Dominion: Seaside

What Is It About? – An Overview of the Expansion
The first of the dependent expansions, Seaside heads to the dockyards painting a picture of exploration and hijinks on the high seas. This set introduces a new card type: the Duration card. It also has a healthy dose of Attack cards. Seaside also delivers new components: metal tokens and card board mats as the game takes a step up in complexity.

What Do I Get? – The Components in the Box
With only 300 cards, this set manages to add 26 new Kingdom cards that can be played amongst themselves or mixed with the base game or Intrigue. As a dependent expansion, it will need the basic cards (Victory, Treasures, Curses, and Trash) of either of the previous releases. Breaking from cards only, the game also includes metal coin markers and metal embargo tokens. In addition, it has 3 different player mats linked to three different kingdom cards. There are enough mats for up to 6 players (as introduced in Intrigue).

What Does it Add? – Impacts to the Base Game
Though it has less overall cards, this expansion adds more Kingdom cards than any other expansion (with the exception of Hinterlands and Dark Ages). The new gimmick is cards that last more than one turn. A Duration card, offset by its orange border, allows you to plan an Action as normal, but the card will remain in play for one additional turn, again offering some form of its Action before being cleaned-up.

The game also tracks more information and so includes nice metal tokens. With Embargo, you can now mark a deck and pass out a Curse card when any player buys a card from that deck. Once again, we see the non-Attack interactive card that slows down your opponents without being blocked. Pirate Ship is a new attack card that tracks how many times you have trashed your opponents’ coins during the turn and uses this as a Coin generator for future buys.

This is tracked on the new cardboard mat, along with mats that pull cards out of play either temporarily (Native Village) or permanently (Island). This helps trim down your deck while still giving you any VPs that might be on the set aside cards.

What Is the Target Audience? – Who Should Get This
Seaside targets those that again want the next step in complexity in Dominion cards. For those wanting something to linger after their clean-up phase, this is the set for you. It adds more Kingdom cards than either base set and is the first to offer non-card components.

The only draw back is that MSRP is in line with all the other Big Box expansions/base games but includes less cards. So you are paying a premium for those mats and tokens, which could have been presented as cheaper cardboard options. But the clink of coins on your Pirate Ship, is a rewarding sound!

What Do I Think? – Final Thoughts
One of the things most new deck-builders change up from Dominion, is allowing cards to stay in play. If Dominion gets any knock, it is this lack of lasting cards from round to round. Having these Duration cards is a great addition to the game. Not only does it give you a sense of building a slightly more lasting dominion, it also adds features while freeing up your hand. In effect, getting a larger hand size for the next turn. I only wish they continued to add more Durations in future expansions. But with 1/3 of the cards this new mechanic, it offers up a decent amount of variety.

I love the ability of the Pirate Ship that can attack while building up a coin generator. This is also an effective attack against cards that trash or discard coins, such as the new Cutpurse attack card. Some cards blend well together like the Fishing Village that gives you more Actions and a Coin and the Wharf that gives you more Card draws and an additional Buy. For 2-Coin, you can purchase a Lighthouse that is a lasting Moat, which is needed against the evil Ghost Ship (which is not a Duration card but a very annoying Attack card).

In the greater hierarchy, I would place this third of all expansions (Just ahead of Cornucopia and just behind Hinterlands). This set contains some of my favorite cards and adds the next layer of complexity to the ever expanding system. Seaside is one of the must-buy expansions for its interesting cards, and new mechanic. Plus there is something pleasing about the new orange splashed amongst the gray boarded cards.

What Else? – Other Expansion Reviews
Dominion (base game)
Intrigue
Alchemy
Prosperity
Cornucopia

Dominion Seaside is the 3rd installment in the Dominion series and the first true “expansion” expansion. It brings to the table another 26 Kingdom Cards with a good mix of cards costing from 2 to 5 coins. Also included are some player mats and some nice quality metal tokens used with some of the cards.

For this expansion the major theme (apart from the whole ocean thing) is cards which affect your next turn, called Duration cards. These cards are distinctive because they’re going to hang around and remain in play after you first play them before being cleaned up in your following turn. There are 8 orange Duration cards in all with most giving you some benefit this turn and then some, usually smaller, benefit next turn. For example, Caravan will give you an extra card and an action this turn and then another card at the start of your next turn. With the more expensive 5 cost cards you’re getting a more equitable benefit each time such as the extra two cards and extra Buy that you getting both this turn and next turn from Wharf. Perhaps the two most powerful Duration cards, Tactician and Outpost, could be said to give you a penalty this turn in return for a really big reward next. Outpost forces you to only draw 3 cards at the end of this turn. In exchange you get to take your next turn right away! Tactician forces you to discard the rest of your turn (perhaps effectively ending your turn right then and there) but in return gives you an extra 5 cards, an extra Action and an extra Buy next turn. That’s at least 10 cards, 2 Actions and 2 Buys on your next turn! That’s the makings of a huge turn!

