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{{Infobox Card
{{Infobox Card
  |name = Fool's Gold
  |name = Fool's Gold
|cost = 2
  |type1 = Treasure
  |type1 = Treasure
  |type2 = Reaction  
  |type2 = Reaction  
  |illustrator = Ryan Laukat
  |illustrator = Ryan Laukat
  |text = If this is the first time you played a Fool's Gold this turn, this is worth {{Cost|1}}, otherwise it's worth {{Cost|4}}.
  |text = If this is the first time you played a Fool's Gold this turn, +{{Cost|1}}, {{nowrap|otherwise +{{Cost|4}}.}}
  |text2 = When another player gains a Province, you may trash this from your hand. If you do, gain a Gold, putting it on your deck.
  |text2 = When another player gains a Province, you may trash this from your hand, to gain a Gold onto your deck.
}}
}}


'''Fool's Gold''' is a [[Treasure]]-[[Reaction]] from [[Hinterlands]]. It is the only card with this typing. Despite only costing {{Cost|2}}, Fool's Gold is a card which gets progressively more powerful the more you can get. As such, games often result in a race to get the most.  
'''Fool's Gold''' is a [[Treasure]]-[[Reaction]] from [[Hinterlands]], and it is the only Treasure-Reaction card in the game. While costing only {{Cost|2}}, Fool's Gold gets progressively more powerful the more of them are played together.
== FAQ ==
== FAQ ==
=== Official FAQ ===
=== Official FAQ ===
* This is both a [[Treasure]] and a [[Reaction]]. It can be played in your buy phase like other [[Treasure]]s.
* The first Fool's Gold you play in a turn is worth {{Cost|1}}, and all further copies are worth {{Cost|4}}.  
* When you play it, it is worth {{Cost|1}} if this is the first time you played a Fool's Gold this turn, and otherwise it is worth {{Cost|4}}. So if you play three Fool's Golds in the same turn, the first is worth {{Cost|1}}, the second is worth {{Cost|4}}, and the third is worth {{Cost|4}}.
* So if you play three of them, you get {{Cost|1}} + {{Cost|4}} + {{Cost|4}}, or {{Cost|9}} total.
* Fool's Gold is also a [[Reaction]]. When another player gains a {{Card|Province}}, you may [[trash]] Fool's Gold from your hand; if you do, you gain a {{Card|Gold}} from the [[Supply]], putting it on top of your deck rather than into your discard pile.
* Fool's Gold is also a Reaction.  
* If there are no cards in your deck, the {{Card|Gold}} becomes the only card in your deck.
** When another player gains a {{Card|Province}}, you may trash Fool's Gold from your hand to gain a Gold from the [[Supply]], putting it onto your deck.  
* If there are no {{Card|Gold}} cards left in the [[Supply]], you do not gain one, but can still [[trash]] Fool's Gold.
** You cannot use this ability when you gain a {{Card|Province}}, only when another player does.
* This [[Reaction]] is only usable when another player gains a {{Card|Province}}, not you. It is usable whether a {{Card|Province}} was gained due to being bought, or gained some other way.


=== Other Rules clarifications ===
=== Other rules clarifications ===
== Strategy Article ==
* If you play the same Fool's Gold twice in the same turn (with {{Card|Crown}} or {{card|Counterfeit}}), the second play will produce +{{Cost|4}}.
''Originally posted by A_S00 on the [http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=2143.0 forum]''
* If another player gains a {{Card|Province}} during your turn (e.g. you play a {{Card|Governor}} and they trash a {{Card|King's Court}} into {{Card|Province}}), you can react with your Fool's Gold.
* Even if your 1st Fool's Gold gets blocked by {{Card|Highwayman}}, your other Fool's Golds will still give +{{Cost|4}}.


Fool's Gold is pretty good.  And, like {{Card|Minion|Minions}}, {{Card|Hunting Party|Hunting Parties}}, and sex, the more of it you have, the better it gets. Play one FG in a turn, and it's a Copper.  Play two, and each one is a {{Card|Silver}}-and-a-half. Play three, and each one is a {{Card|Gold}}. Play four or more, and they're better than Gold.  Pretty snazzy for a {{Cost|2}} card.
== Strategy ==
Fool’s Gold is a cheap, dense [[payload]] card that is entirely reliant on [[collision|colliding]] with copies of itself. As such, Fool’s Gold is most usable in Kingdoms with [[thinning|thinner]]s, which can remove your starting cards and increase your odds of such collisions. Fool’s Gold is also good with sources of +Buy, both to get multiple copies of Fool’s Gold at once and to effectively utilize the potentially large amount of {{Cost}} generated. [[Draw]] also works well with Fool’s Gold, as every additional [[stop card]] supported can be another {{Cost|4}} generated. Fool's Gold is less likely to be impactful in Kingdoms lacking one or more of these effects.


