Dominion for iOS
January 27, 2012 3:07 PM Subscribe
Now available for iPhone and iPad: a free app for playing the popular deck-building card game Dominion both off-line and on. Get it while it lasts -- it'll only be up until the official, for-pay app is released "in a few weeks". iOS download.
It is the policy of the publisher of Dominion, Rio Grande Games, to grant permission for fan-made computer recreations of their games until they release an official, commercial version. That appears to be what happened here.
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What is Dominion?
It is a "deck building" card game, in fact the first of the genre. Players each begin with a set deck of ten cards: seven "Copper" Treasure cards, and three "Estate" Victory cards. These personal decks are each shuffled, and then they deal themselves five cards.
Between them are communal piles of cards: ten piles of Kingdom cards, also called Action cards (these are different each game; they may either be chosen randomly from those in the base game or expansions, or selected by the players), as well as decks of Treasure cards (Copper, Silver and Gold, worth 1, 2 and 3 respectively) and Victory cards (Estate, Duchy and Province, worth 1, 3 and 6 victory points). These piles are face-up; all of the hidden information in the game is in the order of the player's decks and what they're holding in their hands.
Throughout the game, cards from these piles are gained by the players through various means and added to their decks. At the end of the game, players gather up all the cards they gained throughout the game and count out all the victory points, with the player who gained the most being the winner. But although VP cards give you points at the end, they are generally good for little else; the more points in your deck, the less frequently useful cards will come up.
On their turn, in order, players:
Play one ACTION card, if they have one in their hand.
BUY one card from the piles on the table, using the Treasure cards in their hand.
CLEAN UP, taking all of the played cards, including Treasure cards used in buying, and all of the gained cards and putting them into their personal discard pile. They then deal themselves five more cards from their deck. When the draw deck is exhausted, the discard pile is shuffled and becomes the new deck.
Some Action cards grant one or more additional actions, some allow for drawing more cards from the deck into the hand, and some grant additional buys, or coins for buying on that turn only. The game ends when any three decks are depleted, or when the most valuable Victory card pile, the Provinces, run out.
Some Action cards put more cards into your deck. Some put cards into other players' decks, or even permanently remove cards from your own deck -- why you would want to do that is left for you to figure out. Some take cards out of opponents' hands, or outright steal cards from them. Many cards give you extra actions, or buys, or coins. Through clever plays and buying, treasure acquisition, timely victory card purchasing, and careful deck management, you can come out ahead of the other players, to establish the strongest dominion.
It is the policy of the publisher of Dominion, Rio Grande Games, to grant permission for fan-made computer recreations of their games until they release an official, commercial version. That appears to be what happened here.
-----
What is Dominion?
It is a "deck building" card game, in fact the first of the genre. Players each begin with a set deck of ten cards: seven "Copper" Treasure cards, and three "Estate" Victory cards. These personal decks are each shuffled, and then they deal themselves five cards.
Between them are communal piles of cards: ten piles of Kingdom cards, also called Action cards (these are different each game; they may either be chosen randomly from those in the base game or expansions, or selected by the players), as well as decks of Treasure cards (Copper, Silver and Gold, worth 1, 2 and 3 respectively) and Victory cards (Estate, Duchy and Province, worth 1, 3 and 6 victory points). These piles are face-up; all of the hidden information in the game is in the order of the player's decks and what they're holding in their hands.
Throughout the game, cards from these piles are gained by the players through various means and added to their decks. At the end of the game, players gather up all the cards they gained throughout the game and count out all the victory points, with the player who gained the most being the winner. But although VP cards give you points at the end, they are generally good for little else; the more points in your deck, the less frequently useful cards will come up.
On their turn, in order, players:
Play one ACTION card, if they have one in their hand.
BUY one card from the piles on the table, using the Treasure cards in their hand.
CLEAN UP, taking all of the played cards, including Treasure cards used in buying, and all of the gained cards and putting them into their personal discard pile. They then deal themselves five more cards from their deck. When the draw deck is exhausted, the discard pile is shuffled and becomes the new deck.
Some Action cards grant one or more additional actions, some allow for drawing more cards from the deck into the hand, and some grant additional buys, or coins for buying on that turn only. The game ends when any three decks are depleted, or when the most valuable Victory card pile, the Provinces, run out.
Some Action cards put more cards into your deck. Some put cards into other players' decks, or even permanently remove cards from your own deck -- why you would want to do that is left for you to figure out. Some take cards out of opponents' hands, or outright steal cards from them. Many cards give you extra actions, or buys, or coins. Through clever plays and buying, treasure acquisition, timely victory card purchasing, and careful deck management, you can come out ahead of the other players, to establish the strongest dominion.
This post was deleted for the following reason: I <3 Dominion and have fearful joy over this development, but a link to an iphone app and a general play description feels a little insidery-thin for a mefi post by itself. Maybe something a little more thorough about Dominion for the unacquainted? -- cortex
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This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by JHarris at 3:10 PM on January 27, 2012