Dominion Solo Play

[@ghspin]

Thanks a lot for the suggestion! I really enjoyed trying this solo version, it gives a very similar experience to the multiplayer original game and it is still challenging. I suppose if people want to make the game more challenging they can just increasingly remove estates. So quite easy to adapt it!

[@BillyIndiana]

Glad this solo mode worked well for you & I agree that it is nicely scalable. Thanks for watching & commenting!

[@buewesto]

Nice video and a great idea! Thanks mate

[@BillyIndiana]

Glad you liked it! Thanks for watching 👍

[@StKnightis64]

Thanks for posting. I just bought the 2nd edition of the base game. I enjoy solo games; I’ll have to give this a try.

[@BillyIndiana]

Thank you for watching & commenting! I hope this solo version works well for you. Happy gaming!

[@LTdrumma]

wow, nice man, can´t wait to try it, looks great and lets you play nice long games. Impressive. Thank you very much

[@BillyIndiana]

Glad you liked it! I hope you enjoy your plays. Thanks for watching & commenting!

[@ГраниСинтеза]

I enjoyed this version of solo-game. But, according to the basic rules, a game should end after 3 any piles of cards are gone. :) Here we have to run out of 4 piles of cards before the game finishes. There's little chance, of course, that any of the action card piles should become empty before that happens. But the game itself is very nice indeed, I'm also a fan of Dominion. Thank you!

[@BillyIndiana]

I glad you enjoyed this version. Thank you for watching and commenting. Happy Gaming!

[@ГраниСинтеза]

I have also developed a solo-version for Dominion. In my version AI (as a virtual other player) has to do according to certain algorithms as what cards to buy (depending on the number of the current move and available coins to spare), which cards to play in his turn, in what preferred order, etc. :)

[@BillyIndiana]

I would be interested to see your solo version if it is something you can share easily.

[@ГраниСинтеза]

First of all, I'll have to translate it from Russian (my native language) into English. And the rules are not very short. Maybe I'll do it when I have time and if I do that, I'll gladly share my version with you and everybody here!

[@luisangelhualde8271]

@@ГраниСинтеза I encourage you with that translation, I am eager to see your rules for the solo game, from Spain

[@ernestconcepcion531]

Awesome idea! In terms of playing solo - what are your recommended card sets from the base game? I guess it should be card sets that have zero interaction?

[@BillyIndiana]

Honestly I haven't played Dominion in quite some time. When I was playing solo, I did choose cards with no interaction, but I intermixed cards from the base game, Prosperity & Intrigue. I don't think I ever played with just the base game. Thanks for watching👍

[@chaindriven61]

Hi and thank you for the video: how many estates did you start with? Please correct me below if I'm wrong. You started the Victory Cards: 12/Colonies 8/Provinces 8/Duchys /Estates + the 3 you start with. Thank you in advance! Best, Greg

[@BillyIndiana]

If I'm playing with the base game (and easy mode) I use all 12 Provinces, 12 Duchys, and 24 Estates (3 in hand, 21 in the stack). With Prosperity mixed in (using Colonies & Platinum - but still on easy mode), I use all 12 Colonies, 8 Provinces, 8 Duchys and 20 Estates (3 in hand & 17 on the table). That keeps the total number of victory point cards the same (48) but weights them with more of them being more valuable. For more of a challenge, you can remove estates to effectively give yourself fewer turns to build your engine and buy victory points. I hope that helps & thanks for watching.

[@chaindriven61]

@@BillyIndiana Thank you very much Billy! Best, Greg

[@BillyIndiana]

@@chaindriven61 no problem! Thanks for watching and happy gaming!

[@Soonzuh]

6:36 In the piles: 21 Estates, 12 Duchies, 12 Provinces. Quite important. I started with 8/8/8 in the piles and it didn't go so well. :)

[@BillyIndiana]

Wow! 8 in each pile would be tough! I have been experimenting with Seaside in this solo mode and it is easy to win. It is the same with Prosperity. I think I will have to tweak how many cards are in each pile for some expansions when I play them individually. Next up, I want to try my newest additions: Renaissance, Guilds and Cornucopia. Thanks for the view and the comment! Happy Gaming!

[@Soonzuh]

@@BillyIndiana Cool! I only have the base game and have tried your solo variant. It's slightly too easy so maybe just reducing the number of estates in play might balance things? Also I tried playing against one "AI" opponent with some fixed rules I made up: AI only buys money cards or victory cards. I have a feeling that it's a fairly easy win that way, but it's a training exercise for a beginner like me. Looking forward to more from you!

[@BillyIndiana]

@@Soonzuh I also use this as training. I mostly play solo to learn the new cards when I get an expansion & try to figure out good combos. It is fun solo, but I still prefer multiplayer. Fortunately my family enjoys Dominion too.

[@fightingkitchen7960]

This is actually a pretty good solo mode & I really enjoyed it! Although will this not work with cards that force interaction? Like the Gladiator from Empires or the Contraband from Prosperity.

[@BillyIndiana]

Yes, it is limited by not having a true AI, but it is easy to play if you don't mind that limitation. Thanks for watching & commenting!

[@fightingkitchen7960]

@@BillyIndiana You’re welcome!

