Over the holidays I finally got to buy and play Dominion. Let me just start out by saying that I was truly amazed at its elegance. I played with my 3 kids. Two of the kids said that it was their favorite of my games. We all just played over and over, hour after hour, and we've never done that with a game before.

I must admit, I bought the game with hesitation, and mixed feelings. After all, it was 'just' a card game, and I'm generally pretty ho-hum about card games. I hate Uno, and Munchkin & Hex Hex aren't much better, in my opinion. Even San Juan bores me, in that it seems to lack substance, especially compared to its boardgame counterpart.

But when Dominion passed up my beloved Caylus in the charts, I was intrigued and impressed. I had to figure out what made a 'measly card game' such a hit. What I discovered is that Dominion has so many of the elements that I consider make a good game great. I'll lay them out here:

Wide audience
A great game needs a somewhat wide audience. Caylus, with all of its balance and strategic elements, by definition has a limited audience. The people in one of my lighter gaming groups that got bored with it before I was half-way done explaining the rules. It just wasn't for them. Agricola has a similar issue, so it will never be played by some of the people I game with. That could never happen with Dominion. You don't even need to tell them the rules before you start. You lay out the cards, explain what you're doing on your first turn, and help them through the first round, and you're done. But with all its simplicity, it somehow has enough depth to take it to position #6 on BGG. To me, that is the definition of elegance. In the words of my 25-year-old daughter who loves playing poker, etc: "This is great - it's just like a card game!"

Variable amounts of 'Screw' factor
A great game needs to let you annoy your neighbor. As much as I love Agricola, its 'screw-your-neighbor' factor is subtle, and tricky until you get the hang of the game. Where Pandemic would be a 1 and Memoir '44 would be a 10, I would give Agricola a 5, and Dominion a 3-8, depending on the cards you choose to play with. Some people love aggressive games and others don't deal well with them, but this game seems to strike a perfect balance. You can only get so angry at one who cursed you, when everyone else was cursed as well.

Pacing
A great game keeps you involved all the time. The main complaint I have heard about this game is that you have to shuffle so often. That's true, of course, but that's part of what keeps you involved. By the time you've shuffled and dealt yourself cards, it's nearly your turn again. But while you're doing this, you have to keep an eye on what cards are taken, and by whom, and watch for monopolies, low decks and victory cards. And before you know it, the game's over.

Replayability & Expandability
A great game must have many options that can enhance the standard game. Agricola & Dominion to me are prime examples of games with many options that can change the gameplay significantly.

Game Length
A great game is long enough to get you immersed in the plot, but not so long as to bore you. There are a lot of good games out there that are too long, and a lot of short games (like Hex Hex) that are short because there is nothing to them. Agricola and Caylus are relatively long games because their plots demand it, but when you get to the end of the game you feel rushed, and wish it could last longer. This is a farm or a town that you helped build, and right as you see the fruits of your labors, the game is over. In playing music in my rock band, I noticed that if the song had an ending that was cut short and left them hanging, the audience would perk up and be more inclined to cheer than they would for a song with a long drawn-out ending. In Dominion, the same concept holds true with the deck of cards you build, only the process is much faster. The result is that you feel a similar (though arguably lesser) excitement after the 30 minutes, and your inclination is: "Let's randomize it and do it again!" You don't feel that same urge as often after a 2 hour game. This brings me to my final and most enticing element of a great game:

Creativity Factor
A great game makes each player feel like they are creating something. In Settlers, Caylus, Puerto Rico and Dominion, you create a town. In Power Grid you create a power infrastructure. Agricola gets a bit more intimate - you create a farm and a family. And in each case, that town or farm that you created and nurtured brings you resources, and the better your creation, the better the chance you have of winning. Everyone loves the feeling of creating something cool that works. Yes it's true that Dominion doesn't FEEL like you're creating a town like it does in the other games mentioned, but it does feel like you have free reign to create the most efficient engine that will generate your victory. And like I mentioned above, because the game's so quick, you don't need to be as immersed in a plot. You make your engine, clobber others along the way, buy your victory, and then choose another random scenario.

How Great is Dominion?
Wide Audience
Screw Factor
Pacing
Replayability
Game Length vs. Plot Immersion
Creativity Factor
Overall

Sure, I'd like to play other games with more depth as well, but for a short, simple, somewhat immersive, replayable, creative, elegant game, this one's hard to beat!