Dominion – Prosperity Card Game Review

Your ship has come in and your alchemical labs have borne fruit. Your Dominion is finally entering a new age in Dominion: Prosperity, an expansion for the hit card game. Use your new-found wealth to clobber your disagreeable neighbors into submission. Hire your goons and build your banks, quarries, vaults and counting houses to take control of the economy. Use your financial strength to prove that whoever has the gold does indeed make the rules!

Dominion: Prosperity is the fourth expansion for the hit deck-building card game that has taken the gaming world by storm since its debut in 2008. Being an expansion set, it requires either the base Dominion game or a standalone expansion such as Intrigue to play. This review focuses on the Prosperity expansion. If you want to know more about how the base game is played, please read our Dominion review.

Dominion: Prosperity is another expansion set that introduces a new theme and new mechanics to the game. As the name implies, this set is all about wealth and gold and shiny things. It therefore won’t surprise you that there are a lot of new Treasure cards in the set, as well as cards that manipulate or are affected by the amount of Coins you have. The new mechanics include the ability to earn Victory Point tokens during the course of the game, and effects that depend on the cards that are “in play”.

Lets talk about the Treasure cards first. There are a whopping 9 new Treasure cards in this set! And what’s more: Gold is no longer the most expensive Treasure. There is a new Platinum card that costs 9 Coins and is worth 5 Coins when buying stuff. It would be boring if all the new Treasure cards just provided Coin bonuses, but thankfully they have pretty interesting effects as well.

Examples of these Treasure cards include the Contraband card that provides 3 Coins worth and an extra Buy for only a cost of 5 Coins. It does however have the disadvantage that another player gets to choose a card that you are not allowed to buy. There is also the Royal Seal card that provides only 2 Coins for the same 5 cost, but with the advantage that all the cards you buy this turn go on top of your deck instead of the discard pile.

As mentioned earlier, one of the new mechanics is the introduction of Victory Point tokens. Previously, the only way you can earn Victory Points was to buy Victory cards and then add their values up at the end of the game. The problem with that is that you are filling your deck with cards that will clog up your hand and don’t provide any immediate benefits.

Things are different now that you have Action cards that provide immediate Victory Points in addition to having other beneficial effects. For example, the 4-cost Monument card gives you an extra 2 Coins to spend in addition to 1 Victory Point token each time you use it. There is also the Goons card that in addition to providing lots of benefits including extra buys and coins, lets you earn 1 Victory Point for each card you buy this turn.

Another new mechanic explored in Dominion: Prosperity is the focus on the “in play” status of your cards. There are a number of cards that provide additional benefits and effects after they have been played but before they are discarded. An example is the Hoard Treasure card that while it is “in play”, allows you to gain a Gold card for each Victory card you buy. Similarly, while the Quarry card is in play, all Action cards you buy cost 2 less Coins. The Mint card on the other hand has an opposite negative effect, forcing you to trash all the Treasure cards that you have in play when you buy it. This basically means all the cards used to buy the Mint gets trashed.

One more thing to note is that the game economy has been drastically altered in this expansion. Not only are there new Treasure cards that are more expensive and provide more Coins, there are also a lot of really expensive cards. The most expensive and important of these is the Colony Victory card that costs 11 Coins and is worth 10 Victory Points. Provinces aren’t the most expensive Victory card anymore. There are also quite a few action cards that cost between 7 and 8 Coins, but they come with powerful effects that are worth every Coin you spend on them.

Due to the new expensive cards, the economy in Dominion has changed pretty substantially, and games may take longer now that you need to amass more gold to buy those big cards. In addition, games are now less likely to finish due to all the Provinces being bought, again changing how the game is played. In all, Dominion: Prosperity is a step in the right direction, injecting new life (and funds) into the game and forcing us to change our strategies and keeping us on our toes. So get a copy of Prosperity as well as either the base game or Intrigue, and start letting the money roll in!

