Haters will hate...I actually own the game and can attest to its brilliance. It is fun, my group enjoys it, my wife likes it, what more could you ask for?
We'll see when they begin releasing the inevitable expansions. So far, my wife and I are enjoying the game immensely; and theme is important to us. When the mechanics work well with the theme it generally results in a good game, and this one works splendidly. This isn't a Dominion clone through and through. We played Dominion to death. It had this certain breaking point where you just started grabbing victory point cards. Trains feels different thanks to the board. It all comes together nicely.
Thanks for the info. Trains remains on my "watch" list. I've seen the various video reviews, but none quite drill home why this game edges Dominion aside.
The card quality is cheap same as smash up, tempest, guildhall (sleeve your cards) if you buy this game. This game really does not feel like dominion at all because you really cant pull off the same kind of card draw combos as you can in dominion and you are giving yourself curses (trash) in your deck in every way you are trying to score. There are a lot of similarities but this did not replace dominion for me because both games feel very different and are very good.
Off topic but are those wooden trains a worthwhile investment for Ticket To Ride? I was just thinking about buying them the other day. Seemed a little expensive and I'm worried about the train box taking up more room in the game box and making me keep only 1 map in game box or something.
The Express Train cards would annoy the hell out of me -- they're wrong! They're not bullet trains (as pictured), they're just regular trains that are better than Normal trains but not as good as Limited Express trains. Yeah, it's a minor quibble, but still :)
If this replaces Dominion, I'll be sure never to play Dominion. The static buying row and lack of the ability to remove any of your starting hand permanently from the game makes the whole experience a slog. Instead of feeling proud that I've pared down to a beautiful fifteen-card deck of nothing but high powered warships, like in Star Realms, in Trains, everything you do can only make your deck worse by expanding it. It's a fight against the tide, and I don't think I could do it again.
I s'pose I'm gonna hafta play some "train" games, 'cuz I LOVE Dominion, but can't really see the connection here (beyond the LCG, anyway); never quite understood the fascination with games like "Ticket to Ride". Am I missing something here? Someone hip me to their attraction, please!
From the AEG official rules, P.4: "Each player takes 7 Normal Train, 2 Lay Rails, and 1 Station Expansion." So, ten cards as in Dominion. Again on P.4: "Place the cards Express Train, Lim. Express Train, Lay Rails, Station Expansion, Apartment, Tower, Skyscraper, and Waste in stacks on the table. Normal Train does NOT make up one of the commons piles. In fact, there are not enough Nor. Trains in the game to make up a common pile. No idea what game you are playing!
Thanks for the review, Tom. I guess the one thing I was hoping the review would explain is that, well, I know you're big on theme, and this is a very mundane theme. Why didn't this factor prove a turn-off here? True, Dominion's theme ain't exactly explosive, but at least it offers a fair amout of variety. A game whose cards just depict one train after another would seem to suffer from graphic repetition.
Cheap? I have played Guildhall about 500 times and seen no wear or tear...same goes for Smash Up! The card quality in Trains is the same. There is absolutely no need to sleeve these cards!
to be clear, I also thought they were a good idea, just poorly executed. I agree that the colors were out of control, but the text was also a bit hard to read. (I'm a design student, so i'm a little more critical than 99% of the population)
Inaccurate review. Every time I have played this game, the person who wins is the one who ignores the board and plays it like dominion. I was really hoping trains would offer something new but it is exactly like dominion. Also, I don't know how Tom thinks the art is good...this is some of the BLANDEST art I have ever seen in a board game.
Adit Bhargava Thanks for the warning heads up for the base game - which should be beyond Dominion already. I can say - so far - the only deck builder aside Dominion that got me excited is *Arctic Scavengers*. For comparison I *played* and then sold off *Thunderstone*, *Thunderstone Advance*, *Eminent Domain*, *Core Worlds + Galactic Orders* and did also play *Ascension* and *Star Realms* and *Race for the Galaxy*, but I consider it more a tableau builder than deck builder. No, pass on all of those bad contenders compared to Dominion and Arctic Scavengers (and Starcraft, no joke). Just cause it is a deck builder, doesn't mean it has to be good... It seems this one is a pass for me, too. :-/
Adit Bhargava I've seen very good use of the board when playing this game. Particularly in 3 and 4 player games, and particularly if you have drawn any of the green cards as you extra decks.
![POLYCAT - ข้อความรูปยิ้ม [Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lBhIgPGCgbI/mqdefault.jpg)
Haters will hate...I actually own the game and can attest to its brilliance. It is fun, my group enjoys it, my wife likes it, what more could you ask for?
For those watching in the future, this most definitely did not replace Dominion!
Agreeing on the thumbnails for the videos. They give me flashbacks to Geocities.
We'll see when they begin releasing the inevitable expansions. So far, my wife and I are enjoying the game immensely; and theme is important to us. When the mechanics work well with the theme it generally results in a good game, and this one works splendidly. This isn't a Dominion clone through and through. We played Dominion to death. It had this certain breaking point where you just started grabbing victory point cards. Trains feels different thanks to the board. It all comes together nicely.
