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Game Info
Year
2019
Collection
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Description
In Dark Domains each player takes on the role of a city leader attempting to expand the frontier of Harrows into the hinterland. Unbeknownst to the powers in Harrows some of those leaders, namely the players, are secretly evil to the core and in the thrall of the Necromancer. Once away from the bustling city and the oversight of the courts, these overlords create domains that outwardly appear to be beacons of light and hope. Eventually however, their true colors will come through and those upstanding pillars of the community will retreat to their lairs as the masquerade ends and their lands begin to decay into wastelands overrun by foul monsters and nefarious henchmen.
But all is not peaches and cream in the lands of darkness. Harrows is home to the famous Torin Company and its never-ending supply of heroes and adventurers. Once the word reaches Harrows that darkness is afoot in the Domains, it is only a matter of time before these nosy adventurers begin to seek out the dens of horror to stop the evil.
Dark Domains is a worker placement game where 2-5 players attempt to create a Domain that provides them the most evil, depicted in the game by skulls. Players must use Minions, Henchmen, Monsters & Magic to stamp out the good, repel the Torin Company and cover their land in darkness.
Tarot cards are used in the game as events to live up each turn and to regulate the phases of the game.
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All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 4
This page: 4
Sentiment:
pos 3 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–4 of 4
Video 7cEICmrNmFc
Rolling Dice & Taking Names Discussion at 44:38 sentiment: positive
video_pk 94843 · mention_pk 259548
Click to watch at 44:38 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- cool theme and board art
- worker placement mechanic is solid
- engine building aspect is engaging
- interactive elements and potential for 'nasty stuff'
- fun twist with adventurers attacking each round
Cons
- rulebook is difficult to navigate
- some cards might be overpowered
- slow start due to rules confusion
Thematic elements
- corrupting towns and villages as evil people
- dark
Comparison games
- Champions of Midgard
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — monsters can be placed on buildings to flip them to the dark side
- Dice Rolling — adventurers have a certain dice type associated with them d8 details... you roll a set of that that's their attack value
- Engine Building — it's an engine building game where at the beginning you may have a lot of light buildings but eventually you start flipping them over to the dark side so that they generate you victory points
- Resource Management — you get resources like brick or wood for getting a building and you want to build buildings to put on your domain which generates production for you
- Set Collection — you have to get earth wind fire or water in order to cast those spells
- Worker Placement — at its core it's a worker placement game so you put your minions workers out on to the board
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- at its core it's a worker placement game
- it's an engine building game where at the beginning you may have a lot of light buildings but eventually you start flipping them over to the dark side so that they generate you victory points
- it's a euro game but there's a little bit of mara trashiness to it with the dice rolls there's some event cards that come out that are kind of random and they can make things bad for you make things good for you so it's definitely not a focus on your old board and play you're interacting with a lot of people and you can do some nasty stuff to people
- the rulebook was a tough thing to get through
- it's a heavy box - it's uh it's a beast
- I'm a big fan of Tetris so and I like puzzles so I liked putting the pieces together
- it was a little frustrating at times because what you needed wasn't what was coming up
- it's supposedly more of an entry level games it's not one of those takes hours and hours and it's easy to pick up and learn
- the counters are large and easy to read that's really us
- there is no jungle of numbers to wade through
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Video Fp5F_BksmrA
Review at 0:03 sentiment: positive
video_pk 69755 · mention_pk 166454
Click to watch at 0:03 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Enhanced base game with a second edition.
- Added expansion materials that improve the game.
- Player board with resource trackers makes management easier.
- Divided spell cards into types for better strategy.
- Reduced number of cards in decks ensures more variety is seen.
- Buildings can be flipped back to their market state instead of being destroyed.
- First player token automatically moves clockwise.
- Enhanced henchmen spots and improved henchmen powers.
- Expansion adds a new board with unique action spots.
- Expansion introduces new monsters, heroes, and buildings with an Asian theme.
- More Fortune cards add to the game's replayability.
- Expansion offers rules to inject new content more prevalently.
- The game is a great medium-heavy Euro with worker replacement and resource allocation.
- Enjoyable timing of actions, like converting buildings and managing resources.
- The expansion adds depth without discarding old rules.
- The game makes a great experience even better without needing fixes.
Cons
- The prototype board for the expansion is small.
- The game previously had a mechanic where buildings could be destroyed, causing a 'murder feeling'.
