Rixy

So, this is a fun game. It’s always better to be the ninja in two player, though, because when the game is named after you, you’re usually going to win 😉

My group enjoys the premise of this game.

Still, we rarely play it. Why? Because after a few rounds, we pretty much hate each other’s guts.

This is one of those games where you just utterly screw each other over. Horribly. All characters are great at some things and horrid at others and once you figure it out, you know who to harass. Based on who’s picked, usually one person is completely doomed, unless you’re in even numbers. It’s fun, and the cards are really funny, but you can’t play this with people who care at all if they win or lose.

So, in my gaming circle, we tend to get a bit riled. And by a bit, I mean, ‘huff and pout like we’re in elementary school when we get ganged up on or cheated’. Heck, playing Hero Clix back in the day very nearly made a few of the circle leave out of sheer spite. Needless to say, we don’t do well with games where you actively attack someone.

Enter Dominion, where everything happens to everyone.

Frankly, this game saved game night. It, and “Bang!”, are the only games we can play regularly without someone being vexed. It’s so easy that even our parents can play it and we trot it out on Christmas Eve or birthdays. It is a GREAT GAME.

The expansions? Well….those are another story…

In my gaming circle, we refer to this game as ‘Defeated by Cardboard’. At first, the game wins a good part of the time, and the sheer novelty brings players to it again and again. It’s well designed, easy to understand, and is a rare game where you don’t, exactly, fight your friends (outside the Traitor option, of course).

The only problem is, once you figure out the right strategy, you always win. Then it’s just an ok game and not nearly as fun.