Normal train do go out in the tableau for purchase! And you do start with three lay rails. Think dominion estates and copper.
Thanks for the info. Trains remains on my "watch" list. I've seen the various video reviews, but none quite drill home why this game edges Dominion aside.
it's been five years, did you finally finish sorting those 500 cards you dropped and mixed up back into their respective piles? ;)
Top-notch production values certainly don't hurt, but how many ways can you polish a train? :)
The card quality is cheap same as smash up, tempest, guildhall (sleeve your cards) if you buy this game. This game really does not feel like dominion at all because you really cant pull off the same kind of card draw combos as you can in dominion and you are giving yourself curses (trash) in your deck in every way you are trying to score. There are a lot of similarities but this did not replace dominion for me because both games feel very different and are very good.
It doesn't feel mundane at all thanks to AEG's stellar production.
Thumbnails look great! :3
Off topic but are those wooden trains a worthwhile investment for Ticket To Ride? I was just thinking about buying them the other day. Seemed a little expensive and I'm worried about the train box taking up more room in the game box and making me keep only 1 map in game box or something.
The Express Train cards would annoy the hell out of me -- they're wrong! They're not bullet trains (as pictured), they're just regular trains that are better than Normal trains but not as good as Limited Express trains. Yeah, it's a minor quibble, but still :)
Hey Tom, thanks so much for reviewing this! I just bought it! ...so, does it stay on the shelf?!
If this replaces Dominion, I'll be sure never to play Dominion. The static buying row and lack of the ability to remove any of your starting hand permanently from the game makes the whole experience a slog. Instead of feeling proud that I've pared down to a beautiful fifteen-card deck of nothing but high powered warships, like in Star Realms, in Trains, everything you do can only make your deck worse by expanding it. It's a fight against the tide, and I don't think I could do it again.
If only there would be one around here.. Hey wait a minute!
I dunno. despite its mechanical flow, Dominion has remained a fav with our group.
I s'pose I'm gonna hafta play some "train" games, 'cuz I LOVE Dominion, but can't really see the connection here (beyond the LCG, anyway); never quite understood the fascination with games like "Ticket to Ride". Am I missing something here? Someone hip me to their attraction, please!
From the AEG official rules, P.4: "Each player takes 7 Normal Train, 2 Lay Rails, and 1 Station Expansion." So, ten cards as in Dominion. Again on P.4: "Place the cards Express Train, Lim. Express Train, Lay Rails, Station Expansion, Apartment, Tower, Skyscraper, and Waste in stacks on the table. Normal Train does NOT make up one of the commons piles. In fact, there are not enough Nor. Trains in the game to make up a common pile. No idea what game you are playing!
Huh? The thumbnail is just a still from the video.
Thanks for the review, Tom. I guess the one thing I was hoping the review would explain is that, well, I know you're big on theme, and this is a very mundane theme. Why didn't this factor prove a turn-off here? True, Dominion's theme ain't exactly explosive, but at least it offers a fair amout of variety. A game whose cards just depict one train after another would seem to suffer from graphic repetition.
Geocities or Fortunecity were EXACTLY what I was thinking. Stick to the black background at the very beginning or something cus'.... ugh!
I know, right?
Cheap? I have played Guildhall about 500 times and seen no wear or tear...same goes for Smash Up! The card quality in Trains is the same. There is absolutely no need to sleeve these cards!
right?
Great review as always, but man... that thumbnail is painful to look at :p you should hire a young aspiring graphic designer to help you out ;)
The waste cards are also a copy of the wound cards in Nightfall, another Dominion clone.
replace dominion??????? woh
seems kind of dull...dominion was gotten rid of a while back...
You are wrong. Whitehead is correct. Read the rules!
to be clear, I also thought they were a good idea, just poorly executed. I agree that the colors were out of control, but the text was also a bit hard to read.
(I'm a design student, so i'm a little more critical than 99% of the population)
Inaccurate review. Every time I have played this game, the person who wins is the one who ignores the board and plays it like dominion. I was really hoping trains would offer something new but it is exactly like dominion. Also, I don't know how Tom thinks the art is good...this is some of the BLANDEST art I have ever seen in a board game.
I don't think this is true, especially with the new expansion Rising Sun. Try it out, the board is now critical.
Adit Bhargava Thanks for the warning heads up for the base game - which should be beyond Dominion already.
I can say - so far - the only deck builder aside Dominion that got me excited is *Arctic Scavengers*.
For comparison I *played* and then sold off *Thunderstone*, *Thunderstone Advance*, *Eminent Domain*, *Core Worlds + Galactic Orders* and did also play *Ascension* and *Star Realms* and *Race for the Galaxy*, but I consider it more a tableau builder than deck builder.
No, pass on all of those bad contenders compared to Dominion and Arctic Scavengers (and Starcraft, no joke).
Just cause it is a deck builder, doesn't mean it has to be good... It seems this one is a pass for me, too. :-/
Adit Bhargava I've seen very good use of the board when playing this game. Particularly in 3 and 4 player games, and particularly if you have drawn any of the green cards as you extra decks.