Thematic elements
- Corrupting an area of the world for evil points
Comparison games
- Pillars of the Earth
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action selection — Players select actions through worker placement on various boards.
- Area Control — Players aim to gain evil points by corrupting areas of the world and defending them.
- Card Drafting — Players can draft spell cards from different types (attack, production, defense, control) and the deck has been reduced to ensure more cards are seen.
- Deck Building — The game includes monster decks that can be added to.
- event cards — A Fortune deck introduces random events at the start of each turn that affect gameplay.
- Resource Management — Players manage various resources, which can now be tracked more easily on a dedicated player board.
- Set Collection — Players build buildings and add monsters to their domain, contributing to their resource engine.
- Variable player powers — Henchmen provide special powers to players.
- Worker Placement — Players place workers on the board to take actions. The game distinguishes between actions on the player board, board extensions, and the main board.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Dark domains is a game that I've had in my collection for quite some time.
- on this game a game that I really enjoy uh is coming out with a second edition and they are enhancing the base game and actually adding some expansion materials as well.
- this took a game that I already really really enjoyed and it fixed it in ways that I didn't even know it needed fixing.
- Dark domains to me was would just play great and it was awesome and I didn't see that there was anything wrong with it and there isn't you could you could buy this you know you saw it in a store shelf you could pick it up right now and you need to have fun with it but things like this this board to track your track your your uh your resources yeah it's just it's it's just so much better better than having just giant piles of resources all over the place trying to manage them you can just look at a Tracker board and track things down and that's ingenious.
- I love expansions that just give me more give me more cool stuff that I can put into the game and to keep it fresh and interesting and that's exactly uh what this does.
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Video FujMamUlXjo
Game Night Picks - Pair Of Dice Paradise Review at 0:19 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 38546 · mention_pk 116102
Click to watch at 0:19 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Innovative twists on the worker-placement concept
- Strong theme of secret villainy and necromantic allegiance that creates tension
- Rulebook is generally well written and understandable
- High replayability potential due to the fate deck and card interactions
- Engaging when players are in the right mindset for chaotic, punishing play
Cons
- Brutal and punishing mechanics; not for everyone
- Early game luck can cripple new players (fate deck chaos causing coin loss)
- Some rulebook elements require deductive reasoning and revisiting rules
- Deck setup details for several decks can be non-intuitive
- Availability around Gen Con distribution can complicate buying
Thematic elements
- Dark power, villainy, and deceit as players convert civic structures into tools for a malevolent master.
- A fantasy kingdom under the influence of a necromancer, where secretly evil city leaders build and defend a corrupted realm.
- grim, flavored with secrecy and a looming battle against adventurers.
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Adventurer encounter phase — Adventurers quest across the landscape, challenging the player's domain and forcing responses.
- Building transformation — Constructed buildings are tainted and converted to serve the dark Overlord.
- Dice resolution and randomness — Unpredictable dice rolls influence defense and outcomes, injecting luck into the strategy.
- Fate deck / fake cards with round-specific rules — A large deck introduces round-specific twists and effects that can drastically alter play each round.
- Henchmen/minions/monsters/spells — Players recruit and deploy minions and spells to defend against adventurers and advance their evil agenda.
- Worker Placement — Players assign workers to take actions and gather resources to develop their domain.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- a game that can be very very brutal and and it just doesn't care what you think about that
- some pretty neat ideas that put some really interesting twists on the whole worker placement genre
- Dark Domains is worth giving a try
- not for everyone
- unpredictable and punishing
- perhaps two tries in order to really get the feel for the unique mechanisms
- prepare myself mentally for those potential outcomes
References (from this video)
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Video jSJZiuTpuOY
3 Minute Board Games Top List at 2:03 sentiment: positive
video_pk 7007 · mention_pk 20761
Click to watch at 2:03 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- novel twist on worker placement
- quirky, memorable theme
Cons
- obscure title; availability and balance may vary
- not widely played or reprinted
Thematic elements
- evil minions vying for overlord attention
- dark overlord theme with corruption mechanic
- twisted, roguelike-ish in worker-placement flavor
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- corruption/overlord mechanic — minions compete for attention in a sinister framework
- Worker Placement — players place workers to advance corrupt goals
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- these bones are there all the foundation is there to make something truly epic
- i would love to be the designer to do that
- the core mechanic is this bag management system
- it's a fantastic solo game
- the queen's gambit is a rare thing for the time a good star wars game
References (from this video)
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Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–4 of 4