Dominion Expansions to Buy?

[Captain Kirk]

I now have all the sets but Adventures (and the promos). You should get larger sets first as you get more cards for your money. Thst means you should pick from:
- Intrigue
- Seaside
- Prosperity
- Hinterlands
- Dark Ages
- Adventures

The last two are more involved but any of the others are solid choices early on. Intrigue has the most player interaction, Seaside and Hinterlands add new ways to hone your deck, and Prosperity adds very powerful but expensive cards. Prosperity also adds a more expensive coin (Platinum) and victory point (Colony) which are well worth it.

Kirk

[Prof Underwood]

We also started playing the similar Star Realms deckbuilding game, which is much faster than both Dominion and DC.

Star Realms is awesome!

If you go back to Dominion, I would go with Prosperity.  It the more expensive stuff really twists the game in interesting ways, and it doesn't have all the nasty attacks of Intrigue.

[YourMathTeacher]

It the more expensive stuff really twists the game in interesting ways, and it doesn't have all the nasty attacks of Intrigue.

Interestingly, several of my players like the nasty attack cards (including my loving son     ) which is why they like the DC Deckbuilding Game so much. The anticipation of who the next Super Villain might be, and what their First Appearance Attack will be, causes priceless reactions. 

I like the variety of cards you can purchase with games like DC and Star Realms, since they have the "line-up" scenario, rather than the limited 10 Kingdom cards in Dominion. I really enjoy Dominion, but it seems too rigid compared to the others. Perhaps the other expansions offer more variety than I am aware of? Do they offer alternative win scenarios, for example? In the DC game, for instance, you have the Kyle Raymer hero card, where if you play him and three power rings in the same turn you win the game immediately. I actually pulled it off a couple weeks ago, but so many variables have to work in your favor that it is very unlikely.

[Captain Kirk]

No other win scenarios in Dominion.

[YourMathTeacher]

No other win scenarios in Dominion.

Are there any other drastic gameplay changes with any of the other expansions, particularly with what is available to buy/gain?

BTW, I got your email with your revised Capture the Flag game. I will try to get some playtesting in this coming week, but unfortunately we are packing up our house as we prepare to put it up for sale. Teachers report to school on August 17th, so my free time will become very limited. Sorry. 

[Prof Underwood]

we are packing up our house as we prepare to put it up for sale.

Woah, that is huge news all of a sudden.  This seems like a follow-up post in Prayer Requests might be in order.  I hope that it's a praise and not a request, but either way I'd like to pray for your family.

[Captain Kirk]

There are drastic changes in Adventures. When setting up the 10 kingdom cards, if you draw any of a certain new card type (I forget what they are called), you keep drawing until you get to 10 regular kingdom cards. Each of the new type of kingdom cards inflates the number of available cards. These cards never go in your deck when gained but instead give you immediate benefits and always remain available. So everyone can buy those cards for effect every turn as much as they would like. There are also quite a few cards that leave your deck for periods of time until certain triggers are met, upon which they return to your deck. So Adventures definitely creates new scenarios and ways to play.

The other expansions don't seem to change the game as much as they reward you for playing different types of cards. Dark Ages rewards you for playing with trashing cards, as many cards give a benefit when trashed. There are ways to get things out of the trash. Cornucopia rewards you for playing with more uniquely named cards in each deck. Those themes I mentioned are fun to pursue and provide new angles of deckbuilding, allowing players to use cards they might not normally choose. There are also a number of "chase" cards in some sets that can only be acquired under certain conditions (see the extra cards that can only be gained when playing with Tournament and Hermit). You might wait much of the game to get some of the cards I am referring to but they are quite strong.

Regarding CtF, thanks for the heads up. I recognize life is full for everyone and I didn't get you updated rules for awhile. Just curious, I assume you did not play the last version before I asked you to wait for the new one? Any feedback in the future would still be great because it is looking more like I will publish it at this point. Games really don't take very long after you know how to play. If it would help you provide me with playtestinf feedback easier, I would be happy to mail you a put-together playtest set to save you prep time. I could also teach you how to play over Skype. I can have others playtest by learning from the rules. Just let me know.

Kirk

[YourMathTeacher]

Regarding CtF, thanks for the heads up. I recognize life is full for everyone and I didn't get you updated rules for awhile. Just curious, I assume you did not play the last version before I asked you to wait for the new one? Any feedback in the future would still be great because it is looking more like I will publish it at this point. Games really don't take very long after you know how to play. If it would help you provide me with playtestinf feedback easier, I would be happy to mail you a put-together playtest set to save you prep time. I could also teach you how to play over Skype. I can have others playtest by learning from the rules. Just let me know.

I have not looked at the revised version yet, due to all the packing. Have the components changed much? I had printed out everything and put together the pieces/tokens. If there aren't many changes, I will not need you to send me a "put-together" set. I prefer to read the rules and then play, if that is still OK.

We have a realtor viewing the house on Friday, so my wife and I have been frantically cleaning, and going through 7 years of boxes in the garage. I may not be able to playtest until the weekend.

[Captain Kirk]

I will pray God gives you wisdom and speed in cleaning and packing up everything!

Most of the changes are rule-related but there are some component updates. For components, I added token #7 but the others are the same. The action cards changed a bit: arrows instead of NEWS and removed rest (replaced by token #7) and added cancel. So you would want to print the action cards again, the board, and 2 copies of the move board, which was added to streamline gameplay. Let me know if it would be helpful to send something. My guess is you are probably fine since you took care of 86% of the tokens.

That would be great if you learned via the rules. I need to know if they're horrible.

Kirk

Kirk