So last week I decided to find some killer new deck builders to play this year. Sick of replaying the same old stuff, you know? Hit up forums, watched a bunch of “best of 2024” lists – man, that took hours. Settled on five that seemed solid to try out myself. Here’s how it actually went down.
First Stop: Dominion – Plunder Edition
Okay, classic Dominion fan here, had to check this expansion out. Unboxed the damn thing and wow, they actually put effort into the components this time. Cards feel nice, art’s better too. Setup was kinda messy shuffling all those new kingdom piles though. Played a 3-player match with Sarah and Tom.
- The good stuff: Loving the pirate theme. Raiding opponent’s coffers? Hell yeah. That new “Plunder” card mechanic feels fresh but still totally Dominion. Sarah got wrecked trying to hoard loot tokens instead of points.
- The rough part: Rules overhead is higher for sure. Took us a good 15 mins just parsing all the new card text before starting. One card felt totally busted – probably needs house ruling.
- Final thought: Still bangs. If you like Dominion, this is worth grabbing. Not messing with the classic feel, just adding fun stuff.
Next Up: Radlands (Super Deluxe Edition)
Saw this everywhere online – people going nuts over it. Was skeptical. Dropped it on the table after work Friday. First impression: Damn this box is smaller than expected. Opened it up… cards? Where’s all the plastic? Pure cardboard tokens and paper mats? I was annoyed for a minute, ngl.
But shuffled the deck anyway. Tried the solo mode first. Simple setup: two camps to protect, 25 rad tokens. Gameplay? Blisteringly fast. You draw, you play water resource cards, you slap down survivors or junk from the wasteland to wreck stuff.
Played three games back-to-back. Lost fast the first time. Won the second by the skin of my teeth. Third game? Wiped out in like 10 minutes when my camps blew up. That’s when I got it. Brutal, quick, chaotic. No fancy pieces needed. Just tight design. The rage-quit potential is real, man… but you keep coming back. Changed my tune real quick.
Took a Shot at Creature Invasion
Friend brought this over Saturday afternoon. Looks wild – aliens, cryptids, kaiju? Box art is pure chaos. Got into the rules and my brain started melting. It mixes deck building with dice-drafting and minis on a board? Sounded like way too much.
Setup took ages. Sorting tokens, setting up the locations, figuring out the different decks… beers were open halfway through setup alone. Finally started playing. First few rounds felt like trudging through mud. “Okay, buy an action card… draw a die… resolve the effect… then move my dudes?” Messy.
But weirdly? After maybe 30 minutes, things started clicking. My deck started triggering combos with my dice rolls and the minis wrecking each other’s bases. The sheer spectacle of it – monsters smashing stuff – started outweighing the complexity. It’s definitely not elegant, but by the end (like two hours later), we were yelling trash talk and having a blast. Maybe not every week, but for a big dumb fight night? Yeah, it works.
The Big Surprise: Ark Nova Core Set
Keep hearing whispers about Ark Nova being “Dominion but heavier.” Found a copy buried in the back of the FLGS Sunday. Looked intimidating as hell. Animals, conservation boards, action cards… felt dense.
Sat down solo determined to figure it out. Read the rulebook once. Paused. Read it again. Almost quit. Messed up my first zoo by round three. Restarted. Second try? Felt different. Building combos between animal types and sponsors clicked. Creating habitats became this satisfying puzzle.
Played for like 90 minutes solo. No interruptions. Realized I was totally engrossed. Not simple, absolutely not fast. But man, the depth and theme were perfectly married. Way more brain-burning than Dominion, but rewarding in a whole other way. A deck-building think-piece. Unexpected gem.
Wild Card: That Old Dominion Base Set
After all that novelty over the weekend, busted out the OG Dominion base set Sunday night. Just the classic cards. Simple setup. Taught it quick to someone new.
Played two fast games. No stress. No huge rules debate. Pure deck thinning and action chaining. Felt smooth like good bourbon after a week of craft cocktails. Proves why it’s still the king. Familiar as hell? Sure. Still satisfying? Damn straight.
Take Home? This year’s deck builders? Wildly different vibes. Whether you want lightning-fast chaos, big dumb monster fights, deep thinky puzzles, fresh spins on classics, or just pure comfort food… good stuff dropped this year. Go try ‘em.