Dominion: Prosperity
Ah, money. There's nothing like the sound of coins clinking in your hands. You vastly prefer it to the sound of coins clinking in someone else's hands, or the sound of coins just sitting there in a pile that no-one can quite reach without getting up. Getting up, that's all behind you now. Life has been good to you. Just ten years ago, you were tilling your own fields in a simple straw hat. Today, your kingdom stretches from sea to sea, and your straw hat is the largest the world has ever known. You also have the world's smallest dog, and a life-size statue of yourself made out of baklava. Sure, money can't buy happiness, but it can buy envy, anger, and also this kind of blank feeling. You still have problems - troublesome neighbors that must be conquered. But this time, you'll conquer them in style.
This is the 4th addition to the game of Dominion. It adds 25 new Kingdom cards to Dominion, plus 2 new Basic cards that let players keep building up past Gold and Province. The central theme is wealth; there are treasures with abilities, cards that interact with treasures, and powerful expensive cards.
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What Is It About? – An Overview of the Expansion
The fourth Dominion expansion, Prosperity invests in a wide portfolio of Treasure cards. The twist here is that the Treasure cards actually do something when in play, besides just giving Coin.
What Do I Get? – The Components in the Box
Returning to the larger expansion box, 300 cards are included, making up the typical 25 unique Kingdom cards but also adding new basic cards: Platinum and Colony, 12 of each. As a dependent expansion, it will need the basic cards (Victory, Coins, Curses, and Trash) of a base set.
Similar to Seaside, this expansion includes cardboard play mats to help organize the collection of metal coins and the newly introduced metal victory tokens. These tokens are VPs that you collect without bogging down your deck. They are in denominations of 1 and 5 VP.
What Does it Add? – Impacts to the Base Game
The focus is on Treasures with nearly 1/3 of the sets devoted to this card type. A handful of the Actions cards also support the use of the Treasures or generate more Coin. The sub-theme is gaining more Victory Points, but not through adding cards to your deck. So your score goes up without sacrificing efficiency.
With most of the Treasures now doing something, the game adds another level. Instead of simply counting money, certain things can be done, such as – gaining extra cards, getting them for a discount, putting the gained cards on top of your deck, revealing more treasure from your deck, etc. The basic effect is either a “cheap Gold” that is less than 6-Coin to buy but still generates 3-Coin with some penalty. Or an “expensive Copper / Silver” that costs more than 0- or 3-Coin to buy, but generates the standard 1- or 2-Coin now with an added bonus.
Two new basic cards are added, incrementally upping the ante on both Treasures and Victory cards. There is a 9-Coin Platinum that generates 5 Coin and an 11-Coin Colony that gains 10 VP at game end. They are added to the game randomly when Prosperity cards are used. The only change is that depleting the Colony deck will end the game in addition to Provinces running out.
The balance of the cards is the standard mix of Action cards, a few new Attack cards, and a new Reaction card. Trashing and discarding play a minor role in this set. Revealing cards from your deck is also strongly present. Since these cards are looking for specific things, there is a greater cycling of the cards, making bloated decks less ineffective.
What Is the Target Audience? – Who Should Get This
For those who like to buy and buy often, this is their expansion. This gives “Big Money” a new meaning as Coin generated per turn can be upwards of 20 or 30 coins. This is also an expansion for those who hate the dreaded “Dominion 7” – those times you end up with 7 Coin in a turn and can’t afford a Province, but don’t want to “waste” the purchase on another Gold – there are four 7-Coin cards just begging to be purchased!
While this is a must buy for any Dominion player, it is advisable to not include it in games with brand new players. They may walk away with the wrong impression that money is plentiful and be let down with “normal” games that don’t include a Prosperity mix, especially with Colonies and Platinum missing.
What Do I Think? – Final Thoughts
This is my favorite expansion as it tends to make everything more epic. Things cost more but much more Coin is produced. King’s Court is a beefed up Throne Room. Gold and Provinces can be upgraded to even more useful cards. No longer is the “Dominion 7” an unfortunate thing.
Venture and Vault are fun ways to get more money on the table. Counting House makes Copper-heavy decks even more attractive as it pulls all of your discard Coppers back into play once more. If you have a Counting House coming up, spend extra buys stocking your discard pile with pennies. Quarry and Talisman pair nicely with each other. The former discounts all Action cards by 2-Coin while the latter lets you get a 2nd copy of a purchased Action or Treasure if it costs 4-Coin or less. So quarry the costs down and get an extra copy of an expensive Action card. City is an expensive Village at 5-coin for the same basic +1 Card and +2 Actions. But it grows into an additional +1 Card once a Kingdom set is empty and then a +1 Coin and +1 Buy when a 2nd set is emptied. At that point it is a more-powerful version of Market for the same price.