Complexity: 3.0/5.0

Canasta Card Game – How to Play the Popular Canasta Card Game

Do you know how to play the Canasta card game? This article tells you how. Canasta is a rummy-like game that originated in the 1930s. While the rules and variations of the game were developed in Uruguay, popularity spread quickly and Canasta became the most preferred card game over other games including the Hearts and Cribbage card games. In the early 1950s, this Latino Rummy card game became standardized with a few variations and was labeled Classic Canasta. While Canasta rules will vary based on the country in which you reside and your specific preferences, most versions are similar in form and differ primarily in terms of players and points. In the paragraphs below the original Canasta card game will be discussed to give you a feel for how the game is meant to be played.

Canasta is designed to be played with four players that are playing as partners. While there are versions that can be adjusted for two and three players, the rules mentioned below will be referring to the four-player version. What you will need to play Canasta at home with your friends are two standard decks of 52 cards, and 4 jokers for a total of 108 cards. Each card is assigned a different point value. In original Canasta, the points differ from other versions like the Canasta Caliente card game. Jokers are assigned the highest point value of 50. Aces and twos are assigned 20 points each. Kings, queens, jacks, tens, nines and eights are given 10 points each. In addition, the remaining cards are assigned the lowest point value of 5.

Deuces and jokers are wild cards, while all other cards are considered natural. Wild cards in the standard game can be used to substitute for natural cards of any value. Each player participating will be dealt a pile of cards face up and a pile of cards face down. Like most games, including the Spades card game, the player on the left of the dealer will have the first turn. Going clockwise, players will draw a card from the stockpile and add it to their own face down pile without revealing what they have collected. They will then discard one card facing up for other players to see. This is where the challenge lies in Canasta because players can see what you are giving up but they cannot see what you are gaining.

The purpose of collecting and discarding cards is to create a meld. Melding means you have three or more cards of the same value or rank. Melds must be played after pick up but before discard. A meld of seven cards or higher is called Canasta. A red Canasta is when all cards are pure and natural, as opposed to a black Canasta where wild cards are used. The player that disposes all of their cards from their hand ends play. One team member must have Canasta before going out in the classic game. Although Canasta has existed for over 80 years, there are other versions of the Canasta card game like the Hand and Foot card game, and all versions are extremely popular with players of all ages

Go Fish Card Game Rules

Children love playing Go Fish Card Game. It is popularly known as Fish Game. One can play this game in a group of two to six players and in order to play this game one needs a card deck with basic fifty two cards. The motive of the players in this game is to collect maximum sets of four in order to win this sweet and simple game. Let us look at some common Go Fish Card Game Rules:

1. In this particular game the importance is given to the card numbers. The suits are not that important in this game as compared to the card numbers. As per the card numbers the rank of cards is decided. It goes from ace to number two and so on.

2. In order to decide which player will become the dealer, every player gets a card with a face up. The player who gets the lowest card becomes the dealer in this game called Go Fish Card Game.

3. Once it is decided that which player has got the lowest card and hence is the dealer, this dealer shuffles the cards. As a part of Go Fish Card Game Rules, The player sitting on the right side of the dealer cuts the cards after shuffling.

4. Post cutting, the dealer starts distributing the cards in clockwise manner. At this point of time the cards are distributed with face down and not face up. If the game is played with two or three players then each player gets seven cards. In case the number of players is more, then in case of four or five players, every player gets five cards each. The remaining cards are supposed to be placed back as a stock. These remaining cards are also put in face down manner.

5. Now, all players intend to make maximum fours of every number like four cards of six, four cards of ten and so on and so forth.

6. Now the game starts with the first player who sits at the left side of the dealer. This player can ask any opponent for any rank. For example this player can ask any other player for the kings, queens, jacks etc.

7. The other player should have at least one card of the rank asked by the player sitting next to the dealer. In case, this player does not have a single card of that rank then he is supposed to say “Go Fish”. This result in the player sitting to the left of the dealer or any player who actually demanded a card to pick one card from the stock.

8. In case the player gets the card which he demands for, he gets another opportunity to ask for another rank card from any other player or the same player. In case the player picks the card from the stock, the turn goes to the player sitting on his left.

