by Paul G
Erm, I've had far more close games of Dominion than close games of this, proportionally. In Dominion, if all players are good, it'll be really neck-in-neck - barring some cards that aren't properly balanced for their cost (Minion, Treasury) - and even those, in most games, end up being evenly split among all the players and not causing any issues.Dominion also has a built in catchup mechanism, in that the point cards make it harder to buy more points. The game is very clever. If you're feeling like it's largely luck, read some strategy threads or play against people at a different skill level than you (higher OR lower). Two people of identical skill playing a balanced game will always end up being 50/50, which looks a lot like luck - and is. It's even necessary luck to make a game interesting - but it's interesting luck.
This one, on the other hand, the winner is determined by several coin-flips, not good decision making. Which Super-Villain shows up when can seriously alter the course of the game, and not in an interesting or preventable way. "Oh, Deathstroke just killed my Man of Steel. Can we stop playing now?"
Thunderstone is just a bad game.