[@utopicus]

Cool and happy vibe. One can really tell your love for the game. So, in this solo variant, you play until the point cards are all taken. Correct? Does this not make the game too long? A standard game ends earlier than that.

[@BillyIndiana]

Hello and thanks for leaving a comment! You are correct in the way the game ends, and I have found that it doesn't really take that long because you are the only player having to think about your turn. The AI just takes a card, so that turn takes just a couple of seconds. If you happen to be a very analysis paralysis prone player, it could make the game last a long time, but I generally play a game in about 15 to 20 minutes. Thanks for watching and Happy Gaming!

[@luisangelhualde8271]

Hello, I think the idea of ​​this solitaire is very cool. but isn't it too easy? What do you do with the attack or defense cards to the automa? Thank you so much

[@BillyIndiana]

Hello Luis. Thanks for watching! It is a pretty easy solitaire, but you can increase or decrease the difficulty by adjusting the number of estates in the pile to limit the time you have to build your engine. I haven't tried incorporating attack or defense cards into the deck because I couldn't think of a good way to automate that action. I still haven't tried this solo mode with many of the expansions either. Typically, if I want to play solo now, I just play on Steam.

[@apollonia6656]

I have the 2nd Edition which I have never played ! Can you please tell me which cards ( and how many of each ) to lay out, please ? I sorted the sealed cards today and really want to play Dominion solo. Thank you so much and regards from the UK.

[@BillyIndiana]

Once you've sorted the cards into types, you should make separate piles of the estates, duchies, provinces, copper, silver and gold cards. Then there will be around 30 other groups of 10 cards each. You choose 10 of those 30 sets and make separate piles with those 10 (the rest go back in the box). Then you are set up. The 10 piles of 10 are the cards you buy to manipulate your deck by adding actions, money, buys... The copper, silver & gold cards are the ones you buy to add spending power to your deck. The estates, duchies & provinces are the cards you buy to gain victory points. I hope that helps.

[@apollonia6656]

Thanks. Just one question : seems a lot of Curse cards for solo so, how many should there be ? Regards.

[@BillyIndiana]

@@apollonia6656 I don't use the curses in solo play. There are some other people who've developed different solo versions on BGG that include them, but I prefer a simple streamlined solo game.

[@apollonia6656]

Thank you for quick reply. Hate looking at those Curse cards 😅😅😅 You kǹow, have this game since 2008 and it is only now that it makes sense and all because of you: thanks for clarity and patience. PS: Having said all that, I might get stuck at some stage 😕 and sincerely hope for your help. Will start playing end of month.

[@BillyIndiana]

@@apollonia6656 I'm glad the video was helpful and hope you get a lot of fun out of the game. I'm glad to help anytime.

[@ГраниСинтеза]

I have finished translation. Now I try to add a link for the "Word" file with my solo-play mode to be downloaded, but the link gets deleted from here all the time... And it seems I cannot add a picture or a screenshot here either. Do you now a way out of this situation?)

[@BillyIndiana]

I am not sure how to share an attachment via KZbin, but I did get an email from KZbin with your original comments and the link. So, I was able to download the link. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but thank you so much for sending it. You got it translated very quickly!

[@ГраниСинтеза]

@@BillyIndiana, I'm glad you got it. Have a good time playing Dominion, by whichever solo version rules you'll find good for yourself!)

[@RaoulvandenBergh]

Maybe I missed it but how does it work with curses? Nice AI btw, thanks!!

[@BillyIndiana]

Actually, we rarely play with cards that require curses, so I haven't incorporated those into this solo version. I will have to think about that. I also just tried it last night with the Seaside expansion (I just received it a few days ago) and the AI wasn't strong enough; I dominated every round. So, I have a lot of things to process and add in over time. If I come up with a good answer to Curses or further ways to balance the game with different sets, I will post something new. Thanks for the comment!

[@HelloTygr]

I think I figured out a satisfying way to use curses: Using attack cards, you can still put curses into the 'AI' deck. Obviously the 'AI' won't be able to do the same to you, but it will affect the final score of the 'AI'. Also, to make extra buys which you normally wouldn't find useful, allow the solo player to buy curses for the 'AI'. I think this way is quite fun. If this makes the game too easy, but you find it satisfying like I do, adjust the number of estates in the game to not only speed up the pace, but also to make the game harder.

[@BillyIndiana]

Hi Connor, thanks for the suggestions! I got the Seaside expansion a few months ago and experimented with adjusting the number of estates for that (it was very easy to win by a large margin with the number of estates I used in the video). I have been playing a lot of newer games recently, so haven't gotten back to Dominion much, but will have to try out your idea with curses. Thanks for sharing!

[@paulgruber3384]

Very nice method, but why do you call the virtual opponent "AI"? "A", yes but there is no "I" on the other side at all, as it just gets green cards.

[@BillyIndiana]

Good point. I didn't really think about it to that level of detail, I was just considering it an automated opponent which actually is an AI in some situations. Maybe it should be AO in this method 😉 or probably just automa.

[@paulgruber3384]

@@BillyIndiana VO (Virtual Opponent) fits probably best, but its not a big topic. 😁