It should follow from the above that you want to buy as many copies of Fool's Gold as possible. And, indeed, you can do worse than buying nothing else:  [[Big Money]] Ultimate on Geronimoo's simulator loses to an equivalent strategy that just buys Fool's Gold instead of Gold and Silver 25%-67%.  The Fool's Gold strategy averages 4 Provinces in 15.5 turns.  But sometimes (a lot of the time), you can do even better.
Cards that provide multiple of the effects above synergize well with Fool’s Gold. {{Card|Forager}}, {{Card|Counterfeit}}, and {{Card|Sanctuary}} all provide early thinning and +Buy so that you can start buying and colliding Fool’s Golds. On an early {{Cost|5}}, a {{Card|Mint}} (trashing 5 {{Card|Copper|Coppers}}) can similarly be useful to both encourage collisions and quickly add more Fool’s Golds. [[Terminal draw]] cards with +Buy, such as {{Card|Barge}}, also work nicely with Fool’s Gold, but will often appreciate other sources of thinning.


=== What does Fool's Gold like? ===
In Kingdoms with the right support, Fool’s Gold can be a very effective source of payload. Because of its cheap cost, with each additional copy generating {{Cost|4}} but only costing {{Cost|2}}, it’s easy to add to your deck and an effective way to rapidly increase your economic output. Additionally, with sufficient copies, it generates more {{Cost}} per [[stop card]] than does {{Card|Gold}}; three copies of Fool’s Gold generates the same amount of {{Cost}} as three {{Card|Gold|Golds}} or {{Cost|3}} per card, four copies of Fool’s Gold generates 3.25{{Cost}} per card, and so on. Fool’s Gold is best added to your deck after you’ve begun working on your [[deck control]], as if you can’t reliably line them up adding a Fool’s Gold is similar to buying a {{Card|Copper}}.


There are three things that Fool's Gold loves almost as much as other Fool's Gold, and sometimes it's worth dipping out of Fool's Gold to pick up one or more of them.  Those three things are:
Even in Kingdoms with the right support, Fool’s Gold still has some of the typical problems of [[Treasure]]-based payload. Most importantly, it’s a stop card that can cause even a strong engine to [[dud]] with unlucky [[reshuffle|shuffles]]. Second, because its use is restricted to the [[Buy phase]], you cannot set up [[gain and play]] situations as you can with other strong payload cards such as {{Card|Altar}}, and it anti-synergizes with [[Throne Room variant]]s and [[draw to X]].
* [[Trashing]]:  The less cards you have in your deck that aren't Fool's Gold, the higher your chance of drawing lots of Fool's Gold at once. Thus, Fool's Gold loves trashers (but only some...more on this later).
* Card Drawing:  The more cards you have in your hand, the more of them are likely to be Fool's Gold.  Thus, Fool's Gold loves drawing cards.
*+Buy (or gain):  The only thing better than buying a Fool's Gold every turn is buying more than one Fool's Gold every turn.  This accelerates your game if you're going for it and your opponent is ignoring it, and gives you the chance at a favorable split if you end up racing for the Fool's Golds.  Plus, this will give you a chance at double {{Card|Province}} or Province/{{Card|Duchy}} turns in the late game, which can easily spell the difference between a win and a loss.  Thus, Fool's Gold loves +buy.


Even better than getting just one of those, though, is getting multiple. So, with that in mind, let's consider some specific cards that go well with Fool's Gold.
Fool’s Gold’s [[Reaction]] is rarely worth using, as doing so likely reduces your {{Cost}} generation for your coming turn, and trashing a Fool’s Gold reduces your odds of colliding them in future turns. As an example, if you have two Fool’s Golds in hand, Reacting and trashing one reduces your coming turn’s economy by {{Cost|4}} in exchange for {{Cost|3}} the turn after. In most cases, Reacting for a {{Card|Gold}} is likely going to cause you to generate less {{Cost}} than if you just keep the Fool’s Gold. Also, adding a stop card to the top of your deck is likely to cause an [[engine]] to [[dud]].


