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Dominion Scoring & Game End
Dominion Second Edition game-end triggers, full deck scoring, a Gardens example, the turns-taken tiebreak and the four-pile rule for fi
Dominion Second Edition game-end triggers, full deck scoring, a Gardens example, the turns-taken tiebreak and the four-pile rule for fi
In Dominion Second Edition, the usual two-to-four-player game ends at the end of a turn when the Province Supply pile is empty or any three Supply piles are empty. Then count points from every card you own, including cards outside your draw deck. The five-to-six-player rules using extra base cards change the three-pile condition to four; see below.
What exactly triggers the end?
- Province pile empty: this ends the game after the current player’s turn is finished, even if fewer than three piles are empty.
- Three or more Supply piles empty: any Supply piles count, including Kingdom cards, Curses and base Treasures. They do not have to be Victory piles.
Emptying a pile during your Buy phase does not stop your remaining legal actions for that turn. Finish the turn and check the condition then. A player can therefore buy or gain the last cards from multiple piles during one turn, provided the card effects and available Buys permit it.
Example: The Province pile still has cards, but the Estate and Village piles are empty. If a player empties the Smithy pile this turn, three Supply piles are empty at turn end and the game ends. If Village was merely low rather than empty, this condition would not be met.
Which cards count for Victory points?
Gather all cards you own: your hand, draw deck, discard pile, cards in play and any cards set aside. The usual base-card values are Estate +1, Duchy +3, Province +6 and Curse −1. Treasure and most Action cards provide no printed Victory points, but they may matter when a Kingdom Victory card counts your total cards.
For example, Gardens is worth 1 point for every 10 cards you own, rounded down, for each copy of Gardens. With 27 owned cards, two Gardens are worth 2 points apiece, or 4 together. Count the Gardens themselves among the 27. Other Kingdom and expansion cards may have their own scoring text; resolve that text before declaring a final total.
A worked total
Four Provinces give 24, three Duchies give 9, two Estates give 2 and two Curses subtract 2. That is 33 points before variable Victory cards. If the player also owns two Gardens and owns 27 cards in total, add 4 for a final 37. Do not score only the visible discard pile or the final hand.
How does the tiebreak work?
The highest Victory-point total wins. If two players tie, the one who took fewer turns wins. If they also took the same number of turns, they share the victory. For example, two players finish on 37 points; one took 14 turns and the other 15. The player with 14 wins the tie.
What changes with five or six players?
Rio Grande’s Base Card Set instructions describe a larger game using extra base cards. In that format, the Province pile still ends the game when empty, but the other trigger is four empty Supply piles. The setup also uses 15 Provinces with five players or 18 with six, with other Victory piles remaining at 12. Do not carry the standard three-pile rule into that larger setup.
End-of-game checklist
- Finish the current turn and check Province or the relevant empty-pile count.
- Collect all owned cards, including any set aside.
- Add fixed values and calculate variable Victory cards from their text.
- Compare totals, then turns taken if needed.
Continue learning
Rules sources and scope
Rio Grande Games, Dominion Second Edition rules (PDF) and the publisher’s Base Card Set instructions for five or six players. Expansion cards may add scoring types and special end conditions. Checked October 2026.