Dominion Prosperity: A Wealth of Great Cards

Dominion is one of the most expandable games out there in the market, and this quality has certainly been taken advantage of. There have been 5 big box and 3 small box expansions so far, but not all of these expansions were created equal. Some of these packages have clearly stood above the rest, and one of these top tier expansions is certainly Prosperity.
Prosperity doesn’t do anything wildly different than Dominion, it simply extends the game beyond its limits. The biggest additions are the 10 point Colony cards and the Platinum treasure cards. By using these to extend the card costs of everything else, it had blown open the palace doors to a plethora of new possibilities. It makes a surprisingly big impact and really allows Dominion to meet its full potential.

Additions

As I previously stated, the biggest additions this set offers is the 10 point Colony cards, which gives an even bigger goal for players to reach other than the Provinces, and the value 5 Platinum, allowing you to be even richer than having a bunch of gold in your deck. These two cards allow everything else in this box to be possible because they allow for more powerful cards worth cost 6 and 7 to be available and worth buying, and they give a purpose for players to build decks in which it is worthwhile to try to go beyond having 8 treasures to use in any given hand.
Prosperity also provides us with a treasure trove of great new cards, many of which are new kinds of treasure. The Bank is worth a coin for every treasure in play, the royal seal lets you put the new card you buy on your deck, and so on. Nice little touches. There are also cards which allow you to gain point tokens (which are nice, metal pieces) which won’t clutter up your hand, including Monument and Goons (hired goons!).
Then there are the expensive cards which are just awesome. Hoard lets you gain gold when you buy a victory card. Expand lets you trash a card worth 3 more. And my personal favourite of any Dominion card in any set: King’s Court. King’s Court lets you play an action card 3 times. This is huge! And ripe with different possibilities and combos, making the card new every time you use it. It’s amazing.

Critique

Prosperity may be Dominion’s best expansion. I keep flip flopping between this set and Seaside, which also has some spectacular new cards. The difference may be that Prosperity allows for more breathing room and opens up the game with those Colony and Platinum cards, which is probably why this is the Dominion expansion I would recommend above all others. This is Dominion’s high point, here the game’s true potential is finally reached. If you are a Dominion fan, don’t forget about the wealth waiting for you in Prosperity.

Expansion –
Base Game –
Base Game & Expansion –

My Expansion Ratings
–– The expansion improves upon the original base game.
–– The expansion provides a differing experience than the base game but neither improves or detracts from the base game.
–– The expansion is effective and provides an interesting new aspect, but the base game is still preferred.
–– The expansion detracts from the base game.