Dominion is a deck building card game, putting you in the role of a Monarch, building and expanding your empire. Expanded many times, it really is a great game, and deserves all the accolades and awards that it has gained since its release in 2008.
There are
a few places that you can play online with people from all around the
world, but that is not the focus of this article. Androminion is what
I will concentrate on, and then make a comparison to the actual game.
Androminon
is a Android app for smart phones and tablets. I found it late one
night, and it has taken many hours of my life so far. The really
great thing about this app is that it is single player. You play
against bots, not real people, so there are no worries of disconnects
if its not going well for them. Each bot has its own
characteristics, and will favour different strategy’s, but I have
noticed that they will adapt to situations, to try and get the better
of you. This is great, as whilst you can play against certain
strategies if you need the practice, a curve ball will be thrown
every now and then to keep you thinking on you feet.
Another
great thing is that this game is not just the base set. It has
expansions built in with it, 6 in total, them being Hinterlands,
Seaside, Intrigue, Prosperity, Alchemy, Cornucopia as well as the
base set. This gives a lot of playtime with this game. There are
pre-set sets, and a option to randomize the cards, but sadly no
option to choose your own sets. But coupled with the sheer amount of
options you have, that’s not really a terrible thing.
Interface
wise, its very simple, but effective. The buttons are big enough to
touch, and small enough to fit them all on the screen at once.
The main
problem with this game is that is not for beginners. There are no
explanations to the game itself, neither the cards. I see this more
as a training app for people who know how to play Dominion.
As a
comparison to the actual game, however, this is where it slightly
falls down. It is only single player vs the CPU, so no interaction
with real people. Also the card shuffles do not seen that realistic,
which may be the way how I shuffle my cards, compared to a algorithm
in a program that shuffles cards.
The board
game will always have a place compared to the Android version, which
should be used to try new strategies out and general practice when
people are not around. It has helped me immensely with my strategy,
as games are very fast, allowing you to tweak your engines and
strategies very fast.
All in all
Androminion gets a solid 8/10 from me, which is the same as the
actual game. Its just the way you use that will boost or diminish the
score.
