Dominion's solitaire quality is its greatest strength and its primary criticism. You are building your own deck against opponents who are building their own decks. Interaction comes primarily through attack cards and through competition for limited kingdom cards. This means Dominion at four players feels only slightly more interactive than Dominion at two.

The criticism is fair — players who want direct confrontation will find Dominion unsatisfying. The appeal is the elegant purity: you are solving a deck construction puzzle with the kingdom cards available in this session. The randomized kingdom setup creates a new puzzle every game.

For players who want more interactive deck building, Star Realms and Hero Realms add direct attack mechanics while preserving the deck building core. Clank! adds spatial competition. Thunderstone Quest adds a dungeon management layer. Dominion remains the cleanest expression of the form but its successors have addressed its interaction limitation.