Dominion Versus Thunderstone

[Neo]

Should I buy Dominion or Thunderstone? My group loves fantasy and otherwise but my family isn't fond of fantasy and I want to play with someone with the gaming skill of an eight year old.

Sorry if a thread exists but none came up in my search.

[Dad_Scaper]

I don't have Thunderstone but from what I've seen it's more theme-y than Dominion, and you want something that plays with both groups. Dominion is very family friendly.

You'd need a precocious 8 year old, I think, but they exist...

[Neo]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

I don't have Thunderstone but from what I've seen it's more theme-y than Dominion, and you want something that plays with both groups. Dominion is very family friendly.

You'd need a precocious 8 year old, I think, but they exist...

I know five year olds can play Dominion due to reading the Dominion thread.

[Dad_Scaper]

I'm sure some can.

I have Dominion and I have an 8 year old, but as in all these threads asking for opinions, your mileage may vary.

[Neo]

Originally Posted by Dad_Scaper

I'm sure some can.

I have Dominion and I have an 8 year old, but as in all these threads asking for opinions, your mileage may vary.

The eight year old is not eight but has the skill of eight.

[Omahavice]

I have played both Dominion and Thunderstone. I think you will get lots more mileage out of Dominion. I have played lots of games of Dominion with my 10 year old who started playing when she was 8 and did just fine. It is a very simple game to learn and teach. So far everyone regadless of age that has played Dominion with us has enjoyed it and requested a 2nd game. Several of them decided to buy their own copies of the game after playing it with us.

Thunderstone is ok, but I dont think it is near as child friendly as Dominion.

[jschild]

They aren't the same game nor are they meant to be.

Dominion is better if u want more casual gaming and something very friendly to non-gamers. I do not mean this to imply that it is a simple game, just that it's base mechanics are very easy to pick up and it has a very simple goal - acquire the most land.

Thunderstone is for someone wanting more of a theme and goal - kill the most monsters - it's a more aggresive game in terms of playing against the game, but has less personal interaction with other players. It's a "tighter" game in them and has the added bonus of being able to play solo. However, it's mechanics are more complex.

Both are easily able to be played by any 8 year old who is experienced in card or board games.

[Dad_Scaper]

Heh.

I'd forgotten about this thread.

We now have Thunderstone & we've played it a bunch of times. My kid and I both think it's great. But I was right the first time, and so is Omahavice (edit: and the ninjaing jschild): Dominion is for everybody. Thunderstone is not.

[B:T:L Matt]

I own and have played both, but I do not have an 8 year old to test against, heh. I can agree with the others that Dominion is less intricate in the way of Thunderstone. In Dominion, a child only needs to understand how best to combine cards, whereas in Thunderstone, one is required to calculate attacks buffered by other cards, as well as calculate light penalties and possible changes because of card effects. In other words, it may be slightly more confusing.

[nyys]

My eight year old learned Dominion when he was seven and has had no issues. While waiting for his reading skills the catch-up we tended to stick to cards that had small amounts of text, like +1 Action, or +1 Buy. He's fine now with any of the cards.

[GeneralRolando]

I've taught 8 years old people and 40 year old people Dominion. It's a fantastic game. I play it a lot. In addition to the Base set get the Prosperity expansion. It is by far the best one.