Domaine - an intriguing game for 2 to 4 players, ages 12 and upwards which takes a little time to learn but then allows for many enjoyable and varied games. Whilst a first game may take around 90 minutes to play, this game is usually over in an hour when all the players are experienced.
The objective is to gather more victory points than your opponents, if you can reach the target number of points then you win, otherwise at the end of the game the person with the most points wins. You gain victory points for enclosing areas of land, called creating Domaine's, specifically those including Forests, Villages and Mines
Components
There are lots of parts to this game and a good supply of Ziplock bags is ideal for keeping them under control.
- 9 Land Tiles, 1 of which contains the Royal City and is always placed in the centre and the other 8 tiles which are randomly placed to complete the board.
- 4 Border Tiles and 4 connectors which go round the formed Land Tiles to lock the board together, the scoring track is on these.
- 60 Action Cards, split into 4 sets, A, B, C and D.
- 15 Knights and 4 Castles in each of Blue, White, Orange and Red.
- 100 Black Border Markers.
- 47 Ducat Tokens in values of 1 and 5.
- 4 Crest Tokens, one per colour which act as Victory Point Markers.
- 1 King Token which is placed on the scoring track at the target value which varies by the number of players.
Setting Up
Assemble the edge of the board with the Border Tiles plus the Connectors and then place the Land Tile containing the Royal City in the centre. Shuffle the remaining 8 Land Tiles and then place them around the Royal City.
Separate the Action Cards into 4 groups by the letter on the back of the cards and then shuffle them in their groups, then place each pile face down on the Action Card space on the Border Tiles, D at the bottom and then C, B and A on top of them.
Now each player selects a colour and takes the Castles and Knights of that colour. Each player also receives 7 Ducats and places their Crest Token on the 0 marker on the scoring track. Each player also receives 3 Action Cards from the top of the Action Deck.
Depending on the number of players the King Token is now placed on the scoring track, at 30 for 4 players, at 40 for 3 players and at 50 for 2 players.
Players now take turns placing their castles and on the board, all 4 are placed in a 2 or 3 player game whilst the 4 player game only has 3 castles each. Castles must be placed on an unoccupied meadow space and then a knight is placed orthogonally adjacent in either a meadow or a forest. Bear in mind that Castles must be placed at least 6 spaces apart orthogonally.
Finally each player is dealt 3 cards from the Action Deck.
Game Play
The last player to place a castle now starts the game and the game is played in turns clockwise, or anti-clockwise if you just want to be different!
Each player has a limited set of actions, a) Collect income from any Mines you control, b) Sell an Action Card to the Chancery or Play an Action Card, c) Update the position of your Victory Point Marker if additional points have been scored, d) draw back to 3 cards either by taking a card from the Action Deck or from the Chancery.
Income from Mines is 1 Ducat for each different type of Mine you control, no financial benefit for having those 2 Gold Mines though grab another one and you can have a Mine Monopoly which is worth additional points. A Mine Monopoly is worth 5 additional points and happens when your Domaines encompass 3 or 4 of the same type of mine.
To play an Action Card you have to pay the cost of the card as shown in the top left hand corner. With an action card you can:
- Place Border Tiles, the number of tiles is indicated on the card. If this completes a Domaine then note the number of Victory Points you score.
- Place Knights, the number of Knights is shown on the card. The Knights must be placed in a Meadow or on a Forest (costs 1 Ducat) adjacent to an existing Castle or Knight.
- Expand your Domaine, move the borders of one of your existing Domaines out by 1 or 2 spaces, use Border Tiles from the supply to complete your Domaine. This might enclose more Forest, Villages or Mines so note any change in score. Note that you can't expand into your own Domaine or into the Domaine of an opponent unless you have more Knights than they do.
- Use the Deserter card to force a Knight to change sides, select and remove an opponents Knight and then place a Knight as detailed above.
- Create an Alliance with a neighbouring Domaine, this prevents them Expanding into your Domaine from their Allied Domaine even if they do have more Knights than you.
Total any additional Victory Points and increment your score, this may mean reducing an opponents score as well.
The Hooks
There is a great balance in this game as income is needed to pay to play Action Cards which means on occasion having to sell a card you'd really like to play to the Chancery, only to watch one of your opponents pick it up!
Each turn you will be torn between wanting to do two or more things, but you can only choose 1 of them.
There are plenty of opportunities for diplomacy in this game, point out where opponents are strong, where they might be about to complete a large Domaine, discuss how they might be stopped, all the while mentioning nothing of the benefits you hope to accrue on your turn. Agree to co-operate to build a common border early in the game.
Your Tactics
Where to place your Castles ?
- You need some Castles which you can develop early in the game and develop a Domaine, for this the corners are ideal as it takes less Border Tiles to complete it, you can use the Expand Domaine cards to make it larger later.
- The Castles need to be near resources which are going to gain you benefit, be that Forests, Villages or Mines.
Which Domaine to work on ?
- There is great advantage to work co-operatively in building Domaines, but remember, you then need to protect that Domaine with additional Knights, but beware a resource consuming arms race, better to play an Alliance card and move onto developing another area.
- Domaines completed towards the end of the game can be substantially larger than those developed early, keep looking for opportunities to carve out a large chunk for yourself to give you that surge of Victory Points you need to win. As an anecdote, in a 3 player game I created a Domaine which gave me 25 points, enough for outright Victory by placing a single Border Tile to complete an area my opponents had neglected to look at.
How many Knights ?
- Domaines which contain important resources, such as Mines generating income need some protection, watch your own and your opponents areas for weaknesses and take advantage when you get the chance.
Is a Mine Monopoly worth pursuing ?
- A Mine Monopoly is worth 5 Victory Points but only a single Ducat of income, so it's more important towards the end of the game, leave yourself poised to claim the points and divert their attention elsewhere.
Conclusion
This is a strong game which will be replayed. The enjoyability of this game works from the tension generated by resource shortages, by the constant watching of other players to try to determine their tactics and progress.
The random factor in this game is down to the Action Cards you draw, however, the influence of what the other players choose to do affects the outcome to a much larger extent.
This game is highly recommended by the Team at Games Lore Ltd.
Additional Reviews
Details from Boardgamegeek
