On of the big gaming hits of last year in the RockyMountainNavy family was the arrival of Kingdomino. The 2017 Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) winner is also a winner in this house as it is a lite, filler game that also serves as an excellent gateway game. Indeed, Mrs. RMN uses Kingdonimo to introduce her students to boardgaming.
So popular was Kingdomino that Youngest RMN was just itching to get Queendomino. So, using some of his Christmas Cash he purchased the game. We broke it out immediately after getting home and played.
The first game was a letdown.
Sure, the core mechanic (placing the “domino” and selecting a new one for next turn) remains the same as Kingdomino but the addition of Knights and Buildings and Towers and Taxes and the Dragon sorta fell flat. Maybe its because we didn’t fully understand the rules and didn’t utilize the new components as best we could. Maybe it was the very confused scoring round (I mean, you need a custom notepad?). The result was a kinda blah gaming experience.
Maybe we should of not gone into the game with such high expectations. The RMN Boys and I talked about our clash of expectations and reality and decided that Kingdomino and Queendomino, though being similar in name and core mechanic, are actually two very different games. Kingdomino is the “simple” version and as such it rightly meets the gateway game requirement. Queendomino, on the other hand, is more a “gamers game” with more advanced mechanics added in making it a much different game. With this new viewpoint we reassessed our feelings on Queendomino and agreed that it is a good, fun, lite-middleweight game that takes the Kingdomino core mechanic to a new level.
There is an episode of Miami Dice (with Tom Vasel) out there where they talk about Queendomino. Tom, who is not a fan of Kingdomino, likes Queendomino but constantly reminds the viewers that Queendomino is the game that (he believes) Kingdomino should of always been. He even casually dismisses the Spiel des Jahres win. When I first watched this episode I bristled at Tom’s attitude because I think he misses the point that we only really discovered after our first play; these are two games aimed at different segments of gamers. I got a little bit miffed at Tom (and Zee) in this video because they showed me an elitist attitude that I abhor. Not every game is a Heavy Cardboard candidate nor is every game a new Carcassonne. Many games have their niche and in the case of the RockyMountainNavy family Kingdomino filled one nicely. Queendonimo is not a bad game but it is taking a bit for us to warm to it because it is just so different then we expected. Tom and Zee, well-known spokesmen for the gaming hobby, seems to have forgotten that not everyone has their taste – or needs – in games. Their casual dismissal of Kingdomino is laziness at best and negligence towards their gaming audience at worst.
Queendomino will get played by the RMN Family but it will not replace Kingdomino. The two games compliment each other more than Queendomino “expands” Kingdomino. Two games for different gaming needs.
Rocky Mountain Navy Gamer 
Interesting thoughts.
I just wrote up my thoughts on QueenDomino in my “New to Me – December 2017” post. I came into it cold without having played KingDomino and you could very well be right about the different target markets.
It’s interesting if that’s the case, though, since you would think people who love KingDomino would be a target for the expansion/sequel.
I think this is part of my confusion. From the publishers blurb, “Queendomino is a game completely independent from Kingdomino, while offering a choice of more complex challenges. Two to four players can play Queendomino independently, but also in connection with Kingdomino, allowing for games with 7×7 grids for four players, or for up to six players if you stick to 5×5 grids.”
So, is it “completely independent” or can it “be combined?” The answer to both is yes. Maybe a design achievement I have been slow to recognize.
Bottom line is that Queendomino is a good game that evolved from Kingdomino. Both have a separate niche in my game collection; a separation I was not expecting.