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[WalrusMcFishSr]

Here's an idea I was mulling over in my head:

Inflation--Action, cost $2

+2 cards
Trash this card.
Place an inflation token on top of a Kingdom Card pile.
---
For each inflation token on a pile, that card's cost is increased by 1.


...and its natural complement:


Surplus--Action, cost $2

+1 buy
Trash this card
Place a surplus token on top of a Supply pile.
---
For each surplus token on a pile, that card's cost is reduced by 1 (but not to less than 0).


Some notes:

--I'm not sure if ideas like this have been discussed before; I tried a search but if there's already an existing topic please let me know.

--I know these are very Embargo-esque. Well, I like Embargo, and I think it might be an underutilized mechanic. I like Bridge and Highway too!

--The wording, names, prices, and secondary effects are completely up for debate. I just tried to make them a little different from Embargo for the sake of variety. I have not playtested these at all.

--Inflation only affects Kingdom Cards, while Surplus can be on any pile. This is to avoid situations where Coppers cost $12 and the game stalemates. Although that would be pretty hilarious.

--Should this only affect cards until the pile runs out?

In any case, I think it's an interesting idea that could be an interesting option in certain situations. You could play to make your opponent's strategy more difficult or your own more viable. Certainly there would be exciting interactions with remodeling cards, Workshop, Band of Misfits, Border Village, Knights, etc. It's like a permanent, asymmetrical Bridge (or anti-Bridge)!

Let me know what you think!

[Asper]

Something like this is proposed from time to time, but i didn't keep track of the thread and don't remember where to find it, sorry.

A problem i remember from it was that you don't know what cards cost sometimes. For example, consider a Poor House with both tokens on it twice. Do we count the Surpluses first an then the Inflations (2$), or vice versa(1$)?

I think the reason why so few cards make use of tokens is that they mean additional material that has to be produced.

Don't get me wrong, i like the mechanic too. I was trying to do a fan card with a setup rule that had you put 4 Victory Tokens on each non-Victory kingdom card pile. Whenever a player took a card from it, one token had to be removed, and if a pile had tokens on it at the end of the game, cards from it were considered Victory cards worth one VP per token. It was to reward you for buying card that are unpopular, but i couldn't make it work well yet.

To your last question: Yes, i think it should stop doing something when the pile is empty - it's hard to tell what cards the tokens are for, especially if you play without randomizers at the pile bottom.

About the power lever i can't say much, but i think cards like this tend to be a bit problematic. It's good that you restricted Inflation to kingdom cards, because a 12$ Province is ridiculous, but on the other hand i assume it would basically make the first few turns more important and probably strengthen Big Money. Surplus is better in that respect, but it would also make the game go very quickly - and as it takes one of your actions, opponents basically get the same benefit for nothing. It's worse than Bishop.