Dominion: My Chick-fil-A Sauce of Board Games

You know when life is fine… and then someone introduces you to something like sriracha or Chick-fil-A sauce? Your life was perfectly okay before, but now you’re wondering how you lived so long without that little bit of yummy magic

That’s exactly how I felt about Dominion. The game dropped in 2008, but I didn’t even hear about it until 2020. Then the pandemic hit, so I wasn’t able to try it until 2021. One night, a friend and I were comparing how our game nights had escalated. Many started with Monopoly or Uno, but we had graduated to Catan. In fact, we’d played so much Catan that I get queasy when someone suggests it. She grinned and said, “Ah, Catan is great, but have you experienced Dominion?” I had no idea what I was walking into.

My first reaction was, “A game with just cards?” I had no idea what a deck-builder was. The concept is brilliantly simple: you start with a small deck of basic cards and build it up as you play by buying new, more powerful ones. Each turn, you draw from your deck, use those cards, and try to create powerful combos that help you score points or mess with your opponents. It’s like building your own toolkit on the fly. And Dominion was the OG that kicked off the whole genre!

At first glance, Dominion isn’t winning any beauty contests. It's just a plain box and art that feels more old-school Magic: The Gathering than modern, glossy card games. The newer printings have improved, but the real beauty is in the gameplay

Underneath that plain wrapper is a strategic and addicting powerhouse. Not all kingdoms (the unique card setups) are created equal, and not every set of cards works for all player counts. Discovering which combinations shine at 2, 3, 4, 5, or even 6 players has been half the fun. Some groups love money-heavy games, others crave attack card. The perfect set really depends on the vibe

Why am I hooked?

✅ Easy to learn

🔄 Infinite replayability

⏩ Quick turns (unless someone gets stuck with analysis paralysis)

👩‍👩‍👧‍👦 Anyone can play

📦 Travel-friendly (I keep a travel copy in my car)

📜 Clear rules. I really like that each card explains what it does

Heads up though:

⚠️ The OG box and art won’t wow your friends

🧠 The game is delightfully crunchy

💸 Expansions are dangerously addictive

Since that first game, we’ve upgraded, sleeved, laminated, organized, and packed expansions into boxes like Tetris pros (I have about 3-4 expansions per box). I even challenged myself to play 100 different kingdoms this year, and I’m well on my way

So yeah, I was late to the Dominion party. But like that Chick-fil-A sauce, once you get a taste, it sticks with you forever

Who's that in the photo?

That’s Mozart Bartholomeo! My newly retired, 10 or so year old cat who’s also been enjoying Dominion. Mostly, he naps on my side while we play. But if you need a furry game buddy with chill vibes and the occasional paw swipe, he’s your guy!