Non-Attack interaction

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Council Room, a non-attack interaction card.

Dominion is occasionally caricatured as "multi-player solitaire", in that in some circumstances it is possible for each player to independently build their own deck, with no direct interaction between different players' strategies and deck compositions. This tendency is mitigated, however, by the presence of cards that affect players other than their owners; this arguably makes the game more fun and strategic by keeping each player involved even during other players' turns. Attack cards are interactive in this way, but also tend to delay the game and are unpopular with some players; for this reason Donald X. Vaccarino thought it important to include non-Attack cards that cause interaction between players as well. At an early stage of development non-Attack interaction was the theme of the "War" expansion that eventually was revised into Dark Ages; it ended up being a subtheme of Prosperity, an expansion with relatively few Attack cards. But some such cards are present in each expansion.

A few non-Attack interactive cards—most commonly MasqueradeMasquerade.jpg, TributeTribute.jpg, and PossessionPossession.jpg—are occasionally mistaken for Attacks by new players, who expect to be able to use Reaction cards like MoatMoat.jpg to respond to them and are disappointed to learn that they can't. However, unlike Attack cards, using these cards on average neither benefits nor hurts the players they target, in the absence of very particular combos.

Contents

Non-Attack interactive cards

Cards in italics have been removed.

Cards that give a small benefit to other players

Cards whose effect depends on another player's deck, turn, or hand

Cards that allow another player to make a decision

Cards that depend on a shared resource that all players can affect

Supply piles:

The trash:

A number of Landmarks have limited amounts of VP tokens that players take from when they meet certain conditions.

Cards that change who controls a unique resource

Other interactive effects

  • MasqueradeMasquerade.jpg swaps cards about between all players' hands.
  • EmbargoEmbargo.jpg tokens affect all players equally once placed.
  • Mountain PassMountain Pass.jpg prompts a bidding event among all players after the first ProvinceProvince.jpg has been gained.
  • TaxTax.jpg puts Debt tokens on a supply pile that affect whichever player is next to buy from that pile.

Fringe cases

  • Fate and (non-Attack) Doom cards don't typically directly affect other players or the resources available to them, buy they do affect which Boons and Hexes are up next to be received.
  • The Reaction cards MoatMoat.jpg, Secret ChamberSecret Chamber.jpg, DiplomatDiplomat.jpg, Horse TradersHorse Traders.jpg, BeggarBeggar.jpg, Caravan GuardCaravan Guard.jpg are interactive, but only in the presence of Attacks.
  • Other Reaction cards (WatchtowerWatchtower.jpg, TunnelTunnel.jpg, TraderTrader.jpg, Market SquareMarket Square.jpg, Faithful HoundFaithful Hound.jpg), as well as many other cards, have effects that can be triggered on other players' turns by some Attacks or other interactive cards.
  • Ill-Gotten GainsIll-Gotten Gains.jpg, RaidRaid.jpg and Haunted CastleHaunted Castle.jpg are interactive and aren't technically Attacks, but they fill the same function as Attacks do.
  • RogueRogue.jpg is an Attack, but its gaining effect depends on the shared resource of the Trash in the same way Graverobber does. Likewise SkulkSkulk.jpg, TormentorTormentor.jpg, WerewolfWerewolf.jpg, and VampireVampire.jpg affect the Hex pile by discarding its top card, but do so to Attack.
  • SoothsayerSoothsayer.jpg and Old WitchOld Witch.jpg are Attacks, but also gives their victims a small benefit like Council Room and Governor.
  • Salt the EarthSalt the Earth.jpg trashes a card from the supply; this doesn't directly affect other players (barring cards that gain from the trash), but speeds up the tempo of the game.
  • IdolIdol.jpg either Attacks, or affects the Boon pile, but not both at the same time.


Attacks Attack immunityCurserDeck inspection attackDeck order attackHandsize attackJunking attackTrashing attackTurn-worsening attack
Buy/Money +BuyCost-reducerDisappearing moneyOverpayPeddler variantTerminal silverVirtual coinVirtual +Buy
Cycling Deck discarderDeck inspectorDiggingDiscard for benefitSifter
Terminality CantripNon-terminalNon-terminal drawSoft terminalTerminalTerminal drawThrone Room variantVillageConditional non-terminal
Other Alt-VPBasic cardsDuration drawCommand variantGainerLuck-basedNon-Attack interactionOne-shotRemodelerSplit pileTop deckerTrasherVanillaExtra turn
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