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- Verified Buyer
We love the original Dominion. This is an excellent expansion to try first. No major rule changes, so it was very easy to follow along and add in very quickly. Now we never play without this expansion. Watch out for King's Court!The game is great and adds a lot to the game and I love it. This review of 4 stars instead of 5 is based off the damaged box. I wish it hadn't arrived damaged.Very easy to learn, adds interesting strategies, must have the base game (this is just expention). If you like Dominion and want to add interest but not too complexity you will not regret.Note: Have the base game. This is only an expansion.What an expansion! The addition of Platnum and Colonies are the pinicle reason I bought this, but this also has some very interesting Treasure Kingdom cards (my favorite is venture). Also, it has bigger versions of the base game cards, which can make the game quicker and more chaotic. Worth it if you have the base game.We have enjoyed the original Dominion for almost a year now and decided to try an expansion. I chose prosperity because it appeared to be one of the initial expansions.The first time we played we used the recommended setup using only cards from the Prosperity deck. Once everyone understood the new mechanics, such as the VP tokens and new treasure cards, we decided that mixing and matching the cards from the original Dominion and Prosperity would better suit our little group.The addition of the VP tokens (I like to think that they're somewhat passive, as they come up naturally through your deck building) was an interesting touch. Every one enjoyed the VP tokens and thought, generally, that they were a boon to the game. We also very much enjoyed the new treasure cards which boasted a point value and had quasi actions associated with them.The only negative I will say is that, thus far, we have experienced, due to the increased potential to acquire currency (copper, silver, etc...) we have had several games where the difference between the winner and the runner-up was quite extreme - say 50 or 60 VPs. This has only happened a few times and it was while we were experimenting with various deck builds, but I would imagine that some additional experience with the cards and the deck in general would reduce these discrepancies. However, I do not believe that this is a reason to avoid this expansion since overall the new cards, mechanics, and general increased dynamics of the game greatly outweigh any negatives which we have discovered thus far.On the topics requested for rating:Fun: Definitely more fun, when combined with the original Dominion because it allows you the opportunity to build more interesting decksEducational value: We don't play with any small children, but every game, even every turn, is a lesson in strategy, efficiency, effectiveness, and decision making.Durability: We do not use card sleeves, though I've considered it, but our original Dominion deck has held up quite well and I am not concerned about the durability of the Prosperity deck.Overall: 5 stars, though I like to think that nothing's perfect, I honestly believe that this expansion is worthwhileIn short - if you're a fan of the original Dominion I would recommend this expansion.NOTE: Be aware that Prosperity is only an expansion, and you want to start with either just "Dominion" or "Dominion: Intrigue." Dominion: Prosperity does not include all of the cards that you need to play the game.This set is oriented towards cards that overpower the Dominion game. These cards are expensive and they have very powerful effects. In line with this, Prosperity includes new Victory (Colony: 10 points) and Treasure (Platinum: 9 coin) cards that add a new tier of purchases to the game, making it somewhat longer (by about 15-30 minutes) than your traditional Dominion game. Whether or not you choose to include this added tier depends on how powerful (and how many) Prosperity cards are used in the game.I personally feel a sense of unrestrained euphoria in the first couple of games when we add in some Prosperity cards. Where you might feel restricted in games where Prosperity cards aren't used, the insane power of some of these cards can make the game feel unhinged and a bit crazy. That can be a lot of fun, but after a few rounds it can kind of feel like eating too much cake. In short, Prosperity can add a bit of fun to the game, but it's important to keep things interesting and varied with other sets.There's also an additional mechanic of victory point chips and mats that are completely independent of the regular victory point cards. These can get especially crazy, as the sky is the limit for how many points can be collected this way. The wary player always keeps track of how many points their opponents have on mats, because it's easy to end the game too early. Cards like the Bishop, which trash your deck and turn it into victory point chips, can lead to surprising and interesting new strategies for play. This mechanic alone is worth purchasing Prosperity.Got this as the first expansion to the base game, as I'd read that it was perhaps the most well recieved of the many existing.My friends and I have since both agreed that it's added a huge amount to the game- the cards are weighted towards 'Big Money' strategies, which we all found are the most fun to play. The cards are varied yet familiar enough that they're easy to integrate into the game.By virtue of this, games using this expansion are still very easy to pick up. I've introduced brand new players to Dominion using this expansion, and it's been picked up just as fast as the base game (it is an expansion though, so you still either need the base set or the basic cards to play). Some cards are stronger than others, but they are generally well balanced, and after a game or two it's easy to gain an idea of how to balance these out with canny set selection.The quality of the cards and their flavour and artwork is just as high as ever, too. A very good buy.Say farewell to your penniless days hoarding copper, and your supposed 'big money' games where you throw around "precious" gold. This expansion ups the stakes by adding new coins and victory cards, as well as a host of new high-cost actions to spend your newfound wealth on. We normally end up using a couple of the cards from this expansion in most games, though it's maybe not the best expansion to get first if you've not tried seaside or intrigue.More than matched our expectations - the Platina (and who knew that's the plural of platinum?) and Colonies can be used with any other Dominion set to make a longer game but there's a lot of other great money-oriented cards here too....along with Dark Ages this is our favourite expansion...so farProsperity is fun right out of the box. I think the reason is that many of the cards increase your purchasing power and compliment the basic dominion strategy known as "Big Money". A great many of the cards help you with coins, building you up quickly towards Provinces or Colonies and games are pretty friction-less.Having bought Intrigue, Seaside and Prosperity expansions all in one go, Prosperity is the easiest to play and the one I've had the most fun with. This would be my recommendation for a first expansion to base Dominion.Interesting kingdom cards to add to Dominion, and the victory point counters add a different dimension to the game
