Kingdomino is my most played, most recommended game. When a new gamer is looking for a game to start their collection, this is the one I tell them to get. When a veteran gamer is looking for something to play with their friends and family, this is the one I tell them to get. With games getting increasingly expensive, it is a joy to find such a beautiful and full game for under $20. There is an unofficial solo mode (I did a playthrough here), but I wouldn't buy this game for just the solo mode - there are much better games to spend your money on if that's what you're looking for. That being said, if you do not have this game and you play games with others, buy it now!
But why? Here's why.
TOTAL PLAYS: 40+ competitive, 1 solo
COMPONENTS
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| So pretty! |
Oh, how I love the components in this game! It's not a big game and there aren't a lot of pieces, but the ones they do have, they did them right! The tiles are thick and chunky and feel like they'll last forever. The art is bright, colourful, and full of little Easter eggs (it's fun seeing Bilbo/Sam battling Shelob on one of the cards). It's really the art that shines through on this game - it's really quite stunning to sit back and look at the completed boards. The little castles and the meeples are cute and good quality as well. Some of the best components out there, in my opinion. 5/5
RULES
I haven't had to look at the rulebook for ages, so I pulled up the PDF on BGG to give it a quick read over. Like the board, it's beautiful and bright. I love those vibrant colours. As for the rules, they are extremely easy to understand and pick up. This is not a complex game, but there is so much going on in terms of strategy when playing. There might be a few things you need to look up in your first games, but you'll have it down after that. There are also a few variations at the end of the rulebook that are fun to try - I particularly enjoy the 7x7 grid for two player games. 5/5
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| That's a big kingdom! |
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay really shines in this one. Basically, its a tile drafting game with a domino scoring system. You're trying to build a kingdom with the most points in it. You score points by multiplying crowns by the number of similar squares you have connected together. For example in my 7x7 grid just above, I would score 21 points for my water zone (7 squares x 3 crowns). My forest was 65 points (13 squares x 5 crowns). That poor lonely forest square off in the northwest corner got me 0 points, because it wasn't connected to any other forest tiles with crowns on them.
At the beginning of each round, players draft the tiles that they're going to play that round. Every tile has a number on the back (lower numbers generally have fewer crowns) and are laid out least to greatest and flipped over. Whoever picks first places their meeple on the tile they want. If they chose, for example, the fourth tile, it would probably be a higher number (and have more crowns), but that means they would choose fourth in the next draft. If they chose the first tile, however, it would be a lower number and (probably) have fewer crowns, but they would pick first next time. This is where strategy comes in. Do you pick the BEST tile or the tile that gives you the BEST CHOICE next time? You need to do this while also balancing the fact that you can only have a max 5x5 grid (or 7x7 in some instances) and that whatever tile you play needs to match at least one square that it's touching.
The gameplay is simple, yet full of strategy and choices. 5/5
REPLAYABILITY
This game is the same game every time, but the variability comes in the fact that you'll be playing with different players (with different strategies) and you'll be drafting different tiles (there are 48 domino tiles that are shuffled each game). There are games out there that have more replayability, but I think this one is different enough each game that I can play 3, 4, or 5 games in a row and feel great about it. There is at least one expansion (something about giants?) that I have not tried but would add more to the experience. 4/5
FUN
Yippee! If you haven't gathered already, I love this game. I'm not shy about it either, I'll shout it from the mountain tops! There are other games that I prefer playing, I do love me my medium to heavy fantasy games, but those aren't the type of games that everyone loves to play. This is much more accessible to the average person but is also a blast for a veteran gamer. It's not much of a solo game, but that's not why I have it. This one will always be in my collection. 9/10
TOTAL SCORE - 28/30
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