Dominion Expansions to Buy?

[Captain Kirk]

I absolutely love Dominion. I learned on Intrigue and bought Base a few months back. Someone in my playgroup has Intrigue.

What expansions should I buy next and why? I believe I should look at Prosperity and Seaside next from what I have heard. Or should I get Intrigue myself first?

Also, what size card sleeves have you found to fit in Dominion boxes (if any)? Do Yu-Gi-Oh size fit?

Thanks,
Kirk

[soul seeker]

Definitely buy prosperity if you have the money. Cornucopia is fun but may not be worth the money because of so few kingdom cards.

Avoid Alchemy, it is an awful set.  I have played every set but Dark Ages because of a program on my tablet.

[Prof Underwood]

I agree that Prosperity is the best one to go for at this point.  I also agree that Alchemy is lame.  Seaside is in the middle.

I play online for free here.

[JSB23]

I liked alchemy quite a bit, but which sets you buy depends on what kind of game you want to play.

Intrigue is generally far more cutthroat, with some nasty attack cards and actions that screw with your opponents' decks, at the cost of losing some economic options.

Seaside is all about the long term, with cards that give you small bonuses immediately, and on your next turn. The downside is, there's very little that helps you right away, which means you're in for some long games and sloggy turns.

Prosperity is the opposite of Intrigue, only a few attacks and player interaction cards, and a lot of economic options. The downsides are twofold, a prosperity only game can easily become a game of multi-player solitaire, and the power curve is so high that it kinda wrecks the previous sets. That being said, it's a lot of fun to play.

[Warrior_Monk]

Really enjoying Prosperity right now, though I agree with JSB that it doesn't have as much interaction, so it's great to mix with sets like Intrigue.

[Bryon]

I really like Hinterlands, as many cards give you immediate rewards as you buy them.  It feels a lot less clunky than Seaside.

I do like Prosperity, too.

Kurt is a big fan of Dark Ages, and it can be fun.  It has tons of new cards.  Great trash cards and interations with the trash pile.  Rats are a riot.

Avoid the small expansions for now - especially Alchemy.

[CJSports]

If you can, buy them all. It is that good. Alchemy is fairly lame but it's still worth getting. I enjoy Dark Ages and it gives a huge amount of new cards.

[Isildur]

Bryon and JSB both explained the pros and cons of the sets pretty well.

If your content with using the playgroup copy of Intrigue... then Prosperity or Dark Ages will get you the most fun. Both Sea Side and Hinterlands are good but they arent adding really that much that is "new" outside of the orange cards when compared to the other sets.

[YourMathTeacher]

Well, so far you guys have not led me astray, so I may have to try this game as well. I bought Settlers of Catan and Shadows Over Camelot after hearing about them from you guys, and our playgroup plays them regularly.

So for this Dominion game... what is a good price for them? They're all over eBay, but I'm not sure how they compare to other outlets. I got my Shadows & Expansion on eBay for $25 each. The Schaef hooked me up with Settlers and all expansions through his store. Does anyone know if he still sells games, particularly Dominion? Is anyone selling their collection here?

What do I need to play? Do I have to have the original first (like Settlers)? Are any expansions stand alone?

[Master KChief]

I have also heard many good things about this game and would love to learn how to play.

[SiLeNcEd_MaTrIx]

Very interested now myself, what is a good price on this game?

[Master KChief]

Looks like the cheapest BIN on eBay is $37 for the base set, for reference.

[Isildur]

assuming you have free shipping you can get it for about $32 on Amazon

[Prof Underwood]

Well, so far you guys have not led me astray, so I may have to try this game as well. I bought Settlers of Catan and Shadows Over Camelot after hearing about them from you guys, and our playgroup plays them regularly.

If you guys liked those two games, then I think you'll like Dominion as well.  The other two games that I think would be most enjoyed by your group are Ticket to Ride (everyone for themselves like Settlers) and Pandemic (co-op game like Shadows).

Both are are the same level of difficulty, and are tons of fun

[TimMierz]

What do I need to play? Do I have to have the original first (like Settlers)? Are any expansions stand alone?

You could start with either Dominion (the base game) or Dominion: Intrigue (the first expansion). The base game cards are generally more straightforward, and the Intrigue cards offer more decisions and options. There is no overlap in kingdom cards with those two - they both include the basic always-available stuff you need, but otherwise are unique products. You can certainly play with just one or the other (or both!) and have plenty of interesting games without needing other expansions. But if you do want expansions...

I've never understood why people dislike Alchemy. It offers a new type of currency (potions) used on the cards in that set, which offers some new decisions about whether to bother with that currency, which can access really powerful cards or just be dead weight. Some of my favorite cards (Apprentice, Golem, University) are from Alchemy! But I'm nearly alone in that assessment, for whatever reason.

