Board game guide
Dominion
Build the deck while you play it.
Dominion gives every player the same modest starting deck, then opens ten shared paths for improving it. The cards you buy become the choices you draw later, so every turn quietly designs the next one.
- Players
- 2–4
- Time
- 20–30 min
- Experience
- Strategic card play
- Track
- Final points
How to play
Give the table a clear rhythm.
Use this as a quick first-game guide, then keep the official rules close for edge cases and exact details.
Prepare the supply
Set out the basic Treasure, Victory and Curse piles, then choose ten Kingdom card piles. Each player shuffles seven Coppers and three Estates and draws five cards.
Play an Action
You may play one Action card from your hand and resolve its instructions. Cards can grant extra actions, cards, coins or buys.
Buy a card
Play Treasure cards and spend your available coins to buy one card from the supply, unless an effect gives you additional buys.
Clean up and redraw
Put played cards and the rest of your hand into your discard pile, then draw five new cards. Shuffle the discard pile only when the deck cannot complete a draw.
Count the kingdom
The game ends when the Province pile is empty or any three supply piles are empty. Count all victory points in each deck; the highest total wins.
Before the first turn
Set up for a smooth start.
- Use the rulebook’s suggested first-game Kingdom set for the opening session.
- Give every player seven Copper and three Estate cards, then draw five.
- Set the correct number of Victory and Curse cards for the player count.
- Keep the trash area separate from every player’s discard pile.
Make it a season
Make every kingdom part of a larger campaign.
Record victory points and placement after each market. Change several Kingdom piles between games so the season rewards flexible deck-building rather than one familiar combination.
Create your season- Result
- Victory points + placement
- Season points
- 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
- Rotation
- Change the Kingdom set
- Tiebreak
- Fewest turns