In the greater hierarchy, I would obviously place this first of all expansions (ahead of Hinterlands). More than any other expansion, this set really opens up the field. There is more money, more buys, more cards and a lot more fun. Even when I am losing, I am just happy to see all the Coins getting played to the table. It is very satisfying to buy 2 or 3 Colonies in one turn; it is even more satisfying to do that with all Coppers!
For those familiar with the game but not owning it yet, I would even consider just getting this expansion and the Base Cards set that turns any expansion into a stand alone game.
What Else? – Other Expansion Reviews
Dominion (base game)
Intrigue
Seaside
Alchemy
Cornucopia
Why don’t you make 10 louder and make 10 be the top? Why do you need a Colony when you have a Province, or a King’s Court when you have the Throne Room? Well, going to 11 is way more than that. Dominion: Prosperity offers tons of new combos and ways of interacting with other players; and, all in all, makes for a more dynamic and strategic experience. It’s a very complete expansion that offers a little of everything that could be found in other implementations, wrapped in such an appealing theme as is richness.
Pros: does everything that Dominion: Vanilla does, just better. It adds new mechanics, more interesting decisions, crazy combos and new options to indirectly interact with your opponent(s). It has better art and you could even argue that it’s somewhat more thematic than the base game
Cons: it’s not a standalone game (which can be easily fixed by purchasing the base cards expansion)
What does it add?:
•Treasures that do things
Prosperity introduces 8 kingdom cards that are treasures. This doesn’t only increase the relevance of the card type while playing, making cards such as Thief or Adventurer from the base game more interesting to play; but allows you to do extra things during your buy phase. This gives a valid alternative to relying in +1 action cards, and helps to make the game more dynamic and give you the feel that you do more things each turn.
•Victory points that don’t clutter your hand
Three new action cards give victory point tokens, that count towards your final total without occupying space in your deck. These cards are a blast to play and introduce a new path to victory, that makes amassing points since the beginning of the game a viable and fun strategy.
•Cards that do something without being played
As a matter of fact, it wasn’t Hinterlands, but Prosperity, that introduced the “when you buy it” mechanic. Mint is a quite interesting card that trashes all treasures in play when you buy it. Which can be a bad thing… or a very good one. Furthermore, Peddler varies its cost depending on the amount of actions you’ve played, and Grand Market won’t allow you to buy it if you have coppers in play. These new rules spice up the game and make for more interesting and varied card interactions.
•A reaction that doesn’t respond to an attack
Again, a mechanic that many think was introduced in Hinterlands was already present in Prosperity. Watchtower is a reaction card that can be shown when you gain a card to trash it or put it on your deck. This allows you not only to get rid of a curse you were supposed to gain, but to plan your next turn by pilling new cards that combo between each other on top of your deck.
•Cards that do something while in play
Several cards of prosperity do something while in play: they give you points when you buy a card, or give you gold, or reduce the cost of other cards. This, again, is a great opportunity for interesting combos and dynamic play styles to shine.
•Cards that allow you planning your next turn
Another feature that was thought to be unique of other expansions such as Seaside an its duration cards. The already mentioned Watchtower, and Royal Seal, allow you to put some of the cards you gain on top of your deck, thus planning your next turn and adding a new strategic layer.
•A card that searches your discard pile
Counting House might not be the most exciting card in this set, but it does allow for something you could not do with the base set: get cards from your discard piles. Even if, in this case, they are just coppers, this adds a new dimension to your deck.
•New kinds of indirect interaction
This is my favorite one. Dominion is often seen as a “multiplayer solitaire”, and there is some truth in this accusation. The new attacks, reactions and cards that involve other players do something to alleviate this problem; but is the subtle way in which cards such as City, Trade Route or Contraband allow players to influence the strategy of their opponents that I love. At first, City is nothing more than a expensive Village, but as piles get depleted, its value increases (which, by the way, is quite thematic in how the city develops, becoming more and more important as time goes by). Trade Route is next to worthless before players start buying victory cards. And Contraband is a +1 buy cheap Gold that allows your opponent to stop you from buying the card he choses, opening some space to bluffing and direct player interaction.
