KINGDOMINO (2016)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	PUBLISHER
2-4	20 mins	Bruno Cathala	Coiled Spring Games

In KINGDOMINO, plays take turns placing fantasy realm themed dominos around their castle to build out a kingdom.

Scoring comes from the size of each region multiplied by the crown icons contained within.

Have a forest region that is made up of seven squares and contains two crowns? That’s 14pts.

The player whose Kingdom is worth the most points, wins.

It’s a small, quick game that’s easy to teach. The art on the dominoes is vibrant, and filled with little easter eggs (like the shadow of a dragon flying over head).

There are two things that really make this game work well.

The first is the draw. Instead of just drawing a tile and placing it, the tiles for the next turn are visible to all, and are ranked. In order, players place their domino and then pick which one they want next.

This means that players who go for the weaker tiles will get first pick next round. It’s a wonderful way of making you think about what you go for.

The second is the Kingdom limitations. You’re aiming to build a 5×5 Kingdom (or a 7×7 in a 2-player variant).

This means you have to plan within these restraints, and towards the end of the game you might have to leave a domino out. It can make for some crunchy decisions in the last couple of turns.

There isn’t much to not like about KINGDOMINO.

It might be too light and too brief for some, though there is an expansion, and a sequel.

And It can be difficult if a player has been lucky enough to get a decent amount of Mine tiles as these offer high points.

This is a fun, friendly, gateway game that works great as a filler with its short play time.