Eminent Domain
BoardGameGeek
- rank: 812
- rating: 7.0
- published: 2011
- designer: Seth Jaffee
Print Status
- out of print - but not difficult to find a copy (see potential good news at the end of the post)
Why It's On The List
- Eminent Domain is tighter & quicker than another space-themed deck-builder/tableau-builder hybrid, Core Worlds (read: less sprawling) - and is easier to teach new players. Don't let that fool you, though - there's some nifty twists on classic mechanics from Race for the Galaxy and Dominion that add to an excellent game.
Tips & Tricks:
- My first experience with Eminent Domain was off-putting: late in a long gaming weekend with two people trying to teach me the rules at the same time. I'm glad I gave it another chance - it's a game that reveals new wrinkles each time you play.
- Learning when (and when not) to invest in technology is a key game skill - and one that took me a few plays to learn.
- I think the Escalation expansion is splendid - though not for first time players. Especially nice are the scenarios, which give each player a different starting hand along with some technological advances.
- While I think the game probably shines best with 3 players, my oldest son and I have played a lot of 2 player games and enjoyed them immensely.
Extras
- Sadly, this is really the only thing I've written about Eminent Domain.
- I did write a preview of Eminent Domain: Microcosm - a fantastic 2 player microgame in the same universe.
- I also had the privilege of playtesting the Exotica expansion for Eminent Domain... which is very cool.
- And for die hards, the Oblivion expansion adds an interesting political system.
- Good news... it looks like Rio Grande Games will be re-publishing Eminent Domain!
Definitely a good game. We own that and all of the expansions, though haven't played with those as much. Just a big TMG fan when they were around. I've been following Seth's "Cumbersome" blog and he's mentioned the the new edition coming out as well as his playtests of a cooperative mode for Eminent Domain that's been going pretty well (in his opinion).
ReplyDeleteMicrocosm was a good idea, but the published rules were just not all that great. There were revisions to the rules, but they weren't the ones included in the game. There were a lot of "this will become clear in playing the game" examples rather than "this is how this all works". At least there are some decent videos on the internet showing it all.
I've got to get this back to the table sometime soon.