How to Play Dominion Rules if you hate rulebooks

Condensed How to Play Dominion Rules for those who hate trawling through the rulebook.

The Dominion overview introduces you to the game through a summary of the gameplay and videos shared by other gamer.

Game Theme and Setting

• Players manage, expand their Dominion by acquiring land, resources and competing with others for unclaimed lands
• Players achieve this by building a deck of cards representing their Dominion with the goal of achieving a deck full of valuable resources and victory points.

Things to note about cards

• Organizer Tray: Arrange cards in designated slots without shuffling.
• Card Types:
  • Playing Cards: Tan-bordered (Treasure, Victory, Curse, Kingdom).
  • Randomizer Cards: Blue-bordered.

Game Setup

Each player takes 3 Estates and 7 Coppers, shuffles them face down as a starting deck. Place 17 face-up piles of cards on the table:

• 7 Base card piles (always used, always the same)
• 10 Kingdom card piles (vary from game to game)

The full set of available cards is called the Supply.Base cards include Copper, Silver, Gold, Estate, Duchy, Province, and Curse.

• Copper, Silver, Gold: Use every copy available (excluding players’ starting Coppers).
• Estate, Duchy, Province: Use 8 copies for 2-player games, 12 copies for 3-4 players.
• Curse: Use 10 with 2 players, 20 with 3 players, all 30 with 4 players.

There are 26 Kingdom cards. Expansions add more Kingdom cards.

• Choose 10 Kingdom cards to use; the rest are not used.
• Random selection: shuffle randomizer cards (blue framed backs) and draw 10.
• Pre-made sets available in the Recommended Sets section.
• For the first game of Dominion, use: Cellar, Market, Merchant, Militia, Mine, Moat, Remodel, Smithy, Village, Workshop.
• Set up 10 piles of each chosen Kingdom card (do not include randomizer cards in the piles).
• Victory Kingdom cards (e.g., Gardens) use 8 copies for 2 players, 12 for 3-4 players.

Place the Trash mat near the piles.Randomly choose a starting player.

• If just played a game, the previous winner goes last (player to their left goes first).

Each player draws an initial hand of 5 cards from their starting deck.

Overview of Gameplay

Dominion is a deck-building game.Each player has:

• Their own deck
• Their own discard pile
• Their own hand of cards
• Their own play area

Players start with a weak deck and acquire better cards over time.Players take turns, with each turn having three phases (ABC):

• Action phase: Play one Action card from your hand.
• Buy phase: Play any number of Treasure cards and buy one card to add to your deck.
• Clean-up phase: Discard all cards from play and hand, then draw a new hand of 5 cards (shuffle as needed).

The game ends when:

• 3 piles are empty, or
• The Province pile is empty.

Players count up the points on all their cards; the player with the most points wins.

Action Phase

Play one Action card from your hand (cards labeled “Action” with a white banner).Steps to play an Action card:

1. Announce it.
2. Move it to the “in play” area (table space in front of you).
3. Follow the instructions on the card from top to bottom.

If the card has a dividing line (e.g., Moat), stop at the line; instructions below happen at a different time.If you cannot do everything a card instructs, do as much as you can.Some cards give “+1 Action” or “+2 Actions,” allowing you to play more Action cards in a turn.

• The increase happens immediately, but you finish the first card before playing the next.

Example:

• Playing Militia (no +Actions): Resolve Militia, and the Action phase ends.
• Playing Market, then another Market, then Militia: Each Market gives +1 Action, allowing continued play.

Using Actions is optional; you can choose not to play an Action card left in your hand.

Buy Phase

Playing Treasure Cards:

• Play any number of Treasure cards from your hand in any order.
• Treasure cards have a yellow banner and say “Treasure” at the bottom.
• Move each Treasure card to the “in play” area to play it.
• Treasures show a coin value (Copper: 1 coin, Silver: 2 coins, Gold: 3 coins).
• You get coins equal to the total value of Treasures played.
• Playing Treasures is optional; only played Treasures provide coins for the turn.

Buying Cards:

• You can buy one card with your available coins.
• Costs are in the lower left corner of each card.
• To buy a card, move it from the Supply to your discard pile.
• Example: Playing four Coppers (4 coins) and one Silver (2 coins) gives 6 coins total.
  • Buying a Market (cost: 5 coins) moves it to your discard pile, leaving 1 coin.
• Treasures remain in your deck for future use.
• Buying uses only the coins for the current turn.

Additional Buys:

• Some cards give “+1 Buy,” allowing you to buy more than one card in a turn.
• Example: With 6 coins and an extra Buy, you could buy two Silvers (cost: 3 coins each).
• Using extra Buys is optional; you can choose to buy fewer cards.
• Copper (cost: 0 coins) can be bought with a Buy even if you have no coins left.