Seaside is a great first expansion. The complexity is not that much of a step up, but there are more decisions during card play that reach beyond the current turn. Dark Ages and Hinterlands have more complex interactions; while they're great for more experienced players, I would not recommend them to a newcomer. Prosperity is cool, but the designer himself recommends not getting that as the first expansion, because then the introduction of Platinum and Colony is less special. I would steer clear of Cornucopia and Alchemy at the start just because you'll get fewer cards at only a minor price difference. The cards in both are certainly enjoyable (I'm a fan of Jester and Farming Village especially), but you get less raw quantity and therefore less variety.

Enjoy! It's the board game besides Malta! that I've played the most, and I don't regret it one bit.

[Bryon]

I've really enjoyed Dominion over the last couple years.  If you like Dominion and Marvel comics, you should try Legendary.  It is expensive, but certainly fun enough to be worth the $.

[Captain Kirk]

To Tim, John, and Kyle,

I know you would all love Dominion. I don't know how I missed out on it for the past few years. $32 w free shipping on Amazon is the best I have seen (as Brandon mentioned).

To all who weighed in,

Mixed feedback as I imagined. So it sounds like Prosperity, Dark Ages, Hinterlands, and Seaside are all good ideas. I have played at least 30 games of Dominion so I would not shy away from advanced sets.

Kirk

[Captain Kirk]

I received Intrigue for my birthday and a $50 Amazon gift card. With that in mind, if I can pick up 2 more expansions (to add to Base and Intrigue), what pairing of 2 would y'all recommend? I am wondering if Prosperity and a more complex one (Hinterlands or Dark Ages) is the way to go.

Kirk

[YourMathTeacher]

I would recommend buying another base set and sending to yourself through my address.

[JSB23]

I am wondering if Prosperity and a more complex one (Hinterlands or Dark Ages) is the way to go.

I'd suggest Prosperity  and Seaside.

[Prof Underwood]

I'd suggest Prosperity  and Seaside.

I agree with this.  I love Prosperity, and the whole affecting future turns aspect of Seaside appeals to my strategic side

[Bryon]

I agree with Prosperity.  I prefer Hinterlands to Seaside.  Both are fun, but they are kind of opposites.  Hinterlands gives extra rewards right when you purchase cards.  Seaside gives extra rewards the turn after you play the card.

[browarod]

Sorry to necropost but it seemed better than starting a new thread.

This weekend I was at a game store and decided it was high time I picked up the Dominion base set. I've played a few games with others and some online and very much enjoy the strategy and plethora of different ways to play (As far as different sets of cards to use).

It seems like everyone suggests Intrigue be the second one to get, but I'm wondering if anyone has a full list of all the expansions and maybe a suggested guide through buying into them? I can't buy anything else right now, but over time I'd like to know which ones to add to my collection.

From the above comments I'm getting something like this to start:
1. Intrigue
2. Prosperity
3. and 4. Seaside and Hinterlands in any order
5.

Any thoughts/suggestions for after that?

[Josh]

Here are the expansions I know of:

Intrigue
Seaside
Alchemy
Prosperity
Cornucopia
Hinterlands
Dark Ages
Guilds
Adventures

Of these, I've purchased all but Cornucopia, Guilds, and Adventures.  Cornucopia did not have great reviews online, and is a smaller expansion (hence why you can find it cheaper).  Guilds and Adventures are newer, and from what I can tell, they are more complex. 

If you want to buy these in order of complexity (easier to more complex), I'd recommend this order (based only on the 6 I've purchased):
1. Seaside
2. Intrigue (although it's about the same level as Seaside)
3. Prosperity
4. Hinterlands
5. Alchemy
6. Dark Ages

If you want to know my ranking of expansions in terms of playability and enjoyability, I'd rank like this (most fun to least fun):
1. Prosperity
2. Intrigue
3. Seaside
4. Dark Ages
5. Hinterlands
6. Alchemy

I can give more detailed opinions on these if you want.  I haven't played much with the bottom 3 on this list, so maybe I need to get more experience with them.  Also, Alchemy is an extremely small expansion, and basically needs to be played with another expansion (or the base game).  Just something to keep in mind.

[YourMathTeacher]

FTR, I ended up getting the base set and then Intrigue. Intrigue provides a second full set of the basic cards (copper, silver, gold, curses, etc.), which I needed for my larger playgroup. The intrigue cards are interesting, but they have a lot of nasty attack cards. I have not bought any other expansions because my group got hooked on the D.C. Deckbuilding game, which is the same format as Dominion, but we liked the theme better. We also started playing the similar Star Realms deckbuilding game, which is much faster than both Dominion and DC.