Dominion

What you need

• Dominion base game: 500 cards (Treasures, Victory cards, Curses, 25+ Kingdom card stacks), trash pile mat

Setup

1. Set out the Treasure supply: Copper, Silver, Gold. Set out the Victory supply: Estate, Duchy, Province, and Curse cards.
2. Choose 10 Kingdom card piles (10 cards each). First game recommended set: Cellar, Market, Merchant, Militia, Mine, Moat, Remodel, Smithy, Village, Workshop.
3. Set the number of Provinces based on players: 2p=8, 3-4p=12. Duchies/Estates: 2p=8 each, 3-4p=12 each. Curses: 2p=10, 3p=20, 4p=30.
4. Deal each player a starting deck of 7 Coppers + 3 Estates. Shuffle it and place face-down as your personal draw pile.
5. Draw a starting hand of 5 cards.

How to play

1. OBJECTIVE: End the game with the most Victory Points (VP). Points are LOCKED IN your deck — Estates=1, Duchies=3, Provinces=6, Curses=−1.
2. TURN STRUCTURE: Every turn has 3 phases in order — (A) Action, (B) Buy, (C) Cleanup.
3. (A) ACTION PHASE: You have 1 Action by default. Play one Action card from your hand, resolve its full text, then if you still have Actions remaining you may play another.
4. '+X Cards' = draw X. '+X Actions' = gain X more actions. '+X Buys' = gain X more buys this turn. '+$X' = adds $X coin to your Buy phase.
5. Attack cards (like Militia) affect other players. Reaction cards (like Moat) can be revealed from hand to block them.
6. (B) BUY PHASE: You have 1 Buy by default. Play any/all Treasure cards from your hand face-up — their $ totals are your coin budget. Then spend coin to gain 1 card (per Buy) from the supply. Gained cards go to your DISCARD pile, not your hand.
7. (C) CLEANUP: Discard everything from play and everything in your hand. Draw 5 new cards. If your draw pile empties, shuffle your discard to make a new draw pile.
8. KEY COSTS: Copper $0 (produces $1), Silver $3 (produces $2), Gold $6 (produces $3). Estate $2 (=1VP), Duchy $5 (=3VP), Province $8 (=6VP). Curse $0 (=−1VP, given by attacks).
9. TRASHING: Some cards let you 'trash' cards — remove them from the game permanently. Trashing bad starting cards (Estates, Coppers) speeds up your deck.
10. GAME END: The game ends immediately when EITHER (1) the Province pile empties, OR (2) any THREE supply piles are simultaneously empty. Play any resolving effects, then everyone counts VP in their entire deck (draw + hand + discard). Highest total wins; ties go to the player who took fewer turns.

Host tips

• Strategy board game — read the rulebook once before hosting.
• Use the in-app Scorekeeper to track running totals.
• Tap 'Ask AI Judge' if a rules dispute comes up.

Snack & drink pairings

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