A Game For Anyone?

“It’s Christmas and I have to get Gary a gift, damn it! This is going to be so hard, I don’t really know Gary. He likes playing party games, I think. I swear he was there when we played Funemployed that one time. I am not really sure if he gets invited to many parties though. I guess a game is a good idea. I don’t think he has played many games so it can’t be too complicated. He seems pretty smart though so I don’t want to get his something too simple. I really have no idea what sort of people he has in his life, so it would be good if he can play with children as well as adults. What do I get him?” You complain loudly, after your worst office Kris Kringle fears come true.

Luckily, Kingdomino is a simple and approachable game that is incredibly satisfying to play win or lose. It takes between 15 and 30 minutes and plays with two to four players. The design is simple and clean from both a game play and appearance perspective. It is a game for everyone this Christmas and wearing a $30 price tag maybe its the solution to finding an affordable gift for ‘boring’ Gary from the office.

Overview:

Dominoes have different terrains on either side instead of having numbers. As you accumulate dominoes to make up your kingdom, you will attempt to organise it so that the same terrain type is grouped together. The result is always positive, because you may not score the highest but you will definitely end up with a cute looking kingdom.

Each round players will be choosing between four dominoes, deciding which they wish to place in their kingdom. Although choosing a better domino will mean that you have a later pick in the next round. Choosing the domino among the four that has the same terrain as most of the rest of your previous picks, this simple strategy can be enough to keep you in the running or if luck is on your side; win you the game.

That said, Kingdomino has the room to put the thought in: You can organise your board more effectively in hopes to see specific pieces, taking in to account what has already come out, the priority of terrain your opponents have and the potential gain or loss of being able to select a better domino in the next round.