A Complete Buyer's Guide to Dominion Board Game

By Sam Desatoff

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Dominion almost singlehandedly invented the deckbuilding genre when it released in 2008. Now, almost 10 years later, the game has seen many expansions and re-releases, some worthwhile and some easily skippable. Each expansion interacts with the rest of the series in different ways, resulting in a huge number of potential combinations. This makes Dominion an eternally replayable beast that will continue to feel fresh long after being unwrapped.

An unfortunate side effect, however, is that it can be difficult for newcomers to sift through the enormous pile of cards the franchise has to offer. To help make it easier, we’ve put together this guide to explain the game's different editions, let you know which expansions you should pick up first, and generally make your buying experience smoother.

Dominion Base Game

MSRP: $44.95 for base game and $75 for the Big Box set

The obvious starting point, the Dominion base game includes everything up to four players need to jump in. The base game cards are simple and provide the ideal experience for learning how to build decks and how cards can interact with each other. If you’re completely new to the game, this is where you should begin.

It should be noted that there are two versions of the base game. The one that new players should seek out, and the one that is most readily available, is the Second Edition. This version cleans up some rules confusion of the original printing and replaces some cards that were counterintuitive to the learning process. If you already own the original you can purchase a cheapy update pack to upgrade your game to the Second Edition.

Something of an anomaly, and a possible cause of confusion, is Dominion: Intrigue. Initially released as a stand-alone expansion / second base set in 2009, this original version of Intrigue has since fallen out of print. In 2016 it was re-released as Dominion: Intrigue (Second Edition), a more standard-sized expansion that requires the original Dominion to play and drops all the unneeded duplicates of the base game cards. This can be confusing if you don’t know what to look for.

The easiest way to alleviate the confusion is to pick up the Dominion Big Box II set. This assortment includes the second editions of both base Dominion and Intrigue, and has the added bonus of including the extra cards needed to expand the game for up to 6 players. It’s also a great value as the cost of both games separately is normally greater.

Large Expansions

MSRP: $44.99 each

There are seven large expansions to Dominion, each offering new mechanics that build on the base game. Some are successful while others fall a little flat. The expansions below have an MSRP of $44.99, and are listed here in order of quality, with the most essential listed first. This informal ranking was built using a combination of forum threads, BGG ratings, and personal opinion.

In short — Seaside is a must-own for any group that digs Dominion, while Hinterlands is only necessary for mega-fans and completionists. It's worth pointing out that the overall quality of Dominion's full-sized expansions is quite high - there are no true duds. So Hinterlands may be the least essential, but it still features plenty of fun new cards.

Seaside

Dominion’s first expansion (following Intrigue) is still regarded as the best. Released a year after the base game, Seaside focuses on setting up future turns through the use of Duration cards, which remain in play after the end of your turn. These cards offer a welcome layer of strategy on top of Dominion’s already strategic card buying mechanics without being overly complicated. Because of that fine balance, Seaside is the ideal choice for those deliberate players who like a bit more calculation in their play.

Prosperity

The theme of Prosperity is wealth, with many action cards that interact with treasure cards and provide bonuses to players who focus on amassing as much gold as possible. Because of the snowballing effect of cards affected by treasure, turns can go from simple to complex very quickly. Chaining together a string of treasure and actions cards is very satisfying, making Prosperity a good pickup for those with a penchant for the gaudy.

Intrigue (Second Edition)

Intrigue is all about player interaction, a feature in which Dominion was admittedly weak. Intrigue includes a great deal of attack cards, as well as the introduction of multi-type cards. For example, Harem is a card that serves as both a treasure and a victory card, and the Mill is a victory and action card. Intrigue is a good choice for players keen on attacking their friends and making enemies. Intrigue also includes rules to up the player count from four to six, allowing more people in on the fun.

The Rest

Other expansions like Dark Ages, Adventures and Empires add a great deal to the game, but can significantly up the game's complexity, which makes them poor first choices if you’re still getting comfortable with Dominion. If you become bored by Seaside, Prosperity and Intrigue and find yourself looking for something more involved, one of these might be worth a look. Hinterlands, the most recent large expansion, is more skippable. Empires is widely regarded as the best of this pack.

Smaller Expansions and Promotions

Included in the Dominion family of games are three small-box expansions. These include fewer cards than the larger expansions, but can still change the game in drastic ways. For example, the Alchemy expansion introduces potion cards, a sort of currency used to buy and play powerful action cards.

The other two small expansions are Cornucopia and Guilds. Cornucopia’s mechanics rewards variety in players’ decks, while Guilds allows players to save money between turns through use of coin tokens. At one point, these two expansions were sold together in one box which made them a great value for some genuinely fun cards. At at the time of this writing, however, they have fallen out of print, making them very hard to find at a reasonable price.

Finally, there are loads of one-off promotional cards that were given out as favors to attendees of various festivals and conventions. Generally they are pretty rare and hard to find, and none feel like must-owns. But if you’re an avid collector or completionist you can try your hand at snagging some after market copies.

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