So anyway I hated Dominion on first exposure. The absence of conflict, inability to pivot, and near absence of interaction drained the game of anything that interested me.
Nevertheless, you just have to play Dominion sometimes so I knew it reasonably well. When 2e came out, I wondered why the woodcutter had been removed. This led to some reading on deck builds and the theory of Dominion, which was interesting. I played some of the preset markets back on the old, old app (it was so good and so so free back in the day) and the game finally clicked. Maybe 10 years had gone by, as well, and my palate for games was much broader by then.
But yeah, Dominion needs, I’d say, at least two expansions (three boxes) to have it in a regular rotation. That’s a lot of space and money. There’s more set up, more tear down. It is a more elegant model, design-wise and level of play wise, but a more clunky model physically and financially.
Arctic Scavengers never clicked, and Dune Imperium killed it completely. I think the inability to combo (you can only buy one card a round, etc.) and the relatively small market - it just couldn’t pass the higher bar. I think of it fondly and would love to play another round, but if I never do that’s fine too.
I didn’t get on with Aeon’s End. It’s the kind of solitaire/co-op that I don’t like. Plan, build, hope that the cards come out in the right order, die, try again. I think you can git good, especially with the no-shuffle rule affecting that “cards in the right order” part, but it’s not the kind of learning curve or roguelike die-and-repeat that motivates me.
Quarriors didn’t gel. I think, like Scavengers, the abilities weren’t interesting enough.
Love Automobiles.
Love El Dorado, but I prefer the longer, harder maps that actually require deck strategy. I can see playing this out but at 1-2 per year it holds well.
Thunderstone is out there as this curio that I’d love to see and try. I know it’s a dead game, and that’s because it was always mediocre, but I’d love to see it as a museum piece. Has anyone had the pleasure?
But yeah, ending where I started - Dominion is ostensibly a better game than Star Realms. But Star Realms manages to compete, and to sustain longevity, with a $12 double deck of cards against Dominion’s $100 cumulative price tag and Empyreal size stack of expansions. I get the equation is weighted against it. And despite many internet-peoples’ voiced opinions, Dominion still sits unkilled as the archetype so there isn’t much room for more.