7:07PM - Five Favourite Board Games #4: Domaine
Domaine was designed by Klaus Teuber, the same man who produced Settlers of Catan. In Domaine, the main idea is to stake out territory, in order to accumulate points. You can do this by playing cards, which allow you either to place fences or to expand existing territory.
This means that at the beginning of the game, you have to decide how greedy you're going to be: it can be very tempting to try to grab one more square. Which make the game reminiscent of Leo Tolstoy's wonderful story, How much land does a man need? I can't tell it as well as Tolstoy, of course, but basically it goes as follows:
Pahóm has an opportunity to obtain some land – for a thousand roubles, he can have as much land as he can go around in a day, but he must return to his starting point by sunset, or his money is forfeit. He starts early in the morning at the top of a hill, walking at a steady pace. As the sun gets higher, Pahóm is getting warmer. At noon he stops for a short rest, but he has to keep on going. He skirts around a nice piece of land and starts to head back. But now the journey is getting harder, and his feet are sore. The sun is sinking, and Pahóm starts to worry that he has tried for too much. He pushes on, faster and faster, running towards the base of the hill. But just as he reaches it, it becomes dark – the sun has set! And yet, the people at the top of the hill continue to urge him on, for at the peak the sun has not yet sunk beneath the horizon. With all his remaining strength, Pahóm rushes up the hill, and reaches the top moments before the sun sets. Pahóm's legs give way, and he collapses, dead. Then his servant takes up a spade, digs a grave, and buries him.
How much land does a man need? Six feet from his head to his heels.