•Platinum and Colonies
These are new cards that can be added to the supply when playing with Prosperity cards. A new treasure with a value of 5 and a new victory card giving 10 points, at first it might seem that they simply extend the game, becoming the new de facto Gold and Province. But they are much more than that: they offer new choices and open space for new, long term strategies. The duration of the game is not affected that much as it could be thought, and the earlier turns are, if something, more intense and interesting than before.
Should you get it?: Well, yes! If you are browsing the web trying to decide which expansion to get next, do yourself a favor: go and buy Prosperity. You will have more time for doing something fun such as playing, and you won’t be disappointed.
Although quite often described as “a bunch of cards that are more expensive and bigger versions of those from the base game”, that only stands true for a very limited number of cards (I’m looking at you, King’s Court). Most of the cards on this expansion add some unique and interesting mechanic, without being all flashy about it like others are, such as Dominion: Seaside and its orange duration cards; which might be the reason that said mechanics are sometimes overlooked.
On the other hand, if you are new to Dominion and just exploring the expandability of the game, do yourself a favor and forget the base game: get the base cards expansion and Prosperity. You’ll get the same simple and elegant mechanics from the vanilla implementation, together with a ton of interesting card interactions and huge replayability.
TL;DR: if old basic Dominion has become stale, or you are new to it and would like to get introduced to this classic masterpiece of a deck builder, Prosperity is what you are looking for.
Who doesn’t want to be the wealthiest guy in town? Who wants to be a destitute noble? Don’t be a loser! Come on, join the ranks of the prosperous. Get Prosperity!
The gist of this expansion:
You’ve probably read it before if you have read anything about Prosperity, it’s all about the big money. You really do need the big money to win with this expansion in play. This set really does invalidate the old big money of just grabbing silvers until you can get gold and then provinces.
Replay Value:
Just like the basic Dominion, replay value is huge. Trying out the massive new combination of cards will take a while. Playing quick matches online is probably the only way to get through any number of the possible iterations.
Components:
Just like all dominion boxes, this one is put together well. I am not a huge fan of all the extra bits other than the cards that you have to use sometimes, but I suppose they have to come up with new little tweaks to keep the game fresh. I do wish that they would make the print on the front of the randomizer cards different than the actual cards somehow. (a border maybe)
Easy to Learn:
Getting through all the numbers of new cards, including cards that utilize extra components will probably take a while. Learning is easy, mastering is difficult. And just like a game such as Magic the Gathering , the validity of certain cards will change with new cards that come out in future sets.
Conclusion:
The big boon of the prosperity set is the large amounts of money allow for more strategies involving a variety of expensive cards as you build up your deck. There was nothing more frustrating in the older game when you had some cool card combos that you wanted to try out, but they were just too slow since the cards were too expensive. You’d have the rounds where you couldn’t even afford a 4 cost card for a nice combo. This set really opens up more strategic possibilities and gives the chance for a longer game with the more expensive Colony cards.
Prosperity is the fourth expansion for Dominion, and really ups the ante with more powerful cards and more power to attain with them. This set competes with Seaside for my favorite, and probably wins that fight.
The first big addition in this set is the upgrade to both Treasures and Victory cards, adding a Platinum and a Colony to the mix. Before, players would agonize that they had 7 coin yet again, and had to buy something that was not a Province. Now that there are a couple more cards that cost 8, the Platinum is 9, and the Colony is 11, players will agonize that they have 10 coin yet again, and have to buy something that is not a Colony. In short, 10 is the new 7.
Also, nearly half the Kingdom cards in this set are Treasures, meaning not only that you’ll have a lot more options to stockpile money, but these Treasures also have abilities similar to action cards, that take effect when you play them in the Buy phase. So now, what coins you play, and the order you play them, can be something to pay attention to.
This set is designed to ramp up the power to help people hit 9 and 11 more easily, and so there are a few cards that feel like amped-up versions of older cards, e.g. King’s Court is a Super-Throne Room, or Expand is a Super-Remodel. All told, this can make for some very fun combinations.
This is a must-have set for any fan of Dominion; the cards are a lot of fun and if you have a good mix of cards, you can create some really crazy combinations.
Dominion is a fantastic medieval-themed deckbuilding game in which players compete for territory (victory points). By playing cards from their hands, players earn gold and take actions, and then purchase additional cards from a predetermined, randomly-selected market to add to their decks for future use.