Important:

• You cannot play more Treasures after buying a card.
• Play all desired Treasures before making any purchases.

Clean Up Phase

Move all cards in play (Actions and Treasures) and any remaining cards in your hand to your discard pile.The order of the discard pile does not matter.Draw a new hand of 5 cards.

• If your deck has fewer than 5 cards, shuffle your discard pile and place it under your deck, then draw.

Play passes to the player on your left. Any unused +Actions, +Buys, or unspent coins are lost; each turn starts fresh.

End of Game

Game End Conditions:

• The game ends if:
  • The Province pile is empty.
  • Any three or more Supply piles are empty (including Kingdom cards, Curses, Copper, etc.).

Scoring:

• Collect all your cards from:
  • Hand
  • Deck
  • Discard pile
  • Play area
  • Set aside cards
• Sort cards back into their respective piles.
• Count up your Victory Points (VP).

Determining the Winner:

• The player with the most VP wins.
• If tied for VP:
  • The player with fewer turns wins.
  • If tied with the same number of turns, players share the victory.

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Card Types

• Every card has types listed at the bottom, a color indicating certain types, and a cost in the lower left corner.
• Action cards have a text box with instructions; sometimes other cards do too.
• Cards can have multiple types and retain all types for all purposes.
  • Example: Throne Room lets you play an Action card twice; the Action could be Witch (Action – Attack), Moat (Action – Reaction), or Smithy (Action).

Main Set Card Types

• Action:
  • Played in your Action phase.
  • Follow instructions in the text box.
• Treasure:
  • Played in your Buy phase.
  • Produce coins to buy cards.
  • Amount of coins indicated in top corners and by a big symbol.
  • Some Treasure cards in expansions may have rules like Action cards.
• Victory:
  • Generally not useful during the game.
  • Worth Victory Points (VP) at the end.
  • VP value indicated by a number next to a big symbol.
• Curse:
  • Bad cards worth -1 VP.
  • Normally have no use and are not typically bought.
  • May be received from other players (e.g., via Witch).
• Attack:
  • Hurt other players directly.
• Reaction:
  • Can be used at unusual times as specified on the card.
  • Example: Moat can be revealed when another player plays an Attack card.
  • Reactions are used one at a time, which can matter for expansions.

Terms

• +1 Action:
  • Play an additional Action card this turn.
  • Adds to the number of Action cards you can play; resolve the current card first.
  • Actions are only usable in the Action phase.
  • Helpful to say the number of Actions out loud or form a “tree” on the table.
• +1 Buy:
  • Buy an additional card in your Buy phase.
  • Extra Buys are optional.
  • Split your coins among your Buys.
• +1 Card:
  • Draw a card immediately.
  • If your deck has fewer cards than needed, shuffle the discard pile and draw the remaining cards.
• +1 Coin:
  • Adds to your total coins to spend in the Buy phase.
  • Does not give you a Copper card.
• Discard a Card:
  • Move a card from your hand to your discard pile.
  • Discarded cards are placed face up on top of the discard pile.
  • If discarding multiple cards, only the top card needs to be revealed.
• Gain a Card:
  • Take a card from the Supply and put it into your discard pile.
  • By default, gained cards come from the Supply and go to the discard pile.
• In Play:
  • Cards in a player’s play area.
  • Cards stay in play until discarded during Clean-up.
  • Only played cards are in play; other cards are not.
• Look at a Card:
  • You see the card; other players do not.
  • Return the card to its original location unless instructed otherwise.
• Play a Card:
  • Put a card into play and follow its instructions.
  • Does not use up an Action play for the turn.
  • Played cards go into play, not directly into the discard pile.
• Reveal a Card:
  • All players see the card.
  • Return the card to its original location unless instructed otherwise.
• Set Aside a Card:
  • Place the card on the table, outside of the play area.
  • Set aside cards are not “in play” and are face up unless specified otherwise.
  • Instructions will specify when to move the set aside card.
• Trash a Card:
  • Put a card into the Trash pile.
  • A trashed card is no longer yours.
  • The Trash pile is on the Trash mat, face up; players can look through it at any time.
  • The order of the Trash pile does not matter; players can reorder it.
• Symbols:
  • Victory Points ( ): Indicates points; the player with the most wins.
  • Coin Symbol ( ): Indicates costs of cards and amounts of money produced.
  • Dividing Line: Separates abilities that happen at different times; follow instructions above the line first.

Shuffling

If you need more cards than are left in your deck (e.g., draw, look at, reveal, set aside, discard, or trash):

• First, shuffle your discard pile.
• Put the shuffled discard pile under your deck.
• Then proceed with the action.

