Prize

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Followers, a Prize card.

Prizes are a card type from Cornucopia. The Prizes are five differently-named unique cards that are not in the Supply, and can only be gained by playing a TournamentTournament.jpg.

TournamentTournament.jpg was removed from the second edition of Cornucopia & GuildsGuilds & Cornucopia.jpg, and accordingly the Prizes were removed as well, replaced by the conceptually-similar Rewards (now paired with the Tournament replacement JoustJoust.jpg).

Contents

List of Prizes

Official Rules

  • There are five Prizes: Bag of Gold, Diadem, Followers, Princess, and Trusty Steed. These are cards which are never part of the Supply.
  • If the Prizes run out, that does not count towards the game end condition.
  • The Prizes may not be bought, or gained via cards like Horn of PlentyHorn of Plenty.jpg; they may only be gained via the card TournamentTournament.jpg, or via cards that directly provide a way to gain them (such as LurkerLurker.jpg from second edition IntrigueIntrigue.jpg, which can gain Actions from the trash).
  • AmbassadorAmbassador.jpg (from Dominion: SeasideSeaside.jpg) cannot return Prizes to their pile.
  • Trashed Prizes go to the trash pile, like other cards; they do not return to the Prize pile.
  • If you are using the promotional card Black MarketBlack Market.jpg, do not put Prizes in the Black Market deck.
  • Even though Prizes cannot be bought, they have a cost of $0, which matters for cards like RemakeRemake.jpg.

Strategy

For discussion of Prizes, refer to the Tournament strategy section.

Card gallery

Bag of Gold.jpgDiadem.jpgFollowers.jpgPrincess.jpgTrusty Steed.jpg

Trivia

In other languages

  • Czech: Odměna
  • Dutch: Prijs
  • Finnish: Palkinto
  • German: Preis
  • Polish: Nagroda
  • Russian: Трофей (pron. trofyey, lit. trophy)

Secret History

And finally there are the Prizes themselves. There were always five; that's just how much space was left, and was a fine number anyway. I was not going to take out a card so I could have sixteen Prizes. They always cost $0. They need a cost because some cards care about card costs. There are various arguments for why they should have what cost, but I think a crucial one in favor of $0star is, that it makes it extra clear that you cannot actually buy them. I also like that you don't think, "oh man the correct play is to Remodel my prize."

The Prizes wanted to be cards that I wasn't "wasting" as Prizes. Cards that I couldn't do normally, because they were too hard to price well, or were too powerful in multiples, or too narrow. You don't always have extra actions for Diadem, but you can just take another Prize instead; it's not a whole unused pile.

The first set of Prizes was less exciting, and people complained and I excitified them. Bag of Gold originally did not give +1 Action. Princess only made VP cards cheaper. Trusty Steed gave you +2 Cards and +$2, no choice. Diadem went unchanged, look at that. And in place of Followers I had a VP-Action card. It didn't work out because, you know, you buy VP cards later in the game, for the points they're worth. I just couldn't make a VP prize exciting enough without making it too good. It couldn't be something you built your deck around, because you might not get it and at most got one. Something like Harem or Nobles just wasn't going to look pretty next to the other Prizes, because part of what you "paid for" was the 2 VP. Anyway Followers, who doesn't like Followers.

Diadem started in the large version of Alchemy long ago, as an Action: "+$2. Return this to your hand." It was a cute combo with Villages, but useless without them. I then tried some "choose one" versions, which solved the problem of it sometimes being dead, but didn't make the actions-to-money part any better. I eventually gave up on it, and well here it is at last.

Followers meanwhile started out as a Goons in Prosperity. I tried a bunch of "choose one" cards in that slot, and then tried this attack-two-ways, profit-the-opposite-ways thing. It was the same except it cost $6 and gave you a VP token instead of an Estate. It was too strong. An Estate is obv. a lot worse than a VP token, and being a Prize means it doesn't get to hit you that often or early either.

At one point Trusty Steed also gave you +2 Buys when you picked +2 Actions, and at one point Princess gave you +1 Action too.


Cards $2 HamletHamlet.jpg $3 Fortune TellerFortune Teller.jpgMenagerieMenagerie.jpg $4 Farming VillageFarming Village.jpgHorse TradersHorse Traders.jpgRemakeRemake.jpgTournamentTournament.jpg (Prizes: Bag of GoldBag of Gold.jpgDiademDiadem.jpgFollowersFollowers.jpgPrincessPrincess.jpgTrusty SteedTrusty Steed.jpg) • Young WitchYoung Witch.jpg $5 HarvestHarvest.jpgHorn of PlentyHorn of Plenty.jpgHunting PartyHunting Party.jpgJesterJester.jpg $6 FairgroundsFairgrounds.jpg
Dominion Card types
Basic types ActionTreasureVictoryCurseCurse.jpg
Multi-expansion special types AttackDurationReactionCommand
Single-expansion special types PrizeShelterRuinsLooterKnightReserveTravellerGatheringCastleNightHeirloomFateDoomSpiritZombieAugurClashFortLiaisonOdysseyTownsfolkWizardLoot
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