I can't quite remember where I saw this, and I can't find the thread now either, but I seem to recall someone saying that Guilds, being the last expansion, was a missed opportunity to really tie things together. The person presenting this idea was basically suggesting something similar to the
hypothetical treasure chest expansion some of us would like to see.
Anyway, I've been playing some Guilds games, and the more I play or even just think about the cards, the more I'm thinking it really does tie existing things together pretty well while introducing its own new mechanics.
DominionA handful of mechanics, and some simple cards. Coin tokens are new, pretty straightforward mechanic that don't require much room in terms of card text. Candlestick Maker is a nice simple card, and apart from the setup rule so is Baker. Taxman is the result of smashing Bureaucrat, Militia, and Mine together, then wiping away the blood.
IntrigueI feel like this is where I need to stretch the most to make this work. There are some basic choices, like which card to trash, which card to gain, do I spend coin tokens now, but those don't feel quite like Intrigue choices. Advisor is probably the closest example of this, and maybe Plaza and Taxman a bit. Taxman a bit more I guess for its choosing how to Attack.
SeasideCoin tokens work as a sort of pseudo-Duration effect (apart from Butcher). Baker could read, "At the start of any one future Buy phase, +1 coin." But then Donald would have you keep Baker in play as a reminder until you use the +coin, and that wouldn't be very good. Taxman tosses a Treasure to your next turn (and is also similar to Cutpurse). Doctor improves and previews your next hand. I think Merchants Guild is the best example of a pseudo-Duration card, as its current turn effect is clearly pretty bad--worse than Herbalist! When you buy Herald, you get to set up your next turn.
AlchemyI believe overpaying for a Stonemason is the first direct Potion (by which I mean the potion symbol, or whatever the currency Potion produces, rather than the card named Potion) interaction we've seen since Alchemy. Herald fits in with the theme of big Action chains, along with a few others.
ProsperityLook at how your wealth increases when you invest a lot into a Masterpiece! Save up a fortune selling bread, candlesticks, and managing the whole Merchants Guild! This set's Curser gains the Attacker a nice Gold, and even has a positive interaction with the victim. Butcher is a bigger and better Remodel, there's a $4 Village doing stuff with money, and we have a bigger and better (if not terribly exciting for all) Smithy. By spending just $2 extra on your engine piece, you can have another engine piece of equal value, where the only catch is taking trasher that can produce more engine pieces if you want.
CornucopiaStonemason is decent at creating variety, um Plaza discards something from your hand...Advisor's text includes the word "hand"...alright in terms of Guilds tying expansions together, this might be the biggest stretch.
HinterlandsA new on-buy mechanic! Yup, overpaying is just an on-buy effect; read the cards again. "When you buy this..." That immediately makes Guilds great as a sequel expansion to Hinterlands. Not so much with alternate types as Hinterlands, but we do at least have a Treasure with a fun on-buy effect (which is incidentally great with the alt-VP from a different set). Plaza and Journeyman offer mild amounts of sifting.
Dark AgesNo on-trash effects, but we do have
four cards--almost a third of the whole set--that trash something, one of them being an Attack card. While none of them care about the contents of the Trash pile, they do interesting things when they trash, and I think they would all be right at home in Dark Ages. On a more flavorful note, now your Knights can get
the introductions they deserve from your new Heralds.
So in conclusion, I disagree with that post I'm thinking of (if it even exists
), I'm loving Guilds so far, and while I would of course love more Dominion (whether it be a treasure chest type expansion or more new stuff), I think Guilds is a strong set to go out on that succeeds at touching on many of the earlier ideas of the series. Now I just need to get my hands on the physical cards...
