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[NoMoreFun]

Assuming they're just an ordinary board game buying person, who never discovers isotropic or Goko, how many games of Dominion would they play in a year? How about in their lifetime?

In fact, how many playthroughs are board games in general meant to last?

Personally, I don't own a physical copy of Dominion, and my only friend that does lives back in my home town, so I probably play, at most, 10 games with physical cards a year. I'd easily play that many in a single isotropic session.

[Tables]

Hmm... I think a lot of this might depend on what we call an 'ordinary board game buying person'. Someone that plays it casually every now and then, perhaps would play a few times when they first get the game (perhaps 5 in the first week? It's a fairly short game), and then maybe drop down to playing perhaps only when circumstances are right - maybe somewhere between a few times per month to once every few months over a few years. Either way, I'd expect something like... 30-50 plays, perhaps? I think that sounds reasonable for a casual gamer. A family who buys the game and enjoys it might well get more plays, but perhaps not always with the same group (e.g. father and son play, then the next day mother, son and daughter play).

[Lekkit]

Generally I think that for every $12 I spend on a game it should last me at least 1-1,5 hours. At that rate it's basically what I pay to go to the movies. If I get more out of it it's a good game and worth the money. In the case of Dominion I've actually spent so many hours on the game (even the physical game) that I've lost count a long time ago. For the average board gamer I think the base set would last at least 3-4 hours. If you like the game, you'll probably end up with a lot of extra hours from the expansions. But then you have invested a lot of money in it and should be expected to get many hours out of it.

[soulnet]

I've already played with the physical game for about 30 hours (I have base, seaside and prosperity, and its a wide estimate) and I lost count on the time I spent on Iso (tear), but I would easily play an hour or two a week if I had the gaming group to do it. I have some friends that like games, but I'm the only one that can happily spend 8 straight hours boardgaming, and we hardly play once a month, plus, we have many games in the round robbin of "what to play".

[Awaclus]

Generally I think that for every $12 I spend on a game it should last me at least 1-1,5 hours. At that rate it's basically what I pay to go to the movies. If I get more out of it it's a good game and worth the money.

I disagree. I think that time and money are both investments, and that entertainment and artistic value are what you should be hoping to get out of it. I have spent way more time on Monopoly than I have spent on Carcassonne, and Monopoly is way cheaper than Carcassonne with all the expansions I have, but I have had much better time playing Carcassonne than Monopoly, so Carcassonne is the better game and worth my money and my time. Monopoly is probably worth my money, but definitely not worth my time. RPGs typically are time and money sinks, but they're so fun they're still worth my money and my time.

On topic: Depends on the playgroup, but probably twice or thrice a month but not every month, I'd say. Tables's 30-50 is a good estimate for lifetime # of games, base game only.

For board games in general: That depends on how good the game is. If it is the best game ever, it's fine even if you can't play more than one or two games (this could be true for a horror RPG based on the fear of the unknown or uncertain, for example).

[NoMoreFun]

I wonder what the intention was when it was designed.

It seems like with isotropic and simulators we've developed Dominion far more as a game than anyone would have expected. I don't think there are that many games with that level of insight, especially ones developed so recently.

[clb]

My experience is that I play between 150 and 200 IRL games of Dominion a year for the last two years. The rate is likely to tail off over the next year or so. My parents play 3 or so games every Sunday, with some exceptions, so they are in the same ballpark. However, we often encounter people who fall into the category of having played maybe 5 games of Dominion before we get them addicted. They likely never would have gone back and played more than a few more games over their life.

[Lekkit]

Generally I think that for every $12 I spend on a game it should last me at least 1-1,5 hours. At that rate it's basically what I pay to go to the movies. If I get more out of it it's a good game and worth the money.

I disagree. I think that time and money are both investments, and that entertainment and artistic value are what you should be hoping to get out of it. I have spent way more time on Monopoly than I have spent on Carcassonne, and Monopoly is way cheaper than Carcassonne with all the expansions I have, but I have had much better time playing Carcassonne than Monopoly, so Carcassonne is the better game and worth my money and my time. Monopoly is probably worth my money, but definitely not worth my time. RPGs typically are time and money sinks, but they're so fun they're still worth my money and my time.

On topic: Depends on the playgroup, but probably twice or thrice a month but not every month, I'd say. Tables's 30-50 is a good estimate for lifetime # of games, base game only.

For board games in general: That depends on how good the game is. If it is the best game ever, it's fine even if you can't play more than one or two games (this could be true for a horror RPG based on the fear of the unknown or uncertain, for example).

I also think that time is an investment. But when it comes to games and other stuff that I like to do, I see it merely as a measurement. It's all about getting entertainment time out of my money. I can enjoy a game a lot without playing it for 500+ hours, but I still get more value out of my money if I do.

[Tables]

Generally I think that for every $12 I spend on a game it should last me at least 1-1,5 hours. At that rate it's basically what I pay to go to the movies. If I get more out of it it's a good game and worth the money. In the case of Dominion I've actually spent so many hours on the game (even the physical game) that I've lost count a long time ago. For the average board gamer I think the base set would last at least 3-4 hours. If you like the game, you'll probably end up with a lot of extra hours from the expansions. But then you have invested a lot of money in it and should be expected to get many hours out of it.

That sounds far too low to me. Perhaps part of that is because I find films overpriced, but eh. If I'm playing a game, I typically want to be getting perhaps 1 hour per £1-2 in the long run. So for e.g. Dominion, I'd want somewhere between 15-30 hours entertainment total from the base set. I have three expansions total now, so I'd hope to get about 60-120 hours out of it. So far I probably haven't quite managed that, but I reckon I'm getting there.

[tolenmar]

Then there are a few people like me, who find a way to play at least once each day, or every other day, minimum. I just enjoy it that much, and my son is a good opponent.  Sometimes we get in more than one a day, and on game nights, everyone wants to play. A couple weeks back, we did a club tournament.  Sadly, I placed third out of five. It sucks being just average...

If I get enjoyment out of a game, I'll buy the supplements. If not, I usually sell the game to the local gaming store for credit. Dominion is not going to be one of those.

[Eran of Arcadia]

I generally play 2 or 3 games a week, in 2p games with my wife. In fact, given our disparate tastes in media, Dominion is the one activity we most enjoy doing together. I really prefer having a larger group (4 is ideal, 6 is too unwieldy) but it is very difficult to set that up and I haven't done it more than a handful of times.