• If there are still not enough cards after shuffling, use as many cards as you can.
• If your deck is empty when shuffling, the shuffled discard pile becomes your new deck.
• Do not shuffle your discard pile into your deck until you need to use cards from your deck.
• If you must place a card on top of an empty deck, that card becomes the only card in your deck.

Additional Notes

• You can count the number of cards in your deck anytime (without looking at the card fronts).
• You cannot look through or count your discard pile or another player’s deck or discard pile.
• The number of cards in each player’s hand is public, as is the top card of each discard pile.
• All cards in play are public.
• Set aside cards are normally public but may be face down sometimes.
• Players can look through the Trash pile at any time.
• When interacting with a discard pile (e.g., with Harbinger), the order does not matter, except for the top card being public.
• The Trash pile order never matters.
• If two things happen to different players at the same time, resolve them in turn order starting with the current player.
  • Example: When Witch is played, other players gain Curses in turn order, which may matter if Curses run out.
• If two things happen to one player at the same time, that player chooses the order, even if some actions are mandatory.
• When a card gives you a choice (“choose one…”), you can pick any option, regardless of whether you can complete it.

Dominion Kingdom Cards

Artisan:

• Gain a card from the Supply (cost: 0 to 5 coins) and put it into your hand.
• Put a card from your hand onto your deck (can be the one just gained or a different card).

Bandit:

• Gain a Gold from the Supply and put it into your discard pile.
• Each other player reveals their top 2 cards, trashes one Treasure (except Copper), and discards the rest.
• If no Treasures are revealed, both cards are discarded.

Bureaucrat:

• A player with no cards in their deck places the gained card on top, making it the only card in their deck.

Cellar:

• Discard any number of cards from your hand; then draw that many cards.
• If shuffling is required, shuffled cards include the discarded ones.
• Only the top discarded card needs to be revealed; the number of discarded cards is public.

Chapel:

• Cannot trash the Chapel itself since it is not in your hand after playing.

Council Room:

• Other players draw a card whether they want to or not.

Festival:

• Provides +2 Actions, +1 Buy, and +2 Coins.

Gardens:

• Worth 1 Victory Point for every 10 cards in your deck at the end of the game.
• Use 8 copies in a 2-player game, 12 copies for 3 or more players.

Harbinger:

• Draw a card and get +1 Action.
• Look through your discard pile and optionally put a card from it on top of your deck.

Laboratory:

• Draw 2 cards and get +1 Action.

Library:

• Look at cards one at a time until you have 7 cards in hand; put each into your hand or set aside.
• Discard set aside cards afterward.
• Only Action cards can be set aside; setting them aside is optional.
• Do not draw if you already have 7 cards in hand.

Market:

• Draw a card, get +1 Action, +1 Buy, and +1 Coin.

Merchant:

• Draw a card and get +1 Action.
• If you play a Silver later in the turn, it provides +1 Coin.
• Multiple Merchants provide +1 Coin for the first Silver played; only the first Silver provides the bonus.

Militia:

• Players with 3 or fewer cards in hand do not discard any.
• Players with more cards discard until they have 3 cards.

Mine:

• Trash a Copper to gain a Silver, or trash a Silver to gain a Gold.
• The gained Treasure goes into your hand and can be played immediately.
• No Treasure to trash means no gain.

Moat:

• Revealing Moat from your hand before an Attack makes you unaffected by that Attack.
• Moat stays in your hand and can be played for +2 Cards.
• Does not protect other players or the player who played the Attack.

Moneylender:

• You get +3 Coins only if you actually trashed a Copper.

Poacher:

• Draw a card before discarding.
• Discard one card per empty Supply pile; if there are no empty piles, no discard.
• If not enough cards to discard, discard the rest of your hand.

Remodel:

• Cannot trash Remodel itself since it is not in your hand after playing.
• Trash a card to gain one costing up to 2 coins more, from the Supply, and put it into your discard pile.
• The gained card can cost less and can be a copy of the trashed card.

Sentry:

• Draw a card and get +1 Action.
• Look at the top 2 cards of your deck; trash, discard, or put them back in any order.

Smithy:

• Draw 3 cards.

Throne Room:

• Playing an Action card is optional.
• If played, resolve it fully, then play it a second time.
• Do not play other cards in between unless instructed.
• Playing Action cards with Throne Room does not use up Action plays.
• Example: Playing Throne Room on Village draws a card, gives +2 Actions, then repeats.

Vassal:

• If the revealed card is an Action, you may play it.
• If played, move it to your play area and follow its instructions without using an Action play.

Village:

• Draw a card and get +2 Actions.

Witch:

• Each other player gains a Curse from the Supply into their discard pile, in turn order.
• If the Curse pile is empty, still play Witch for +2 Cards.

Workshop:

• Gain a card from the Supply costing up to 4 coins and put it into your discard pile.