I recently binged “The Big Bang Theory” and always wondered if anyone would make a game out of “Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock”. While not involving reptiles or Vulcans, “Dominus Charta” does add hammers to the mix, along with some abstract movement rules a la “Chess” & “Checkers”. It supports two players and takes about a half hour to an hour to play. Before we get started I’m required by FTC regulations to disclose that I was paid to cover this game, however any and all opinions are my own. The only thing paid for was my time and expert opinion.
Components & Setup
The game comes with a double-sided game board and a bunch of different tokens colored red and blue (indicative of the two player colors). These tokens include paper, rock, scissor, hammer, and Dominus Charta tokens. The double-sided board is the same except that one side includes the starting locations of the tokens hard-shaded onto their spaces.
Like “Chess”, tokens are setup in a standard, consistent configuration.
One player will be red and the other will be blue, with the red player going first. Use whatever method you’d like to determine who will be the red (and start) player. Each player’s dominus charta token starts with the unus face-down.
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Gameplay Overview
Like “Chess” and “Checkers”, players each take one turn at a time in alternating order, starting with the red player. Each piece moves and attacks somewhat differently. None of the pieces can jump over other pieces.
Hammer – Like the pieces in “Checkers”, it can only move forward one hex at a time. When it reaches the other side of the board (like in “Chess”), it promotes to a rock, paper, or scissor piece. The hammer can capture a rock or scissor in front of it.
Scissor – Like the Queen in “Chess”, it moves in a straight line in any direction, forwards, sideways, or backwards, as many spaces as it wants. The scissor can capture a paper or dominus charta. The game ends if the scissor piece captures the latter.
Paper – It moves like the scissor, but can capture rock or hammer.
Rock – It moves like the scissor, but can capture scissor.
Dominus Charta – Acts like the King in “Chess” in that it can only move one space at a time in any direction. It can capture rock or hammer. The game ends if it is cut / captured by scissor. Once per game, it may move like the other pieces. When it does so, it flips over to show that ability was expended. During this move, it may capture hammer or rock.
Players continue taking turns until someone captures the dominus charta, in which case they win the game!
The above doesn’t cover all of the rules found in the rulebook, but should give you an idea as to how the game is played.
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Review
As a former member of the United States Chess Federation, I tend to sway toward abstract games. Those games that do feature dice typically have to have some kind of mitigation mechanic or ways to manipulate said dice in order for me to enjoy them. “Dominus Charta” was a familiar breath of fresh air, but I have to wonder if it’s a bit “too” familiar. The game is literally “Rock Paper Scissors” with “Chess” and “Checker” mechanics. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, I just wish there was a bit more originality. I’ve seen countless digital “Chess” games that feature new races, piece types, and etc. that have their own unique, never seen before ways of playing. While not a deal breaker, it’s certainly a missed opportunity.
The gameplay itself was pretty fluid, but there was a bit of decision paralysis going on as we attempted to formulate strategies for the first time. The real kicker is that some tokens are immune to others. In “Chess”, you can take almost anything with anybody. It was a real struggle at times for me to position my pieces in such a way to where they were pressuring something and totally safe from whatever enemy tokens were within range of them. Our first game played out like a disorganized symphony with half the string section out of tune, but we know that games like this usually take time to master.
As for the components themselves, I will say that I appreciated that both sides of the board contained a cheat sheet. Having something like this will certainly help newcomers get acclimated. By that same token, I personally do not like the side of the board that contained the shaded areas indicating where the starting pieces should go. Mid-game, when pieces are scattered, the board looks more cluttered and busy than usual. When scanning the board, I would sometimes have to remind myself that the shaded hex I was looking at wasn’t really a threat. I think folks are smart enough to copy a picture from the rule book and setup a board game without the need for shaded reminders. This will come down to individual taste, for sure. My recommendation is to go with the non-shaded side.
As for the rest of the components, they suffer from the laser-cut soot problem that makes my eye twitch. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, when a consumer pays money for a board game, the last thing they want to do is clean up the soot / mess while unboxing it. It promotes a bad first impression and I have to stress this, IN MY OPINION. The bulk of tabletop games on the market do not have this problem but I understand why it is an option on “The Game Crafter’s” site. I always encourage developers to pick a better option if possible.
The double-sided board is the flimsiest piece of cardboard I have ever seen. To call it a “board” is an insult to the word, “board.” It folds into 4, but the supposed non-tearing slits tear quite easily. In removing this…thing from the box, one of the folds partially ripped. The board doesn’t lay flat, but you can’t attempt to smooth it for fear of tearing it. My fingerprints immediately smeared all over it, so whatever finish this thing has doesn’t work well. I expected perhaps a quick guide sheet to be this flimsy and cheap, but not the main attraction. For a $32 game, the quality is just not there. Paying customers deserve better at that price. This felt more like a prototype as opposed to a retail game.
“Dominus Charta” is a decent enough game that could have been made better with a bit more originality. On the plus side it can be played by any age group and promotes critical thinking like “Chess” does. You also don’t need to be fluent in Latin to play this game, thankfully. I will admit, “Dominus Charta” does sound more intimidating than “Master Paper”. The price is a bit high for a game like this, but higher prices are typical as far as “Game Crafter” games are concerned. The developer informed me that he had the option to ship the game in a baggie instead of a box and cut the price by almost $10. Victory Point Games used to ship their games in a baggie way back when…I’d be fine with that. I have enough trouble managing my tabletop library space as-is.
The game will be featured as part of a crowd sale on February 9, 2023 on The Game Crafter site if you’re interested in getting the game for cheaper. Link below.
Update 2/6/2024: The developer has stopped the crowd sale for the purposes of making changes to the game.
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Final Verdict: 5/10 (Fair)
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Box Quote: “Dominus Charta” combines some familiar game concepts and adds its own special twist.
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Buy: https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/dominus-charta
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