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[werothegreat]

Having played Dominion for over a year and a half now, I've noticed (as I'm sure you have) that there are quite a few cards that just have +1 Card, +1 Action, and then some text.  These are often very powerful cards, but there are some weak ones in there as well.  What they all have in common as that when we first look at them we think "+1 Card, +1 Action, murgh, this card doesn't do very much... oh wait!" 

Now, for them to qualify (in my completely subjective opinion), they have to have ONLY +1 Card, +1 Action, and text.  No other guaranteed vanilla bonuses.  Scout does not count, since it does not have a +1 Card, and Great Hall does not count, because 1 VP is a vanilla bonus.  Here they are by set:

Base: Spy

Intrigue: Wishing Well, Upgrade

Seaside: Haven, Pearl Diver

Alchemy: Apothecary, Familiar

Prosperity: N/A

Cornucopia: Hamlet, Hunting Party

Hinterlands: Scheme, Cartographer, Highway

Dark Ages: Rats (possibly others?)

I considered Caravan, but the text is simply stating that the extra +1 Card happens on your next turn, rather than, say, Hamlet, whose text dictates prerequisite activities (discarding) to get the extra vanilla bonuses.

[Grujah]

Does Menagerie count? Edit: I guess this is in same boat as Hamlet.


Sage is also kinda +1 Card +1 Action, nothing else.

[Cuzz]

Even though Hunting Party does fit your description, I feel the fact that it's (almost) guaranteed to draw more than one card makes it of a slightly different flavor than some of the others here.

[werothegreat]

Even though Hunting Party does fit your description, I feel the fact that it's (almost) guaranteed to draw more than one card makes it of a slightly different flavor than some of the others here.

I'd say Hunting Party is most similar to Wishing Well.  Both involve revealing, and the chance (granted, a higher chance for one of them) of drawing a revealed card.

[Cuzz]

Even though Hunting Party does fit your description, I feel the fact that it's (almost) guaranteed to draw more than one card makes it of a slightly different flavor than some of the others here.

I'd say Hunting Party is most similar to Wishing Well.  Both involve revealing, and the chance (granted, a higher chance for one of them) of drawing a revealed card.

Of the cards on this list, I agree. But I think Hunting Party is really most similar to Lab (in fact I'd argue there are few pairs of cards as similar in function as those two) which is definitely not on this list.

In any case, I've thought about this too and I think classifying and comparing cards like this is interesting. There are these fundamental commonalities among some cards, but as we've seen with the set design contest, some cards obviously fit nicely into categories while others test the boundaries (is Squire really a village? e.g.)

[werothegreat]

New from Dark Ages:

Vagrant, Urchin, Ironmonger, Sir Bailey

It's rather interesting to note that most of the $2 Cantrips with Extra are the sort of cards you'd only buy if you had only $2 in your hand, and there was nothing better on the board - like Pearl Diver or Vagrant.

[Beyond Awesome]

New from Dark Ages:

Vagrant, Urchin, Ironmonger, Sir Bailey

It's rather interesting to note that most of the $2 Cantrips with Extra are the sort of cards you'd only buy if you had only $2 in your hand, and there was nothing better on the board - like Pearl Diver or Vagrant.

In a heavy cursing/ruins games, I would take Vagrant over some $3 or $4 buys. Although, if it was heavy cursing/ruins, chances are I would have many $2 turns.