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How to play
Grounded in Dominion (Second Edition)'s rulebook — cite-checked answers, not guesses.
Get a straight answer with the exact rulebook passage to back it up.
The easy-to-forget bits, straight from the rulebook.
Game end
The game ends at the end of a turn, if either the Province pile is empty, or any three or more Supply piles are empty.
Tie-breaker
If players tie for Victory Points, a player who tied but had fewer turns wins.
Artisan gain limit
Artisan's gained card always costs from 0 to 5.
Militia hand limit
Each other player discards down to 3 cards in hand when Militia is played.
Discard pile access
You cannot look through or count your discard pile or another player's discard pile.
Clean-up phase
In the Clean-up phase, all played cards and any remaining cards in your hand are put into your discard pile, then you draw a new hand of 5 cards.
Moat reveal
You may reveal a Moat from your hand before an Attack does anything, to be unaffected by the Attack; Moat stays in your hand.
Gardens VP
Each copy of Gardens you have is worth 1 Victory Point for every 10 cards in your deck.
To set up the game of Dominion (Second Edition): 1. **Player Decks:** Each player takes 3 Estate cards and 7 Copper cards, shuffles them face down, and forms their starting deck. 2. **Supply Piles:** Place 17 face-up piles of cards on the table. This collection of cards is called the Supply. * **Base Cards:** These are always used and always the same: Copper, Silver, Gold, Estate, Duchy, Province, and Curse. * Use all copies of Copper, Silver, and Gold (except Coppers players already have). * For Estate, Duchy, and Province, use 8 copies of each for a 2-player game, or 12 copies for 3-4 players. * For Curse cards, use 10 for 2 players, 20 for 3 players, or all 30 for 4 players. * **Kingdom Cards:** Choose 10 Kingdom card piles to use, varying from game to game. There are 26 Kingdom cards in total, and you can add more from expansions. You can choose them randomly using randomizer cards (blue-framed backs) or use a pre-made set. For your very first game, the recommended cards are Cellar, Market, Merchant, Militia, Mine, Moat, Remodel, Smithy, Village, and Workshop. Each Kingdom card pile typically has 10 copies, but if a Victory Kingdom card (like Gardens) is used, it gets 8 copies for 2 players or 12 copies for 3-4 players. 3. **Trash Mat:** Put the Trash mat near the card piles. 4. **Starting Player:** Randomly choose a starting player. If you just finished a game and it wasn't a tie, the previous winner goes last, meaning the player to their left goes first. 5. **Initial Hand:** Each player draws an initial hand of 5 cards.
On your turn, you can do the following: * **Action Phase** * Play one Action card from your hand. Action cards say "Action" on the bottom and typically have a white banner. * To play an Action card, announce it, move it to your "in play" area, and follow its instructions from top to bottom. If a card has a dividing line, you stop at the line, as instructions below it happen at a different time. * You must do as much as you can from a card's instructions, even if you cannot do everything. * Some cards give "+1 Action" or "+2 Actions", which increases how many Action cards you can play that turn. This increase happens immediately, but you finish resolving the current card before playing the next. * Using up your Actions is optional; you can choose not to play an Action card even if you have one available. * When a card tells you to "Play a card," this does not use up one of your Action plays for the turn. * **Clean-up Phase** * Take all cards you have in play (Actions and Treasures) and any remaining cards in your hand, and put them into your discard pile. The order in 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 put it under your deck before drawing. * Any unused Actions, unused Buys, or unspent Coins you had are gone, and you start each turn fresh. You can also: * Count the number of cards in your deck at any time (without looking at the card fronts). * Look through the Trash pile at any time.
Rules summaries are AI-generated from the official rulebook and may contain mistakes — check the manual for anything critical.
You win the game by having the most Victory Points (VP) at the end. The game ends at the end of a turn if either of these conditions are met: * The Province pile is empty. * Any three or more Supply piles are empty (this includes Kingdom cards, Curses, Copper, etc.). For games with 5 or 6 players, the game end conditions are slightly different: * The Province pile is empty. * Any four piles are empty. After the game ends, players count up all the Victory Points on their cards from their hand, deck, discard pile, play area, and any set-aside cards. The player with the most VP wins. If players tie for VP: * A player who tied but had fewer turns wins. * If players tie and had the same number of turns, they share the victory.
Scoring works by counting up your Victory Points ([VP]) at the end of the game. Here's how it works: * **Counting Points** You gather all your cards from your hand, deck, discard pile, play area, and any set aside cards, then count your [VP]. * **Victory Cards** These cards are generally not useful during the game but are worth [VP] at the end, indicated by a number next to a [VP] symbol. * **Curse Cards** These are bad cards that are worth -1 [VP]. * **Winning** The player with the most [VP] wins. * If players tie for [VP], the player who tied but had fewer turns wins. * If players tie and had the same number of turns, they share the victory.
The game ends at the end of a turn when one of two conditions is met: * The Province pile is empty. * Any three or more Supply piles are empty (this includes Kingdom cards, Curses, Copper, etc.). For 5-6 player games, the game ends if any four piles are empty, or the Province pile is empty. Once the game ends, players count up the Victory Points on all of their cards. The player with the most Victory Points wins. If players tie for Victory Points, the player who tied but had fewer turns wins. If there's still a tie with the same number of turns, players share the victory.