Cost

Every card in Dominion has a cost indicated in its lower left corner. Usually this is some number of coins, symbolized . The cost of a card is the number of coins necessary to buy it. In order to be able to buy a card, you have to have played Action and Treasure cards generating at least the requisite number of on the current turn (and not spent them on buying other cards).

The costs of some cards from Alchemy include a Potion, symbolized , in addition to—or instead of—some number of . The and components of costs are orthogonal; in order to buy a card with in the cost, you must have played a Potion card in addition to sufficient Actions and Treasures to produce the requisite number of .

A card's cost can serve other functions in gameplay, outside of its role in buying the card. For example, most gainers and several trashing attacks can only gain or trash cards of specified costs; most trash-for-benefit cards have effects that depend on the cost of the trashed card; a card's cost determines whether it is eligible to serve as the Bane for Young Witch or be imitated by Band of Misfits. For this reason, all cards have costs—even those that it is never possible to buy, such as Shelters and Prizes.

Some cards have effects that temporarily change the costs of some or all cards—Bridge, Quarry, Peddler, Highway, and Princess. While these effects obtain, costs are changed for all purposes—not only the cost of buying cards is changed, but so are other effects that depend on cost such as those listed above.

A few costs are listed with asterisks: is used on several cards that can be gained from outside the Supply; the asterisk serves to remind players that they cannot actually be bought for . Peddler's cost is listed as in order to remind players of its effect that changes its own cost.