Dominion

Dominion

Build a medieval kingdom by buying Actions and Treasures, improving a cycling personal deck while collecting the Victory cards that decide the game.

Dominion supports 2–4 players; community best: 3 players; playing time: 30 minutes. A WANGO browser trial has not been confirmed.

Background & introduction

Dominion, designed by Donald X. Vaccarino, helped establish modern deckbuilding. Each player begins with seven Coppers and three Estates, then buys cards from a shared Supply to develop an increasingly capable personal deck. The available Kingdom cards change the opportunities from game to game.

Turns follow an ABC cycle: play Actions, play chosen Treasures and buy cards, then clean up all played cards and remaining hand cards before drawing five. The normal allowance is one Action and one Buy, but card effects can increase those allowances, draw more cards or generate extra money.

Victory cards contribute final points while often doing nothing useful in a hand during play. Buying them too early can weaken the deck's flow; waiting too long can let rivals end the game first. Check the ending at turn end when Provinces are gone or at least three Supply piles are empty, then score all owned cards.

Core rules & scoring

  1. Setup: For 2–4 players, each starts with seven Coppers and three Estates, shuffled into a deck; draw five. The Supply contains seven Base piles and ten selected Kingdom piles. Ordinary Kingdom piles contain ten cards; Victory Kingdom piles use Victory-pile counts. Two players use eight Estates, Duchies and Provinces and ten Curses. Three or four use twelve per Victory pile and twenty or thirty Curses respectively.

  2. Turn: Resolve Action, Buy and Clean-up phases in order. Normally begin with one Action, one Buy and zero coins. Unused Actions, Buys and money disappear before the next turn.

  3. Actions: Spend an Action to play an Action card, resolving it completely from top to bottom before playing another. Extra Actions increase the allowance and extra cards are drawn immediately. Using remaining Actions is optional. Gaining a card does not play it.

  4. Buying: First play any number of chosen Treasures; Copper, Silver and Gold produce one, two and three coins. Then buy affordable Supply cards. Normally buy one; extra Buys divide the same money across more purchases. After the first purchase, do not play more Treasures.

  5. Gaining and costs: Normally take gained cards from the Supply to your discard pile; specified destinations such as hand or deck override this. Buying spends turn money rather than returning Treasure cards. Direct gains such as Workshop do not consume Buys, and extra money cannot increase their stated cost limits.

  6. Clean-up and shuffling: Discard played Actions and Treasures and every remaining hand card, then draw five. If you need to process more deck cards than remain, shuffle discards and place them beneath the remaining deck first. An empty deck alone does not trigger an immediate shuffle.

  7. Discarding and trashing: Discarded cards remain yours and can cycle back. Trashed cards enter the shared Trash, cease to belong to you, do not score for you and do not shuffle back. Resolve as much of a card as possible unless its wording imposes a condition or choice.

  8. Attacks and Reactions: Attacks affect opponents according to their text. Reveal Moat from hand when an opponent plays an Attack to protect yourself from that attack; it remains in hand. Resolve simultaneous effects on different players, such as gaining Curses, in turn order starting with the current player.

  9. End and score: At turn end, end the game if Provinces are empty or at least three Supply piles are empty, including Treasure or Curse piles. Score owned cards in every area: Estate one, Duchy three, Province six and Curse minus one. If Gardens is used, each scores one per ten total owned cards, rounded down. Most points wins; tied players with fewer turns win, or share victory if still tied.

Rules & gameplay questions

Can I play a newly bought card immediately, and are Treasures spent?

Normally a gained card goes to your discard pile, so it cannot be played immediately. Playing Treasures produces money for the turn; the cards remain and are discarded during Clean-up. Follow specific destinations such as gaining to hand when instructed.

How do discarding, trashing and shuffling differ?

Discarded cards remain yours and can cycle back. Trashed cards enter the shared Trash and do not join your shuffle. An empty deck alone does not cause a shuffle; shuffle discards beneath remaining cards when you need to process more deck cards than remain.

Can I play both Action cards in my hand?

Not automatically. You normally have one Action and spend one for each ordinary Action play. Increase available Actions to continue normally. Resolve each card fully first. Card instructions that play cards, such as Throne Room, do not consume additional Action plays.

Does an extra Buy give me more money?

No. It increases the number of cards you may buy, sharing the same turn money. Six coins and two Buys can buy two three-cost Silvers. Unspent money and unused allowances do not carry over.

Does taking the last Province stop the turn immediately?

No. Finish the current turn, then check the ending. The Province pile must be empty or at least three Supply piles empty at that point. The last Province can be gained by an effect rather than bought.

Rules & introduction sources
Edition
Dominion Second Edition base game, Rio Grande Games official 2021 printing, for 2–4 players. Excludes expansions, removed first-edition cards and 5–6-player rules requiring extra Base cards.
Introduction source
BoardGameGeek

WANGO editorial

Dominion · Game parameters
ParameterRecorded value
BGG overall rank (snapshot)#146
Complexity Weight2.34 / 5
Best player count (community)3
Player range2–4
Playing time (minutes)30
Core mechanismsDeck, Bag, and Pool Building · Delayed Purchase · Hand Management · Open Drafting · Take That · Variable Set-up
Chinese publicationUnconfirmed
WANGO browser playNo confirmed WANGO trial
Year published2008
Suggested age13+

BGG statistics are stored snapshots, not live rankings. Source checked:2026-09-26

Player questions

What is the best player count for Dominion, and can I play online?

Dominion supports 2–4 players; community best: 3 players; playing time: 30 minutes. A WANGO browser trial has not been confirmed.

How complex is Dominion, and which mechanisms does it use?

Weight: 2.34 / 5. Mechanisms: Deck, Bag, and Pool Building · Delayed Purchase · Hand Management · Open Drafting · Take That · Variable Set-up. Chinese publication: Unconfirmed.

Where can I learn Dominion?

Available resources: Strategy https://wangogame.com/wiki/analysis/dominion