What if you got a chance to go back in time and build a civilization from scratch? Dominations: Road to Civilization gives you the opportunity to craft society to your own liking. This domino-based game will assign you the role of a primitive tribe that’s seeking to one day become an influential nation permanently etched into the annals of history. Dominations is a compelling board game that combines resource management with long term strategy for hours of fun.

Building Your Society

Dominations uses triangular dominos to help you expand the population of your fledgling society and collect the Knowledge that will help you grow. This Knowledge can be used to build Cities, learn Master Skills, and ultimately create a legacy for your civilization. Dominations lasts three rounds, with each round lasting 1000 years in the history of your society.

Within the three rounds, each player takes their turn in three different phases: Grow, Build, and Develop. The Grow phase will have you placing your dominos in such a way as to gain Knowledge points. During the Build phase, you can build Cities and Monuments to earn extra Knowledge and special powers. Lastly, the Develop phase will allow you to use your Knowledge to master or perfect Skills, which give you greater power and bonuses.

Knowledge vs. Skill

Knowledge is the biggest resource of the game, as the player with the most points by the end of the game wins. Knowledge is split into six different types, from things like Government and Science to things like Art and Religion. If you match up the Knowledge types on the edges of your dominos in just the right way, you can earn more even points.

When you master a new Skill, that Skill becomes one of the pillars of your society. This earns you new Mastery cards that give you additional bonuses with which to further develop your civilization. Then, once the round is complete, the players with the most points of each Knowledge type earn the title of Master. This can earn you special aid from different Characters in further rounds.

Game Components

Dominations comes with a bunch of different game pieces that really set the tone of the game in a fun way. In addition to the triangular dominos and 50×50 Mastery cards, you’re given tiny little pieces to track each of your resources. Players can stack their little plastic cities on top of each other and watch their civilization grow right in front of them.

The board game also comes with a little cardboard playing board that you can use to score your Knowledge and see where you are in becoming the Master of your Domain. The multitude of pieces does add to the setup and tear down time of the game, but it should be easy enough to do faster once you’re used to the game.

Dominations Expansions

The makers of Dominations have released four different expansions to the original board game that add new mechanics and objectives. The Dynasties expansion adds a new drafting mechanic to the game, which allows you to recruit prestigious members of society for extra bonuses each round. There’s also the Hegemon expansion that adds a new common objective for each player to fight over per round.

The Provinces expansion adds a slew of new nations to the board game. Players can either befriend, conquer, or ignore these nations, but whatever they decide will have repercussions. Lastly, the Silk Road expansion can help you earn additional points and bonuses by adding Trade Routes to connect your bustling cities together.

Make Your Mark on History with Dominations

Dominations is playable by 2-4 players, so it’s more geared towards small groups or one-on-one play than it is large families. The board game is playable by ages 13 and up, however, which makes it a perfect game for teenagers and their parents to enjoy. 

Dominations has a playing time of 1-2 hours, which can be a bit of investment for new players. Still, the board game is easy to learn and will suit gamers and non-gamers alike. Buy Dominations today and build the society you wish to see in the world!