Clone of the classic board game on your Mac

Domination is based on Risk which is one of the most widely-played and most loved board games in the world.

Domination is one of the few games of this kind out there, and more or less manages to capture the magic of the original. Domination is based on the Java platform and the graphics could be better but generally it’s faithful to the original, and best of all, it’s free.

If you don’t know the rules of Risk then prepare yourself for a steep learning curve. Domination takes a little while to get to grips with but there is an option at the beginning that takes you through the rules. The basic aim is to place your armies around the world in a bid the conquer the planet.

Along the top of Domination’s user interface are tabs that allow you to see Land Ownership, Border Threats, Card Ownership, Troop Strength, and your Connected Empire. These are crucial to monitor as your success or failure will depend upon these factors. It’s a little annoying having to flip back and forth between the tabs but to be fair to the developer, we’re not sure how else it could’ve been done.

Despite the Java, Domination plays very smoothly although there is a notable lack of sound effects or soundtrack of any kind. It’s a good game for friends connected on a network as up to six players can play at once. Just ‘Start a Server’ on the main screen and then other friends can join you by entering the server name after clicking ‘Join Game’. At the end of Domination you can all compare your performances via the detailed stats readouts on everything from kills to continents conquered.

Domination will undoubtedly appeal to fans of the board game Risk and considering it’s entirely free, it’s failings can be forgiven.