Thunderstone v Arctic Scavengers v Dominion

iguanaDitty wrote:

All those who keep voting Dominion, please tell me why the expansions are better than the base game, which was a dry, boring, exercise in engine creation.

I'll field this sucker too.

If you didn't like the base game I don't see how the expansion will convince you that Dominion is fun.

Intrigue offers cards with a little more interaction, and cards with optional abilities (choose two, one money, one card, one action, trash a card kind of thing). That's about all, not really a deal maker if you didn't like it originally.

Seaside offers a bit more in terms of actual new mechanism in the game, but again, nothing mind blowing. Some of the cards have a duration now, meaning they have an effect when you play them and again the following turn, which is when they get discarded. And some have mats, the most fun being the Pirate Ship which allows you to flip the top two cards of everyone's deck, trash a treasure card you find there, and then put a metal token on your Pirate Ship mat (seperate form the card). You can also choose to spend the money on there instead, so if you've collected four tokens, each Pirate card is worth four money now. There are two more like this, the Island being the most powerful because it allows you to thin your deck by putting your victory points on the mat, outside of your deck.

I stand by my original comment though. If you didn't like it originally, you still won't like it. Personally, I think it is a good lunch time game but we never play it on game night.

Aarontu wrote:

I think I would enjoy DOMINION a LOT more if the theme was completely incoherent instead of just lame.

I never even remember that there is a theme. Uba called it an abstract somewhere around here and I'd agree with that. The cards have names, but that means nothing to me. The game is as thematic as Yinsh.

JonJacob wrote:

If you didn't like the base game I don't see how the expansion will convince you that Dominion is fun.

Thanks, this was helpful.
I am pretty much looking for a lunch-time game. Right now Arcana is in the lead, but AS may come up strong.

As for Race for the Galaxy, I vote for Glory to Rome.