In Dominion, each player starts with an identical, very small deck of cards. In the center of the table, there is a selection of other cards that players can buy if they can afford them. By choosing which cards to purchase and how to play their hands as they draw them, players quickly build their decks and strive for the most efficient path to valuable victory points until the end of the game.

Dominion is not a collectible card game, but the gameplay resembles the construction and play of a collectible card deck. The game includes 500 cards. You select 10 out of 26 types of kingdom cards that you want to include in any game, resulting in immense variety.

Dominion (Second Edition) replaces six types of kingdom cards from the first edition with six new types of kingdom cards while also replacing the blank cards in the game with a seventh new kingdom card. These new cards are available individually in the Dominion: Update Pack. The rulebook has been rewritten, three cards have minor functional changes (adding "You may" to Moneylender, Mine, Throne Room), and other cards have been rephrased while remaining functionally the same.