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[Markov Chain]

I played two 3-player Hinterlands/Prosperity games with this kingdom:

Tunnel, Quarry, Silk Road, Worker's Village, Jack of All Trades, Inn, Cartographer, Goons, Grand Market, Expand, Platinum/Colony.

There appear to be two competing strategies here.  Worker's Village/Inn/Goons could be used for multi-Goons, and you could buy an Inn near the end of your deck to set up another multi-Goons for each shuffle.  On the other hand, Cartographer/Tunnel can produce a lot of gold, with more coming every time your Tunnel is hit by Goons, and that gold could be turned into Grand Market, Platinum, and Expand to get Colonies and Provinces.  Quarry could enable either strategy.  (And the one card that nobody tried was Jack of All Trades; this would seem to be a good card with Inn or in response to Goons, although the silver could be annoying later in the game.)

Both times we played, it was the Tunnel strategy that won a close game.  In the first game, a 5/2 start with 3 on the next turn forced me into the Tunnel strategy, as Cartographer/nothing was the only reasonable 5/2, and 3 was naturally a Tunnel with a Cartographer already in play.  In the second game, everyone started 4/3 with Quarry/Silver (no need for a Tunnel until the discarders are out), but the strategies diverged later. 

[Forge!!!]

I find it hard to believe that Quarry/Workers Village/Goons/Grand Market wouldn't crush everything else.

[Titandrake]

Second Quarry/Grand Market/+Actions/Goons. I don't think Tunnel would give you enough Gold fast enough to compete. 2 Quarries = Grand Market by themselves. And for each Grand Market you played earlier in the turn, you can buy another Grand Market if 2 Quarries are in place. Then you can just dominate the game.

[chwhite]

One thing that gives me pause is the lack of either trashing (besides JoaT and Expand, which don't thin your deck at all) or net +Card options, which really constrain your Goons possibilities.  I think you need to go Quarry/WV/Goons/GM anyway, but your only consistent multi-Goons hits are probably coming after Inn buys. 

Come to think of it, I could definitely see an opening for Tunnel/Silk Road three-pile rushing here.

[Forge!!!]

One thing that gives me pause is the lack of either trashing (besides JoaT and Expand, which don't thin your deck at all) or net +Card options, which really constrain your Goons possibilities.  I think you need to go Quarry/WV/Goons/GM anyway, but your only consistent multi-Goons hits are probably coming after Inn buys. 

Come to think of it, I could definitely see an opening for Tunnel/Silk Road three-pile rushing here.

I think the lack of mega-turns is going to be made up for by the incredible speed you'll be able to get all the cards, with Quarries and the buys on WV. It might be the type of game where the best turn only includes 2 goons, but like 10 buys.

[Asklepios]

I'd be curious to try Jack/Tunnel, then one more Jack, then all the Tunnels, then all the Silk Roads and estates. It could crash and burn spectacularly, but both Tunnel and Jack are good when attacked by Goons, and there'd be a decent surge of VP.

I can't say it'd be consistent against quarry-worker's village-grand market-goons, and it'd need a little luck to be fast enough, but I'd be curious to see how it simulates

[Markov Chain]

I think the lack of mega-turns is going to be made up for by the incredible speed you'll be able to get all the cards, with Quarries and the buys on WV. It might be the type of game where the best turn only includes 2 goons, but like 10 buys.

That happened in the first game; one of the players used an Inn to take back a pile of actions from his discard, then played four Worker's Villages, two Goons, a Grand Market, and 5 money to buy a Colony and seven copper for 24+10 VPs.

He would probably have won if he had another mega-turn, as there were several Provinces and Colonies left, but the game three-piled first: Tunnels, Cartographers, and Gold ran out.  This is the first time I have seen Gold run out for a three-pile ending, but with all the Tunnels turning into gold from Goons and Cartographers, it wasn't a surprise.  Instead, I won 71-68-62; I had no Goons points but four Colonies and three Provinces.

[Brathannes]

Jack & Silver

[mischiefmaker]

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Cartographer and Expand as supplements to the Goons engine. With 2 Quarries, you'll be able to pick up either one on the cheap. I'd open Quarry/Silver and pick up Cartographer before my second Quarry (though it should be noted that engine building is one of the weakest parts of my game). Cartographer + Inn helps you put together those big Goons hands without needing more Inns, an overreliance on which might be problematic if you're getting Goons'd every turn.

This board is particularly interesting in 3p, though, because there's a lot to react to. If your opponents both get Goons, Jack might be a good response (Inn/Jack/Expand the Silver). If not, you're in good shape...unless they both start rushing Tunnel/Silk Road before your engine has a chance to get going.

[Markov Chain]

This board is particularly interesting in 3p, though, because there's a lot to react to. If your opponents both get Goons, Jack might be a good response (Inn/Jack/Expand the Silver). If not, you're in good shape...unless they both start rushing Tunnel/Silk Road before your engine has a chance to get going.

Similarly, the 3p game helped the Tunnel strategy.  The discard from a Goons doesn't hurt a Tunnel player as much, as he is likely to have a Tunnel to turn into gold, and also has more green cards in his deck.  Two Goons players building engines will interfere more with each other.