Dominion: Intrigue

Dominion: Intrigue – Review

Dominion: Intrigue was first published in 2009 and is designed by Donald X. Vaccarino. It is the first expansion for Dominion.

Dominion: Intrigue

• Designed by: Donald X. Vaccarino
• Published by: Rio Grande Games
• Number of players: 2-4
• Playing time: 30 min
• Player ages: 8+

A Quick Overview

“Something’s afoot. The steward smiles at you like he has a secret…”

Dominion: Intrigue is both an expansion and a stand alone game. It is possible to combine decks to create new sets of kingdom cards and further explore the kingdom.

To quickly summarize, Dominion: Intrigue adds new cards that have dual properties. For instance cards can both be action cards and VP cards allowing for more creative card play combinations.

Game Play

Game play in Intrigue is much the same as Dominion;

A player draws a hand of 5 cards (which may be modified by other players’ action cards) and then game play follows the A-B-C process listed in the rule book.

• “A” is for Action; a player can only perform one action using a card with an action property.
• “B” is for Buy; a player may only purchase one other card from the existing cards in play.
• “C” is for Clean up; a player then discards all cards, played or not, into a discard pile.

What sets Intrigue apart from the original game is the introduction of a “Pass” action where a card is passed to another player.

Also, some of the action cards provide a choice of actions. This can provide for a broader action sequence than the original, base game.

Observations

I had played Dominion several dozen times prior to getting Intrigue. I wanted to get Intrigue because I was getting a little tired of the basic cards and I wanted to try out something new.

Intrigue provided that and more.

With the new Intrigue, players can mix freely between the 50+ kingdom decks and create some interesting combination of cards.

As mentioned above, there are cards that provide multiple purposes. Among them is the “Harem” card which costs 6 and provides 2VP (an Estate equivalent) and is valued at “2″ coins during the “B”uy phase.

Normally, the VP cards generally serve to “clog” up your hand and are sometimes useless during game play. The Harem, however, is useful. Though it is not as valuable as a gold card, it will not diminish the hand as much as a normal VP card.

These multi-purpose cards are a great addition to Dominion and help to make the game richer than the base game.

Also, it seemed to me that Dominion, the base game, didn’t provide for as much player interaction as Intrigue. There are a number of kingdom cards in Intrigue that directly affect other players. I think this is a good thing.

This expansion is a more aggressive, more in-your-face Dominion. Some players will like this and some won’t.

Happy gaming.

Agricola

Agricola – Review

Agricola is a game about creating the best farm you can! It was published in 2007, designed by Uwe Rosenberg and currently published by Z-Man Games.

Agricola:

Designed by: Uwe Rosenberg
Published by: Z-Man Games
Number of players: 1-5
Playing time: 120 min
Player ages: 12+

A Quick Overview

Players are farmers with a small plot of land that, over the course of the game, will develop into a robust farm consisting of animals in pastures, fields of vegetables and grains and the sounds of a happy, content and well-fed family!

Sounds like an intriguing game?

It sure is!

Game Play

In Agricola players attempt to turn a bare plot of land (except for two wooden rooms) and turn it into a diversified farm. How this is done is by sending mum and dad out to the fields to gather “stuff” to help the farm.

Some of the actions are to:

Collect wood
Go fishing (for food)
Sow a field
Get some animals
Enlist some help
And so on

Initially, players are limited to 2 actions (one for mum and one for dad) but as the family grows, additional actions are given per family member.

How to effectively make use of your actions over the course of 14 rounds is what makes this a gem of a game. And the winner of the game is the one with the most points.

Observations

I like Agricola but it is not my favourite game. That being said, Agricola is (currently) rated #1 on BoardGameGeek.com and there’s probably a good reason why.

It is a worker placement game and there are tense decisions which are qualities that I like. However, I don’t feel satisfied/full at the end of the game as I think I should feel.

The premise of the game is quite simple; take your almost empty farm and make something grand of it in the allotted 14 game turns.

The game rewards diversity instead of specialization. A well rounded farm, one that has sheep, cattle, boar, vegetables and grain, will score more than a farm with only sheep or only cattle.

The game is made more complex by the addition of the Occupation and Minor Improvement cards totaling 300+ cards. Each player is dealt 7 of each at the beginning of the game.

Careful play and interaction of these Occupation and Minor Improvement cards can give a player an advantage over another player.

Agricola is a fun game and engaging. I have played this game with younger players (ages 12 and 14) with mixed results. The youngest doesn’t like it too much but the older one enjoys it.

I have found this game to be more appealing to players who do not like direct confrontation. Even the farming theme brings forth the qualities of sharing and cooperation.

Happy gaming.