Dominion - Cornucopia and Guilds: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Deck-Building
Player Age: 14+Player Count: 2 - 4 PlayersTime to Play: 30 Minutes
Game Designer: Donald X. VaccarinoPublisher: Rio Grande GamesYear Published: 2024BGG Weight: 2.00Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.
Player Age: 14+
Game Designer: Donald X. Vaccarino
Introduction:
This is quite a welcoming expansions for dominion. With 26 new kingdom stacks, there are plenty that focus on variety but also some new mechanisms introduced. Including the new token type coffers, which act as a bank of coins that can be dipped into on future turns and a method to overpay gaining additional benefits when purchasing the card if the card was overpayed.
Cards:
There are plenty of cards in this expansion that add variability. Most of them are focused on action cards.
There are a few attack cards in this expansion with two in particular that are more interesting. Firstly the Soothsayer which is a great way to gain gold accelerating the players deck while giving other players a curse. This isn't just a negative the players that gain a curse draw a card at least. The footpad adds another layer to actions that allow players to gain cards, while this card is in the game players that gain cards in the action phase will also draw am additional card.
Both the victory card and treasure card reward players investing in a dynamic deck with numerous differently named cards. Fairgrounds will score two per five differently named cards at the end of the game. Where horn of plenty is harder to succeed with counting the differently named cards on play and transferring that into coins.
Mechanics:
Coffers:
Coffers is a new currency that acts as a stored coin. Essentially when players gain coffers they gain a token, this token could be used at any point on the players turn to act as one coin. Since this can be used on the same turn it is not only great to bank for larger turns with multiple buys but it is also a great generator for money regardless.
Overpay:
Overpaying is a mechanic that allows the player to spend additional coins to gain a benefit per each one spent. As shown below this can grant additional cards draw, immediate activation of the card or placing cards on top for the deck from the discard pile.
The Joust:
The joust is a fun card that gives the player creative purchasing as long as they have a province card that can be discarded on the turn the joust is played.
By discarding the province at the end of the turn the player can gain a reward to their hand. This is hard to achieve and requires plenty of joust and province cards in the deck to achieve a better chance. But the reward cards are very strong and beneficial to the player.
Final Thoughts:
- Some really fun new cards.
- Low complexity expansion, welcoming to new players.
- Overpay and card effects that aren't based on when the card is played are interesting mechanics.
The favourite part of this expansion for me would be the coffers that allow players to store currency for other turns, as well as the overpay mechanic that allows players to gain benefits based on how many times they overspent. This expansion is perfect for new players as its main focus is more variability, there isn't complex elements added in this expansion, there are small elements to keep it fresh as stated above, there is also additional text on cards that relate to effects that happen besides when the card is played. Generally though, this is simply more variability which is perfect for players starting their dominion collection.
Comments
Post a Comment