San Juan Card Game Review

Transform a sleepy Caribbean town into an economic and industrial powerhouse in San Juan, the card game based on the award-winning Puerto Rico board game. Race against your fellow colonists as you strive to buy up plantations and mines, and build industrial, commercial and government buildings. Become the dominant power behind the economy of this tropical paradise and show the world who is in charge of the island!

Puerto Rico was an economic strategy game that transformed the board gaming world in 2002, introducing gameplay concepts that revolutionized the way games have been designed since. Its impact is still felt nearly a decade later, and is still ranked as the top board game on BoardGameGeek. San Juan is a card game derived from this revolutionary board game and designed by the same creator Andreas Seyfarth. It provides nearly the same amount of depth and strategy while making the game shorter and more fast-paced.

The goal of San Juan is to accumulate the most victory points by the end of the game, which occurs when any player constructs 12 buildings in his estate. The buildings you construct are worth a range of victory points, with some buildings providing a varying amount of victory points depending on how well you meet their required conditions. Your objective is therefore to build as many efficient buildings as possible and accumulate victory points faster than your opponents.

However, you can’t just simply construct any building cards you get your hands on. Each building has a construction cost, with the more expensive buildings being more powerful and worth more victory points. Similar to other card games like Race for the Galaxy, this cost is paid by discarding other building cards from your hand. So, playing a 4-cost building will require you to discard 4 other building cards. As you can see, constructing buildings will quickly deplete your hand.

There is also a time and place for everything. Similar to Puerto Rico, actions become available when players choose roles. Every round, the starting player or Governor gets to choose a role to play. Once every player has played the action associated with that role, the next player gets to select a role. This continues until every player has selected a role for the round. The starting player position then moves to the next player and the role selection begins again.

There are 5 roles in the game. When the Builder role is selected, every player gets to construct a building. When the Councilor is selected, every player gets to draw cards and choose one to keep. Selecting the Producer role allows production buildings to produce their goods, while the Trader role lets players sell their goods for more cards in hand. The Prospector role is slightly different in that it only allows the player who selects it to draw a card. Being the player who selects the roles also provides benefits. For example, the player that chooses the Builder role can build at a reduced cost, while the player that chooses the Producer role can produce an extra good.

There are plenty of buildings in San Juan, each of which confer powerful abilities to help you win the game. There are production buildings that allow you to produce and sell goods such as sugar, tobacco and coffee. Selling these goods is crucial as it helps you replenish your hand with more cards in order to construct more buildings, or even to find a building you want to construct. Other buildings that change the game environment include the Aqueduct which allows its owner to produce one more good, and the Market Hall that gives you an extra card when you sell a good.

There are also end-game buildings that have a variable victory point value. For example, the Palace is worth 1 victory point for every 4 victory points you have, while the Guild Hall gives you 2 victory points for every production building in your estate. Your goal in the game is therefore to construct a combination of buildings which will keep your hand constantly supplied with cards, and which mesh well together to provide an efficient path towards earning the most victory points.

As San Juan is derived from the Puerto Rico board game, a comparison between the two would be prudent. The most obvious difference is the game speed, with a game of San Juan taking less than half the time of a Puerto Rico game. The resource system has also changed; in San Juan, rather than having a separate currency resource, the building cards themselves are also the currency. San Juan does not have the ability to ship goods or man buildings with colonists. The associated Captain and Mayor roles are therefore not present. San Juan instead adds the Councilor role which helps players cycle and draw cards. There are also a couple of other minor tweaks to streamline the game to fit a fast-paced card game.

San Juan is an elegant and successful card game version of the best-selling Puerto Rico economic strategy board game, bringing to life the commercialization and industrialization of the sleepy Caribbean town. The game is quick and intense, and the gameplay is straightforward enough for beginners, yet has enough depth to keep experienced players entertained. San Juan is ideal for you if you like economic strategy and role-drafting board games such as Agricola or Puerto Rico, or similar card ga

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