The last notable Duration card I’ll mention here is Lighthouse. It costs a meagre 2 coins and gives you an extra Action and coin this turn and an extra coin next turn. Nothing special there, but what makes Lighthouse notable is its ongoing ability: while it’s in play, your opponent’s Attack cards don’t affect you. That’s a whole turn of protection which is always a nice thing. Lighthouse is also special though because it’s the only defensive card in the set. And there are five other Attack cards in the set just waiting out there to pounce. Perhaps the most thematic of the Attacks is the Pirate Ship which really hits the benefit later groove but in a different way to the Duration cards. With Pirate Ship you get to make a choice. The first option is to attack your opponents, hopefully forcing them to trash a Treasure card off the top of their deck. If anyone at all trashes a Treasure you get to claim a coin token (one of those metal tokens mentioned earlier). There’s no immediate benefit for you this turn (apart from slowing down your opponents a bit if you’re lucky) but this is what you’ll choose to do for the early game. Later in the game however you’re going to be taking the second option. That option allows you to get an extra coin to spend in your Buy phase for every coin token you’ve collected so far in the game. Later in the game this is going to be invaluable.

The last couple of cards I’ll mention here are a couple of my favourites and are both great early game cards (and not so useful late game). The first is Island which is an Action / Victory dual card (an idea first introduced in Dominion Intrigue). It costs 4 coins and at the end of the game it’ll be worth 2 Victory Points but it’s the Action it grants that really makes it shine. You can remove it and one other card in your hand from your deck until the end of the game. What a great way to thin those pesky Estates out of your deck early in the game while still keeping the points! The second card is Treasure Map which you’re going to need a couple of to use. If you have a couple and you can get them into your hand at the same time you can trash them in return or 4 Gold cards on top of your deck. That’s as great start for next turn and many turns to come (just watch out for the Pirate Ship). Obviously these cards will work well while your deck is small but are going to be wasted space later in the game when you have a bigger deck and it’ll be tough to get the combinations into your hand.

Overall the card art in Seaside is consistent with the style in the first two Dominion releases although sadly the practice of including some more cartoony pieces of art which began in Intrigue has continued here with a few more cards. Sorry, but within the context of the other cards, I’m really not a fan. Oh, and those player mats I mentioned at the start? They have the art from the Island, Pirate Ship and Native Village cards and can be used to store their associated cards or tokens. But honestly, I never seem to bother with them. It’s a nice enough touch but for me they’re just something that doesn’t actually fit in the box with everything else.

So all in all, Seaside is another great addition to the Dominion family. It adds a heap more variety to the game and will change the way the game plays to add even more variety to the experience. It’s well worth the money for every Dominion addict.

This is a really interesting set. Many of the cards center around the concept of delaying effects until your following turn, specifically with Action-Duration cards. These cards can greatly influence the choices one makes by causing the player to consider the future consequences of his present actions. It makes Seaside a much more novel expansion than Intrigue or Prosperity. However, I found that keeping up with all the things happening the next turn can be quite a chore. There were several times where we had to resort to taking notes on a piece of paper to remember how many cards, actions, or buys we had in the current and upcoming rounds. This definitely made it feel like more of a chore to play. Still, if you’re interested in expanding the level of strategy in your Dominion games, this is a good set to try.

Dominion is THE Deckbuilder, though often considered weak in theme, still considered the best by many including my wife and I. Seaside is the second expansion, each expansion creating more options and replay while adding a level of complexity.
Seaside, as an early expansion is still simple in its card mechanics, but adds Duration cards, orange cards that remain after your turn to have a lasting effect during later turns.
It is recommended to get the expansions in order, for the increase in difficulty, and Seaside is a great first expansion for anyone who has either Dominion, or Dominion: Intrigue.
It brings a little more thematic game play, while adding more replay than its predecessors.

There’s no doubt that this is the most popular expansion for Dominion. People just get excited by Seaside! I can see why: the Duration cards are a particularly interesting addition to the game (and it’s sad that they won’t do more in other expansions) and there are some neat ideas overall. However, I find this is the worst set in terms of consistency. Put simply, this set has more uninteresting cards than any other set. It’s still worth getting; all the expansions are. Donald Vacarino is a great designer and I wouldn’t pass on any Dominion expansion. But this one is the most uneven for my tastes.

The best part about seaside is that many of the cards really bring something new to the table. With the addition of coins and game matts Seaside really feels like something special and different. Personally I’d like to see something really different like a “Dominion Dragon Lords” or “Dominion Lords of war” expansion but for now I’ll just have to settle for seaside. Bottom line: Seaside breathes some new life into your standard Dominion deck. Keep your fingers crossed for the “Dominion Dragon Lords expansion”.

This is a really fun expansion for Dominion. I especially enjoyed the Sea Hag and Pirate Ship cards! It’s easy to learn once you know how to play the basic Dominion game.

I love this expansion. I have the most fun playing this because of the new card type: Duration. There are so many variables and strategies to using the duration cards, I love it. You can plan 5 to 6 turns in a row, instead of 2 to 3 because you know whats going to happen next round. Plus the Pirate ship is great for stealing your friend’s money!

I have such mixed feelings about Seaside. On one hand, it adds a lot of flavor and interesting cards to the game…but on the other hand, it’s the least balanced of all the Dominion sets, with its action cards usually chosen by players rather than cards from any other set.

That said, I do like the ‘multiple turn’ aspect of the cards, allowing you to affect future game turns. That’s a new element that I definitely like.

I just wish it didn’t have so many unbalanced cards in it, the worst being Treasure Map.

While this expansion certainly adds its own twists and turns to the standard gameplay, it often becomes confusing to beginning players (especially the delayed effects).