This is an extremely fun, well-designed game that usually plays pretty quickly and is infinitely replayable. All of the different cards allow for an amazing amount of variety from game to game. For example, first you might have a really cut-throat game with lots of attack cards available for purchase, but next you might have a game where the cards are all about getting gold and territory really, really quickly.
Dominion sets up really fast. It includes a set of “randomizer” decks (which just includes 1 copy of every kind of card available in the expansion, of which there are around 30) to set up the 10-card market. Just shuffle and deal 10 cards out to determine what your market will be comprised of. Then deal each player their starting decks, have everyone draw their hand of five cards, and it’s time to get started!
There’s a lot of fast decision making involved in Dominion, but once you get a handle on the cards available in the market, the rules are really pretty straight forward. You start with the rule of “Play one action card, then spend gold from your hand to buy 1 card,” but that rule gets modified by the cards you play. Once you start building your deck up and drawing hands of better, more powerful cards, you’ll be able to spend more gold, perform more actions, and buy more cards on each of your turns.
I estimate an average game of Dominion lasts somewhere around 30 minutes. There’s some flexibility there, as you can choose how many territory cards you want to play with in order to make the game run shorter or longer.
Prosperity is one of many expansions for the original Dominion. It specializes in cards which allow you to accumulate wealth really quickly. It also includes new Platinum cards(worth more than the previous highest denomination: gold) and new Colony cards (worth more points than the previous highest-scoring territory: Provinces). Also new to this game are cards which allow you to accumulate victory points in the form of physical tokens, rather than cards (which usually just take up valuable space in your deck). The tokens are really high quality too! They’re really satisfying to hold and pick up.
You need to have a copy of the original Dominion or the set of base cards in order to play Prosperity. Personally, I do not own the original Dominion, only this and Hinterlands. I bought the set of base cards and I recommend doing this- the set has cool alternate art for all of the currency and territory cards, even the Platinum and Colonies! I like the combination of these two expansions a lot, but there’s sure a lot of expansions to try and mix and match.
My whole gaming group really loves this game, and it’s one of my all-time favorites. It’s up there somewhere with Ticket to Ride and Machi Koro in terms of universal love within my usual group. My close friend loves it, her mother and grandmother love it, and the younger sisters and husband all love it. There’s quite a bit of reading involved and I don’t know how young of a child could really have fun with this game, especially against adults, but I’d guess about 11 or 12. Pretty much every adult I’ve shown this game to hasn’t had an issue learning how to play competently after a couple rounds.
In summary, this is just one of the best card games I’ve ever played. If you like fast, competitive, strategic, highly variable games (with a strong element of luck), it’s hard to do better than a round of Dominion.
This might be the best expansion in the Dominion line. Why?
1) COINS. You can get victory points in the form of metal tokens. These tokens aren’t in your hand and are visible to everyone as you collect them. This adds some spice!
2) Colony Cards: These cards are similar to Provinces (if you’ve played with them). The game is over when one of the piles of Colonies or Provinces is gone.
3) VERY Powerful Cards: The cards cost more, but do more… which gives you the ability to catch up if you’ve been saving to get them. This adds a layer of strategy.
IMO The base game is great, but Prosperity makes the game “different” . It’s not as balanced or elegant, but it’s nice to add a little brute force to an otherwise mellow game.
The cards in Prosperity cost much more, but also allow you to amass more wealth and points. Two new base cards this set includes are platinum pieces and colonies. In fact, the platinum pile is also small enough that it CAN run out during a game! Platinums cost 9 and are worth 5 coin. Colony cards cost 11 and are worth 9 points. A new rule is that the game also ends when the colony pile is empty.
There are many exciting new cards in this set, especially for those players who love fun, powerful action cards or action-chaining. You’ll see some of your old favorites redesigned to be bigger and more powerful. For instance, King’s Court replaces Throne Room, costing 7 to buy and allowing you to play an action card three times!
When Prosperity came out, I started feeling like Dominion was getting too many expansions released and too close together, but it is still such a fun game to play and one of my favorite expansions to the game.
This is a great expansion. I’ve mostly only played it in combination with Intrigue, but there are times when I’ve been wanting to try out some of the cards from the original Dominion game. We’ve been teaching this version of the game to people who have never played Dominion before, and it’s still easy to pick up (although we typically leave out the Trade Route card).
Pros: I like the new treasure cards and the faster accumulation of money. I also like the new victory point tokens, and the ways that you can get them.
