Ed. Note - For starters, +5 awesome points if you know the song referenced in the title of our article. Secondly, throughout the article we'll be referencing different cards in the Dark Ages set (and there are a LOT of them). When possible, we'll try to include a picture of said card. For the sake of space and brevity however, you can head over to Dominion Strategy.com, a great site for all things Dominion, to peruse the full spoiler.
Throughout its storied history, Dominion has gained hundreds of thousands of fans across the world. It has won almost every major gaming award in existence. It has produced both fantastic expansions (Seaside , Intrigue, Prosperity) and some awkward bastard children (*cough* Alchemy *cough*). In truth, DXV could have rested on his SdJ winning laurels with the next two sets and game would have survived. Luckily, he didn't, and rabid fans like myself and my gaming group thank him for that.
Dark Ages brings a lot to the table, literally and figuratively. With a whopping 500 new cards (362 of those being new Kingdom cards), players could keep themselves occupied for months on end playing with nothing but this set. If they chose to do so, they would discover quite a few new mechanisms and central themes.
First, in a move that would make a notable reviewer happy, is the theme of putting things in the trash. Cards in Dark Ages will be hitting the garbage with alarming regularity; in many cases, a benefit will also be gained from said card hitting the trash: from drawing 3 cards, to getting a Duchy, to a free attack card. Secondly, are new piles: The spoils pile gives players a one shot +$3 card that is earned through various Attacks and Actions. There are also Ruins; these brown bordered cards are functionally better than Curses in that they give a minimal benefit, but cripple the efficiency of your hand just as well. Lastly, there are shelters: 3 cards that can be substituted into your starting hand in place of Estates. These 3 cards (Hovel, Necropolis, and Overgrown Estate) don't provide the VP of an Estate, but do give some nice benefits for non-terminal decks (+2 actions in the case of the Necropolis) or encourage you to trash cards for benefits, which only furthers/strengthens the theme of the set.
If all this weren't enough, DXV also tinkers with the "X turns into Y" mechanism and the 10 cards in a supply pile rule through the use of Madmen, Mercenaries, Rats, and Knights. Knights, for example, are a group of 10 different attack cards--each with a different name. All Knights have an attack that causes an opponent to trash a card between 3 and 6$ from the top of their deck, but the small differences between each character add a personality to them in addition to giving players an additional reason to purchase multiple knights (why not have the entire Round Table!!). Rats, on the other hand, bring the plague through a whopping 20 of them in a supply pile. While the Rats are great at thinning other cards from your deck, the inability for Rats to trash themselves means that you better find a way to domesticate them or fill your deck with traps so they don't become a problem. To round out the extra piles are Madmen and Mercenaries, cards gained from other cards (Hermits and Urchins respectively) if certain conditions are met or decisions are made. In each case, the gained card is immensely more potent, doubling your hand size (Madman) or giving you +$2, +2 Cards, and making opponent's discard.
Aside from new piles, bigger piles, extended piles, and alternate starting cards, there are some cards in the new set that are just plain fun to put in your set-up: for the Monty Python fan in your gaming group, there is the aptly named "Dead Cart" as well as "Wandering Minstrels" (though, if they belong to Good Sir Robin is any one's guess"). There is also "Poor House," a card that fills the 1-cost slot quite nicely. And, last but not least, is Graverobber, a combo lover's dream come true.
Despite the breadth of variety in Dark Ages, there doesn’t seem to be that overt “WOW” factor that’s been present in other, earlier expansions. As noted by another reviewer with whom I like to talk Dominion strategy, the central theme of trashing and upgrading isn’t particularly novice friendly. As anecdotal evidence, most of the newer Dominion players with whom I have used Dark Ages tend to get frustrated when told that they can’t voluntarily trash cards from their hand (to fellow gamers, this makes perfect sense, but the limitation placed on their decisions doesn’t sit well with casual gamers).
Despite the breadth of variety in Dark Ages, there doesn’t seem to be that overt “WOW” factor that’s been present in other, earlier expansions. As noted by another reviewer with whom I like to talk Dominion strategy, the central theme of trashing and upgrading isn’t particularly novice friendly. As anecdotal evidence, most of the newer Dominion players with whom I have used Dark Ages tend to get frustrated when told that they can’t voluntarily trash cards from their hand (to fellow gamers, this makes perfect sense, but the limitation placed on their decisions doesn’t sit well with casual gamers).
Overall, I think Dark Ages is a worthy addition to the Dominion canon, as it plays nicely with other sets and provides lots of things for aficionados and completists to discover. If, however, you are looking for a set to purchase after an initial pick up of Intrigue or the Base set, I would look elsewhere first. For what it’s worth, here are my favorite Dominion expansions:
- Prosperity
- Intrigue
- Hinterlands
- Dark Ages
- Cornucopia
- AlchemyAs a fun challenge a few weeks ago, I challenged Dominion fans to make a Kingdom set based around their favorite movie(s). We had a few great submissions that we'd like to share with you:GOONIES (Submitted by Rich Sommerer)
Adventurer, Cellar, Secret Chamber, Wishing Well, Pirate Ship, Treasure Map, Goons, Bag of Gold, Tunnel, Band of Misfits
HUNGER GAMES (Submitted by Scott Bolderson)
Tribute,Horn of Plenty,Mining Village, Forager, Scheme, Hunting Party, Tournament, Black Market, Cache, SpoilsPULP FICTION
Ill-Gotten Gains, Golem, Goons, Thief, Band of Misfits, Conspirator, Herbalist, Highway, Contraband, Armory
David Copperfield (book, not movie)
Beggar, Coppersmith, Count, Moneylender, Cache, Tactician, Cutpurse, Mountebank, Highway, Bridge
American History XPossession, Cultist, Mercenary, Minion, Rabble, Torturer, Black Market, Conspirator, Graverobber, Junk Dealer
