My Latest App Obsession.... DomiNations

One day a few weeks back I was in a piss poor mood and I wanted a game to distract myself with. Nothing already sitting on my desktop appealed; either I'd beaten it, played it to death, or just didn't like it that much. So I opened up the app store and randomly browsed around, looking at "editors picks" and the like. I downloaded a few things, which I tried and quickly deleted, until I settled on DomiNations.

DomiNations is one of those "free" time and resource management games whose sole purpose seems to be to rook you into purchasing in game credits with real world cash. I normally go out of my way to avoid these freemium style games, and those I have tried have failed to hold my interest for any length of time. What caught my eye here, and convinced me to download DomiNations and give it a shot, was the name Brian Reynolds. A name that is attached to several blockbuster games, most notably Civilization II.

Okay, so the lead designer from Civ II, a game which sucked away more hours of my life then I'm willing to admit in polite company,  put out  a "build up your nation" style app.... yeah I'm interested.

A Japanese Town Centre in the Classical Age with one of the Wonders, Notre Dame, in the background.

The basis of game play is that you use your workers to build up your city, raising buildings such as houses, farms, barracks, roads, and walls. You harvest fields for food, collect gold from trading caravans, and hunt animals for their valuable pelts. You level up your Town Centre to advance through the ages, from the dawn of time through the Industrial Age. You get a blacksmith where you can research new troop types, and eventually a library where you can research new technologies. You also get to build Wonders during various ages, things like the Hanging Gardens or the Eiffel Tower, each of which gives unique bonuses. And eventually you pick a nation to belong to, such as Japan or Britain, which also grants you certain distinct advantages.

Having your fruit trees near the Hanging Garden Wonder means you can harvest them quicker and more frequently. 

Hunt animals like Deer, Boar, Bears, Foxes and Bunnies for Food, Leather and Furs.

Build up your army and raid other players or attempt to complete the campaign mode.

The game is solid. I've been playing for two weeks or so, and I am hooked. I highly recommend checking it out. Thought I will warn you, the game requires patience and a willingness to constantly check in to collect your resources and redistribute your workers; particularly it you want to play without sinking cash into the game.

Wait patiently for your building to upgrade, or splurge and spend Crowns to free up your workers.

Which is what I did. I will admit, I spent cash on this "free" game. I bought the starter pack. After playing it for a few days, and loving the game, I felt somewhat obliged to pay something. Also the fact that the starter pack included an additional house, and two additional workers to play with, was a mighty enticing lure. Aside from that bonus house, which you get with the starter pack, what the game offers in exchange for real world cash is an influx of the in game currency called Crowns.

It's true, you can get free Crowns within the game, but the number you are able to earn is slim. And crowns are ever so useful. If you're feeling impatient, or absolutely need to free your workers up in a hurry, you pay Crowns to finish building, or upgrading an existing building, instantaneously. You can also swap Crowns to fill your storehouses with gold or food, the things you need to be able to pay to create buildings and troops. And finally, my favourite use, Crowns can be used to purchase peace treaties.

Choose to fight solo in Campaign Mode or vs. other players in Multiplayer.

Campaign mode loosely recreates famous locations and battles throughout history.

Ever want to destroy the city of Athens, or relive the Battle of Thermopylae?

Even with a Peace Treaty active you can take part in Campaign Mode battles.

When you have a peace treaty active you can't be attacked. You also can't attack other players. Well technically you can, but it will cancel your peace treaty. As you first start the game in the Dawn Age, you play through step by step, following the goals that your advisor provides, and learning the ropes of the game. Eventually you advance to a point where they've taught you all the basics and you are released into the full game, with a twenty-four hour peace treaty in place.

After that you can use crowns to buy additional peace treaties of varying lengths, but the cool down periods between when you can buy another are long enough that eventually you are going to be left between treaties and open to attack. I chose Japan as my Nation, one of their bonuses is that the length of all peace treaties is increased by 25%. Even with that added time tacked on you still can't be in "peace mode" 100% of the time. So there is a strong raid and be raided component to the game, and building up your defences, and trying to come up with the perfectly defended layout, can be crucial if you want to hang on to your resources long enough to save up for that next big building advancement.

Cash in Trade Goods for various Blessings at your Temple.

Research at the Library to learn technologies.

Use your Blacksmith to research new troop types.

So what about you folks? Have you tried DomiNations yet? I'd love to hear what you think of it.

(If you haven't grabbed it yet, DomiNations is available on both Android and Apple devices. Enjoy!)