My suggestion for a diverse set of cards that people I play with, usually new players, find fun (not an easy selection to make...):
Pearl Diver - good to have a simple 2 on board
Sage, Smugglers - an intuitive sifter and an interactive gainer
Monument, Worker's Village - easy source of +buy, although Monument is perhaps questionable
Band of Misfits, Bandit Camp, Mystic, Rabble - cloning cards is fun and simple with these options, Spoils are cute, guessing is fun and Rabble, well, it's +cards and a weak enough attack not to have to introduce Lighthouse etc.
Altar - provides an obvious benefit to trashing
Other cards that almost made it:
Warehouse
Armory, Salvager
Hunting Grounds
Not sure I'd put Band of Misfits in here; the choices may seem simple, but they will still slow things down significantly for new players, especially since they'll want to look over all the cards each time the would play it.
Pearl Diver is also somewhat meh...I'd maybe put in Vagrant in it's place, with a comment along the lines of "don't worry about what ruins, curses and shelters are, we'll get to them next game" at the start. It's probably slightly worse in these circumstances, but doesn't require a choice from the players (and Pearl Diver's choice is one of the least interesting in the game).
In general, avoid cards that involve decisions while playing them; new players are already making decisions when they buy things, and when they inevitably have clashing terminals and have to figure out which to play. No need to overwhelm them with more complexity. Incidentally, that's my main concern about Embargo, which is itself a tricky card.
I'd also avoid cards that do anomalous things. Monument stands out on your list for the VP tokens; you want them to associate VP with clogging your deck up, not with those little tokens. They can learn the exceptions later; for now stick to the basics of the game.
I'd agree that you want to avoid cards with difficult decisions, but decisions in themselves can add some life to the game. Embargo is a culprit here because you have to anticipate what cards your opponents will want to buy at what stage of the game - and that is too much on your first game. However, with Band of Misfits (and Pearl Diver) it is more a case of 'what do I want right now', and I've found that new players don't find that too difficult to grasp.
I'm not entirely happy with that kingdom though, especially Monument and Worker's Village.
Other cards that almost made it:
Warehouse
Armory, Salvager
Hunting Grounds
I like the idea of Armory and Warehouse. Maybe they're easier at first than workshop and cellar, having the card you gain go right on top of your deck and learning to correctly select the cards you want to keep from a larger hand.
They are pretty fun cards for a first game, but there is the inevitable question with Warehouse of 'do I draw three, play another action card and then discard three'. Also, with gainers like Armory and Mine it can also get confusing since you have to remember that the gained card doesn't go in the usual place.
- No shelters, no Colony.
- Grand Market.
- Bazar
- Catacombs
- Mystic
- Venture
- Armory
- Island
- Salvager
- Lookout
- Vagrant
I like this especially Catacombs. Grand Market, Island and Lookout are interesting (risky?) choices. My personal bias says Pearl Diver instead of Vagrant since you haven't introduced ruins etc., and it also combos with Mystic.
Beggar: a Reaction, and defends directly against Rogue. The fact that it gives 3 copper, costs 2 and has additional functionality will suggest that copper is not a great thing to gain, but at the same time it is a boost of $ when they inevitably clutter their decks with junk
Warehouse, Forager: a solid trasher and a sifter, to introduce the 2 key ways of dealing with junk. Will also help them recover if they overplay Beggar
Armory, Worker's Village, Salvager: a gainer, a village and another trasher. This set will be loaded with +buys
Bazaar, Catacombs, Rogue: Village which shows off the relative importance of +coin and +buy, a terminal draw card, and a non-insane attack (the must gain clause prevents it from trashing everybody's deck)
Altar: Reinforces the idea that trashing can be good, and gives a way to get those additional engine pieces. Plus, if they overbuy this, they at least have a way to get rid of it
I don't like Rogue here. I'd save cards that gain from the trash until much later, just to preserve the enjoyment of introducing this unique feature. Also, the interaction with Beggar might be a bit confusing. Beggar in itself, particularly along with Altar and other trash/sift could be good though. Ghost Ship might be an interesting alternative to Rogue, given Beggar. With all the +buy you could probably cut Salvager or Worker's Village due to duplicated basic effects, not sure what you'd introduce instead.