'''{{Card|Mint}}:'''  A special case for a {{Cost|5}}/{{Cost|2}} [[opening]] split, Mint/Fool's Gold is currently the 6th best opening, according to the councilroom.com rankings.  Mint's on-buy effect provides excellent trashing, and its on-play effect then goes on to effectively provide +buy, getting you lots of Fool's Gold fast. It's probably not worth picking up later unless you get a lucky 5-{{Card|Copper}} hand (don't trash any Fool's Gold for it).
===External strategy articles===
''Note: Article(s) below are by individual authors and may not represent the community's current views on cards, but may provide more in-depth information or give historical perspective. Caveat emptor.''
* [http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=2143.0 A_S00's 2012 article]


'''{{Card|Council Room}}:'''  Huge draw and +buy to go with it.  Council Room/Fool's Gold is an excellent opening if you're lucky enough to get a  {{Cost|5}}/{{Cost|2}} split, but even if you're not, picking one up with your first {{Cost|5}} hand is worth it.  Buying a single Council Room as soon as possible increases Fool's Gold's margin over BMU to a whopping 90%-7%, and beats Fool's Gold head-on 71%-23%. It also beats the optimized Council Room bot 76%-19%.
== Versions ==
===English versions===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Print !! Digital !! Text !! Release !! Date
|-
| {{CardLangVersionImage|o=1}} || {{CardVersionImage|Fool's GoldDigitalOld|Fool's Gold from Goko/Making Fun}} || If this is the first time you played a Fool's Gold this turn, this is {{nowrap|worth {{Cost|1}},}} otherwise it's {{nowrap|worth {{Cost|4}}.}}{{divline}}When another player gains a Province, you may trash this from your hand. If you do, gain a Gold, putting it on your deck. || Hinterlands || October 2011
|-
| {{CardLangVersionImage|o=2}} || {{CardLangVersionImage|d=1|o=2}} || Worth {{Cost|1}} if it's the first time you played a Fool's Gold this turn, otherwise {{nowrap|worth {{Cost|4}}.}}{{divline}}When another player gains a Province, you may trash this from your hand, to gain a Gold onto your deck. || Hinterlands [[Second Edition|(2016 printing)]] || December 2016
|-
| {{CardLangVersionImage}} || {{CardLangVersionImage|d=1}} || If this is the first time you played a Fool's Gold this turn, {{nowrap|+{{Cost|1}},}} otherwise {{nowrap|+{{Cost|4}}.}}{{divline}}When another player gains a Province, you may trash this from your hand, to gain a Gold onto your deck. || <p>Hinterlands [http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=20551.0 (2020 printing)]</p><hr><p>Hinterlands (Second Edition)</p> ||
|}


'''{{Card|Margrave}}:'''  Card drawing, +buy, and an attack to boot. Smells like victory. Like Council Room, Margrave is worth picking up with your first {{Cost|5}} hand even if you don't get a {{Cost|5}}/{{Cost|2}} split. One of these babies will let Fool's Gold beat BMU 92%-5%, and beats straight Fool's Gold 69%-25%.
===Other language versions===
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible autocollapse" style="text-align:center;"
! Language !! Name !! Print !! Digital !! Text !! Notes
|-
!Czech
| Kočičí zlato || || || ||
|-
!Dutch
| Klatergoud (lit. ''shining gold'') || || || ||
|-
!Finnish
| Katinkulta || || || ||
|-
!French
| Or des fous || || || ||
|-
!German
| Katzengold ||{{CardVersionImage|Fool's Gold German-HiG|German language Fool's Gold 2011 by HiG}}|| || Wenn du Katzengold zum ersten Mal in diesem Zug ausspielst, ist es {{Cost|1}} wert, ansonsten ist es {{Cost|4}} wert.{{divline}}Wenn ein Mitspieler eine Provinz nimmt, darfst du diese Karte aus deiner Hand entsorgen. Wenn du das machst: Nimm dir ein Gold und lege es auf deinen Nachziehstapel. || (2011)<hr>"&hellip;<s>ausspielst</s> ausgespielt hast,&hellip;"
|-
!German
| Katzengold || {{CardVersionImage|Fool's GoldGerman2019rulebook|German language Fool's Gold 2019 by ASS}} || || Wert {{Cost|1}}, wenn dies das erste Mal in diesem Zug ist, dass du ein Katzengold ausgespielt hast, ansonsten {{nowrap|Wert {{Cost|4}}.}}{{divline}}Nimmt ein Mitspieler eine Provinz, darfst du diese Karte aus deiner Hand entsorgen, um ein Gold auf deinen Nachziehstapel zu nehmen. || (2019)
|-
!German
| Katzengold || || {{CardLangVersionImage|German|d=1}} || style="padding:15px 0px;"| Wenn dies das erste Mal in diesem Zug ist, dass du ein Katzengold gespielt hast: {{nowrap|+{{Cost|1}},}} {{nowrap|ansonsten +{{Cost|4}}.}}{{divline}}Nimmt ein Mitspieler eine Provinz, darfst du diese Karte aus deiner Hand entsorgen, um ein Gold auf deinen Nachziehstapel zu nehmen. || 2.&nbsp;Edition<br>(2022)
|-
!Italian
| Oro dello Stolto || || || ||
|-
!Japanese
| 愚者の黄金 (pron. ''gusha no ōgon'') || || || style="padding:15px 0px;"| これがこのターンに使用した最初の愚者の黄金の場合、{{Cost|1}}。それ以外の場合、{{nowrap|{{Cost|4}}。}}{{divline}}他のプレイヤーが属州1枚を獲得するとき、手札からこれを廃棄してもよい。廃棄した場合、金貨1枚を山札の上に獲得する。 ||
|-
!Polish
| Złoto głupców || {{CardLangVersionImage|Polish}} || || Jeśli po raz pierwszy zagrywasz w tej turze Złoto głupców +{{Cost|1}}; w przeciwnym razie {{Cost|4}}.{{divline}}Kiedy inny gracz dodaje Prowincję, możesz wyrzucić na Śmietnisko tę kartę z ręki, aby dodać Złoto na wierzch swojej talii. || (2024)
|-
!Russian
| Золото Дураков (pron. ''zoloto durakov'') || || || ||
|-
!Spanish
| Oro Falso (lit. ''fake gold'') || || || ||
|}