Cons: It’s not easy to randomize with other expansions and the base games because you DO need some of the special Prosperity cards if you’re going to be able to afford the 11-cost Colonies.
I love playing huge chains of cards to build up tons of cash and extra buys! This set is all about that. Big money, big prizes, I love it!
The set adds two new basic cards, the Colony, a victory card worth 10 points, and Platinum, a money card worth 5 that extend the main goal of the game a little farther. In addition, there are a bunch of great kingdom cards that all deal with the theme of opulence.
The only downside: I felt the inclusion of all the mats and coins for use with the Trade Route card to be a little unnecessary and would rather they had spent their resources making more kingdom cards or including the common (money, victory) cards to make it a standalone set.
There are many expansions out for Dominion now, and if you are on a shoe-string budget and have to limit yourself, you absolutely should grab Prosperity. This expansion adds the most bang for your buck, by far. The new mechanics include:
This set plays great with the other expansions as well, so don’t feel like you can’t mix and match the expensive Prosperity cards with cards from other sets. Any fan of Dominion should have this expansion, plain and simple.
Dominion is THE Deckbuilder, though often considered weak in theme, still considered the best by many including my wife and I. Prosperity is the fourth expansion, each expansion creating more options and replay while adding a level of complexity.
Prosperity, a family favorite, comes in the Dominion Big Box with the base game, Seaside and Alchemy expansions – as well as sold separately.
As the name implies, the focus of this expansion big money: new treasures, Platinum, currency exchange, as well as variations on standard cards.
While most mechanics are familiar, some elements of Prosperity can extend game play, or just quicken rounds by increasing cash flow.
As always, all Dominion expansions bring new elements and increase replay to a classic game.
Recommended for any Dominion fan.
I’m going to have to say that it’s pretty much a tie between Prosperity and Intrigue for my favorite Dominion sets. Okay, maybe Prosperity edges out Intrigue just barely (sweet platinum). Prosperity plays fastest of all the Dominion sets due to its focus on high value hands, and Colonies as well as action cards that give victory point tokens make for high point totals at the end of the game.
Best part about Prosperity? Add a few Prosperity cards into a game with any other set (I’m looking at you, Alchemy) and you’re almost guaranteed a quicker, more satisfying game. We play with the added Prosperity base cards with every game we play now.
Also: look at all the cards that cost 7 COINS! Finally something to buy with 7!
Dominion is an amazing game, and the Prosperity expansion just makes it that much better. In Prosperity, everything costs more, so there are higher value Platinum cards as well as higher cost Actions and Victory cards. Like the sets before, Prosperity also adds a new mechanic: treasure cards can now be actions or give extra benefits. Some of the treasure cards are actually my favorite cards!
Just like you hated getting a total of 7 gold before, now you will loathe getting to 10. I have a tough time playing Dominion and not adding this expansion in!
This expansion puts a new twist to the dominion game.
By adding the 7 coin cost cards the buying of cards and especially cards that got stuck on Gold via Upgrade before now has a chance to go past that up to Province.
The card are really a new level in power but feels costed accordingly. And by adding the Colony and Platinum (the next level of Victory and Treasure) you really don’t feel restricted at all by the higher costs.
The best thing is that you seldom feel that the older cards are underpriced or to cheep either.
If you are going to buy one expansion to your Dominion bas set or Intrigue, this should be it!
I’m not sure if this particular expansion is my favorite or not, but prosperity does have a unique feel to it compared with other Dominion games. That in and of itself makes it a worth sequel.
A fantastic expansion to the very popular Dominion card game. This is probably my favorite expansion besides Intrigue and includes cards that make for very money heavy sessions. My only complaint is the 5VP tokens included are too similar to the 1VP tokens. Still this is highly recommended.
Even better than Dominion but by mixing it with Dominion cards the game play instances are endless. The added coin tokens are really fun to play with and they add additional strategies. My wife and I are starting to play at least 2 times a day on the weekends. I don’t even mind losing to her since the game play is so fun.
Addition of higher money (9 Platinum) and victory points (10 Colony) change many of the strategies. This expansion adds lots of replay value.
I love this expansion… it is perhaps my favorite for the game. I cannot imagine playing it again without Platinum and Colonies. This really adds a great deal to every game of Dominion you play!
It’s a great expansion for the base set, possibly the best, all things considered. A few cards are a bit overpowered, but not as much as Seaside was. All in all, a good buy for fans of Dominion.