Great theme, great feel, great game: Dominions big brother - views of Dominion fans

First of all: This game does not really have much to do with Dominion. Amazement? Yes, it is a pure card game. Yes, there are instructions booklet cards that you can buy yourself. Yes, you build so on gradually his or her deck. But to say Thunderstone would the Dominion just because it would be used the same basic mechanisms so like saying every game has a board would not like Ludo.
Everyone already has a Dominion and like can also be very good or have a Thunderstone are in the closet. Especially Thunderstone significantly more complex and a lot, a lot of atmospheric than Dominion (and I'm a big fan Dominion).

Thunderstone is a fantasy game, so to speak, a dungeon crawler as a card game. We form a group of heroes, equip with weapons and other useful items, disconnect in a dungeon, fight monsters, gain experience points and improve our heroes and level up to kill even more powerful monsters. And exactly this feeling gives the game wonderfully.

Game play:
It all starts with the setup. Each player is dealt 12 cards in hand: 6 militias (the weakest heroes), 2 torches, a little food and 2 daggers. The general procedure is as at Dominion. It draws at the beginning of 6 cards can interact with, throws after his complete hand got and places them just like the purchased or otherwise acquired cards to the discard pile and draws new cards from his deck, this is depleted mixed to the discard pile, and he will become the new draw pile.
Monetary and victory point cards in actual sense there is not. Most cards, whether heroes, items, monsters have a monetary value, so that you can always do something. Victory Point cards, there is not, but has defeated every monster victory points, as well as heroes. The monsters but often also a gold value, few give a even additional attack strength in the battle, so they are not just pointless clog the deck, but actually may have to use another one.

Generally one has in his train three different ways by which you can choose one: a) go to the village (shopping) b) in Dungeon go (Monster beat) or c) recover (if you want to dispose of a useless card completely and new maps draw (quasi fit with the way an unpleasant map rid)

a) Village Phase:
In the display are the four basic cards (supplies, militias, daggers, torches), and eight other random items (weapons, spells or similar), as well as four different types of heroes. In the village of phase you can buy one of these cards, in which one simply counts up the value of its gold Handhkarten and selects one of these cards. Interesting are the heroes. At level 1, they are already significantly more than the militia (which only attack have +1), can carry heavier weapons, make EVLT. magic damage and sometimes bring other positive effects (such as diseases dispose) and become more powerful the higher your level. Whenever you kill monsters you get some experience points when you have collected enough, you can pimp a hero in the village phase. To do this simply disposed of his heroes one has on hand and looking out the next highest from the display. Every Level 3 heroes there only twice.

b) Dungeon phase.
About the village maps are three Monster cards, behind a stack of the new Monster is drawn once which are defeated from the display. In the last 10 cards of the eponymous Thunderstone is mixed before the game starts as soon as it is discovered and advances to the forward position, the game is over and the victory points are counted.

So how do you defeat a monster? Each monster has a certain number of hit points. Mostly 3 to 12
Now you look at his card hand. How many heroes you have, how many weapons, what other improvements or EVLT. even spells can act independently of the hero. The following applies: Each hero can carry only one weapon, so it does not help to have a hero and four arms, you can then use only one of them. However, one must be aware that each weapon has a weight and each hero a strength value. The thickness value must match the weight of the weapon, otherwise the hero can not use it (one reason why you should as soon as possible to replace the militias through proper hero or at least supplement). If the attack value of the own group higher than the hitpoints of the monster, the attacking, it is dead and travels into his own deck.

At least in theory. Because dungeons are dark places and heroes in the dark fear. Therefore, one needs light. Some items (such as the Torch, the flaming sword, the magical Lichtenstein, some heroes, or even defeated monsters) have a light value. For the monster in position 1 is needed 1 light for position 2 one needs 2 light and for the monster to position 3 3 even light. Any missing spot brings a deduction of a 2 on the attack power, so it is quite difficult to attack the last Monster. Some monsters do not bring an additional deduction with light or can not be attacked if there is light deduction.
So s needs quite a lot of fit, you need good weapons, the hero can wear this and enough to also see some light. In most cases, it is after a couple of shopping trips in the village to kill the monsters is no problem, but on some bites you look real teeth out if one is not already very well equipped and not equipped with powerful heroes.

Opinion:
As you can see Thunderstone is quite complex in any case. Strength, light, magic attacks, different monsters, heroes can level up ... in the ways it trumps Dominion definitely. To a certain extent as the big brother. Whatever applies to the playing time, takes about an hour a normal game of Thunderstone, 45 minutes are probably in most cases the minimum. Although I just guess at the Dominion, the short, crisp playing time.
Generally, it definitely makes a lot of fun to put together a heroic troops, collect powerful items and artifacts, strike out and kill monsters and finally hochzuleven own heroes and to see how they are getting stronger and more powerful. Clear you have to have it all fits in the hand, but just in the initial stage of the game you go shopping when you can just simply kill a monster and later you can simply trashing cards when you can do nothing else useful. What is also at the same time another nice plus point of the game. It not only builds up slowly or directional fix on his deck until it popped and then falls quite fast here over the VPs and the game is fixed to an end at a time. In Thunderstone you have to kill monsters from the beginning and do it the whole game away. In Dominion, the game can be over within five laps when VPs will first started collecting, here one makes the whole game really nothing more.
Variance, there are also quite a lot. There are a total of 10 different types of heroes, of which one uses only four per game, there are numerous different village cards, of which you think also always just randomly used eight per game, and even when the monsters there I 8 different types, one of which always three be used per game. Counterplay charm and variety are thus given.
The problem of lack of interactivity has Thunderstone in the basic game also. You never really interacted with disastrous appearance. A hero will force the other players at the highest level to the player with him pulling into the dungeon to give these can then attack a hero of her hand, then the hero is returned. Another card forces the players lay a hand card - that's it. Otherwise, the interactions are to be the Level 3 heroes to secure from the other players, the best village to buy tickets before they're gone (there are loads only eight times) to kill the first, and of course the victory point richest monsters. But here is the extension solve the problem and make it a little more interactive. Where this is actually not a real problem, the game is already as it is a lot of fun.

Conclusion:
Thunderstone acts a bit like the big brother of Dominion. It is more complex, longer and thematic. And above all very different. Dominion is the Euro Game, Thunderstone of Amitrash. Thunderstone really looks more like a dungeon crawler than you somehow get the feeling Dominion only to play in different, even if it's on the same fundamental game mechanics recourse (Deck during the game build). I am the world's largest Dominion supporter, have all extensions have the game played over 1600 times, and yet I love Thunderstone absolutely and am very excited about the first extension. Clear the game also has weaknesses, but who has any other game also (yes, even Dominion). Among the novelties of this year all over the food I have been saying that for me definitely Thunderstone Price / Performance-wise, or in this case, price / Fun Fair provides the absolute best money value.
Each of Fantasy and Dominon like any of it may equip heroes, sometimes take a closer look at Thunderstone hochzuleven and see to how they should be more powerful in any case. I can not write more now, I have to kloppen the dungeon and monsters again ...