Dominion vs Payback Arcade
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Dominion
Build a powerful deck to expand your kingdom and earn victory points in this acclaimed deck-building strategy game. Explore vast card combinations, compete against AI or other players online, and enjoy endless replayability with numerous expansions.
- Deck-building mechanics
- Kingdom expansion
- AI opponent
- Online multiplayer
- Daily puzzles
- Cross-platform play
- Expansion packs
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Expand a small kingdom to a mighty Dominion! Play the Spiel des Jahres winner beloved by millions of boardgame hobbyists around the world. This is the officially licensed implementation. REIGNING DECKBUILDER Discover the game that defined a genre, Dominion was first to popularize deck-building and remains a staple of tabletop. GROW YOUR KINGDOM Collect as many Victory Points as you can by building a powerful deck. Your deck starts out a small sad set of Estates and Coppers, but you hope that by the end of the game it will be brimming with Gold, Provinces, and the inhabitants and structures of your kingdom. BUILD YOUR ENGINE Choose wisely among the 10 cards available in the tableau to create the strongest combos to dominate your opponent. COLLECT ALL EXPANSIONS Make your games more exciting with additional cards and rules from up to 15 expansions including the recent Plunder expansion! NEAR INFINITE VARIETY Over one hundred thirty-two septillion possible Kingdom combinations, 500+ cards, 15 and counting expansions, and ongoing promo packs make Dominion one of the most extensive and replayable boardgames in the hobby. COMPETE WITH THE COMPUTER Sharpen your skills with solitaire style solo play against a robust AI, with four levels of difficulty. Our innovative AI learns through self-play. Earn Achievements and win in Recommended Sets against each AI level. PLAY FRIENDS OR STRANGERS Play with up to 6 players online through your device or pass and play among your friends. Join ranked or unranked matchmaking, with realtime and asynchronous modes. Set up a private table for a family game, challenge a stranger in the lobby, or invite a friend! DAILY PUZZLE A daily ritual to relax with over a cup of coffee. Try the Daily Dominion, a free puzzle level available to players around the world. Practice your strategy to keep up a winning streak and climb the leaderboard. CROSS-PLATFORM PLAY Play from any supported device, whenever you want, after verifying your email in-game. Join games with opponents on platforms other than your own. JOIN THE COMMUNITY With an active Discord and online community, make new friends or challenge new people to a game. Export and share kingdoms and game summaries to compare strategies. FREE TO PLAY Download the game that started it all for free! The base set of Dominion is available at no charge. Try the rotation of expansion cards in the Daily at no cost once per day. Jump into a lobby game with expansions enabled to try before you buy. Only the host needs to own the expansions. INTRODUCTION TO TABLETOP Learn the ropes in this easy to pick-up, hard to master title. Play one of the most highly regarded strategy tabletop games of all time through our simple tutorial. The core loop is easy to follow, but offers a wealth of strategy to explore. • 1 - 6 player support • Five-hundred plus cards • Solo play against 4 AI difficulties • Async & real-time multiplayer • Ranked & unranked matchmaking • Lobby & Private game tables • Cross platform multiplayer • Cross platform purchases • Daily challenge • Challenging AI that learns through self-play • Recommended Sets • Customize, save & share Kingdoms • Achievements, Stats & Leaderboards • Pass & Play mode • Automated score-keeping & hints • Smart-play options to streamline gameplay • Jumbo mode for readability on phones • Turbo mode to zoom through games quickly • Tutorial & Rules • 4 languages: English, Japanese, German, French • 15+ expansions plus three promo packs
Payback Arcade
Experience a competitive card game of insults and comebacks digitally. Practice solo to master the game, then challenge others online and climb the leaderboards to prove your punchline prowess. Enjoy fast-paced card battles optimized for mobile devices.
- Digital card game adaptation
- Solo practice mode
- Online multiplayer matches
- Leaderboards
- Optimized for phone and iPad
- Save profile and progress with Apple ID
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Payback is the fast, chaotic card game where anyone can make a comeback. Be the first to get rid of all your cards. Payback Arcade is the official app of the Payback party card game, with over 15,000 decks delivered in 50+ countries. Learn it in two minutes, then play solo against CPU opponents or online against real players. HOW TO PLAY • Play a card equal to or higher than the pile. Play pairs and triples to empty your hand faster. • Can't play? Pick up the pile, or take a chance and flip the top card of the deck. • Four of the same card in a row burns the pile, and you go again. • Clear your hand, then your face-up cards, then your face-down cards. The last three are pure blind luck. SPECIAL CARDS • Burn: destroy the pile and play again. • Ghost: pass your turn without changing the pile. • Skip: skip the next player. • Reset: drop the pile back to zero. • Mirror: send the pile back to whoever acted last. PLAY SOLO • Classic: you against three CPU players. • Duel: go one-on-one with Uncle Ronnie. • Nightmare: face tougher CPU players for bigger points. • Helpful tips in your first games teach you the rules as you play. PLAY ONLINE • Quick Play: jump straight into a match, no account needed. • Classic: the full Payback experience against real players. • Duel: prove your skill head to head. • Explosive: three matching cards in a row burn the pile. • Bullet: lightning-fast turns for quick games. • Rooms: create a room for any mode, invite friends with a code or link, and rematch instantly. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS • Earn a grade from D to S+ after every game. • Rank up from Bronze to Silver, Gold, Platinum, Master, and Champion. • Compare games played and win rates with the top players. Browse every card in the deck, including previews of the Dark Wizard and Mystery expansions. Want to play in person? Get the physical Payback card game from the official shop. Free to play. Sign in with Apple, create an account, or play as a guest.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Payback Arcade at none against Dominion's 17. Payback Arcade also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 68%). Dominion's advantage is ratings volume (4.7K vs 3) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 16.6). On price, rating, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Dominion sells 17 one-off in-app purchases. Payback Arcade asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for Dominion against 5.0 for Payback Arcade. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Dominion has 4.7K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 68% of Dominion's written reviews are positive against 100% of Payback Arcade's.
Dominion ships an update every 5 days, Payback Arcade every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Dominion | Payback Arcade |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (4.7K ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 68.4% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 4.7K — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 9 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 423 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Temple Gates Games LLC | Great Guy Games, LLC |
Customer experience
Dominion
Payback Arcade
Bugs and requests
Dominion
Reported bugs
3 issues- Possession card not working correctly
- Victory points not displayed properly
- Inability to rejoin games after server disconnects
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to select specific card sets for randomized games
- Option to complete games against AI when opponents forfeit
- More detailed game statistics and player history tracking
- Improved matchmaking filters for online play
- Shareable in-app purchases for family members
Payback Arcade
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Dominion
- Alchemy$4.99
- Intrigue$4.99
- Cornucopia$4.99
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- Guilds$4.99
- Seaside$9.99
- Renaissance$9.99
- Menagerie$9.99
- Prosperity$9.99
- Dark Ages$9.99
- Adventures$9.99
- Empires$9.99
- Plunder$9.99
- Nocturne$9.99
- Rising Sun$9.99
- Hinterlands$9.99
- Launch Bundle$99.99
- Expansion Bundle$109.99
Payback Arcade
No in-app purchases









