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Lowell Kempf
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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Very few games have had the impact that Dominion has had on my gaming life. Settlers of Catan, Dungeons and Dragons, possibly Go or Ingenious. Dominion is a game that had an impact on my primary gaming group like a meteorite.
I own almost every set of Dominion, except for Alchemy (which someone else in the group owns) and I have to say that Dominion has been worth every penny I spent on it. I often use a movie ticket as a way to measure my entertainment time (About five dollars an hour) and I don’t think I own another game, except maybe Ingenious, that I have gotten a better deal out of.
I am sure there are groups out there have played a lot more Dominion than we have but Dominion has easily racked up more plays for us than any other game.
Part of it is because Dominion fast and easy to set up after you’ve had some practice, as well as it plays out relatively quickly. So, it is always a convenient go-to game to grab. Another part of it is because almost everyone who has played it has enjoyed and wants to play it again. Finally, the diversity of the kingdom cards means each game is different enough to present its own challenge, creating a lot of replay value.
I’ll admit that the base set was starting to get a little stale by the time Intrigue came out but, after that, there has been enough variety to keep the game fresh and spicy.
So, why is there hate component to my love/hate relationship with Dominion?
Well, I do enjoy the game a lot and I rarely feel like turning down a game.
However…
I also like to play a variety of games. I have a closet full of games and I want to play a rich variety of games. Well, a rich variety of abstracts and euro’s at least 
And with Dominion as the convenient go-to game of choice, my primary group started playing fewer and fewer different games and only a couple of those ended up being games that saw replay. A few old favorites like Puerto Rico and Settlers of Catan still come out and a couple newcomers like Dominant Species and Macao have seen play but Dominion has truly held dominion over the table.
I think it is impressive for one game to manage to change the group’s habits and I think it does speak well of Dominion. However, I miss trying out new games and playing with a lot of different mechanics.
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