. This is a smithy which you then play. Out of the 3 cards you draw from playing this card you get another village. All of the cards actions and bonuses are accumulative so playing 3 market cards would give you +3 gold to spend.

After a number of turns you should have a fairly reasonable engine running allowing you to speed through your deck and allow you to buy at least one card every turn. When this has happened its time to start buying the victory point cards. You don't really want to get them too early as they make up part of your deck. They are in effect useless until the end game, so buying lots of them too early will dilute your deck. Drawing 5 victory point cards would make for a useless hand.

the game ends when either the 6 Victory point card deck is exhausted, or three other decks are exhausted. The current player then finishes his turn then all players count up there victory point cards. The person with the highest number of victory points wins the game.

I think dominion is a great game. It has taken the task of building a deck of cards into a game and it works very well. Due to the fact that there are so many types of cards each game will be very different. Plus, all players will start on a level footing. With CCG's the person who had the most money would generally have the better deck. There is an element of skill involved, finding cards that work together is very important and you can learn a lot from someone who has played the game. But the more you play the more combinations become apparent and the more your mind starts working out other tricks that can be played.

I can see that Dominion is going to have a large number of expansions. The designer started out with 100 different cards and picked 25 of these for the game. This means that we are going to see a fair number of expansions with new actions cards over the coming years. I believe that these expansions are going to be playable in there own right, which will also be nice for players who have maybe missed out on this great game.

Summary

Presentation 500 cards make for a very re playable game that uses new mechanics. 9/10

Clarity of Rules Rules are clear and concise, you will be playing in no time. 8/10

Game Length Games can range from 20 mins to 45 depending on the number of players. 9/10

Value Good card stock plus loads of re-playability. 8/10

Overall A fantastic card game that plays fast. It's going to stay on the hot list for some time. (9.5/10 not an average)