'''{{Card|Salvager}}:'''  A trasher tailor-made for Fool's Gold. Get rid of your Estates and Coppers, accelerate your Fool's Gold purchasing with +$ and +buy, then have the option to rush the end game by trashing Provinces if you get ahead (doubly beneficial to a Fool's Gold deck, since Fool's Gold hates greening).  Buying a single Salvager on turn 1/2 increases Fool's Gold's margin over BMU to 81%-16%, and beats straight Fool's Gold head-on 60%-37%.
== Trivia ==
[[Image:Fools_GoldArt.jpg|thumb|right|354px|Official card art.]]
=== Theme ===
{{Quote
|Text= This name was on different cards at different points; it was a useful name. The original Fool's Gold was the action version of {{Card|Diadem}}. This card was hard to name and this name seemed to fit, so here it is. It varies in value, and when people get desperate towards the end, they don't look as closely at your money.
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
|Source=[https://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/719450/article/7789338#7789338 The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards]
}}
=== Preview ===
{{Quote
|Text=
Fool's Gold meanwhile is the kind of card you might want two of on turn two. A Fool's Gold-based economy can rake in the cash, provided you can get rid of your {{Card|Copper|Coppers}} and/or draw extra cards. One is only worth {{Cost|1}}, but two together are {{Cost|5}}, and three are {{Cost|9}}. Other quantities are left as an exercise for the reader.


'''{{Card|Remodel}}:'''  Plays somewhat like Salvager. Remodel Estates and Coppers into Fool's Golds, late-game Remodel Golds into Provinces or Provinces into more Provinces.
Fool's Gold can also turn into {{Card|Gold}} in the late game. You may not even want to do this when you're going all-out for Fool's Golds, but some games you just picked one up randomly when you had {{Cost|2}}, or you got some to stop other players from getting all of them, or you got some and then realized, wait a minute, I do not have what I need to make this work. And then you wait patiently for someone to buy a {{Card|Province}}, and cash in. The Gold you gain goes right on your deck, so you even have a chance to draw it before the game's over.
 
|Name=[[Donald X. Vaccarino]]
'''{{Card|Spice Merchant}}:'''  In mirror match-ups, ends up being a slightly less good version of Salvager in Fool's Gold games, but still worth picking up if it's the best option on the board.  If your opponent ignores Fool's Gold, it's even better.  You can use the +$/+buy option early to pick up extra Fool's Golds, or the +cards option if you get an unlucky hand like 2xFG, 1xC, Spice Merchant, Province, hoping to draw an extra Fool's Gold.  Picking up a Spice Merchant as an opening increases Fool's Gold's margin over BMU to 86%-10%, and beats Fool's Gold head-on 54%-37%.
|Source=[http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/711061/previews-2 Hinterlands Previews #2]
 
}}
'''{{Card|Masquerade}}:'''  Gives a little card drawing, along with light trashing.  Masquerade is a good card, and its strengths line right up with what Fool's Gold likes, so no surprise that they go well together.  Masquerade/Fool's Gold beats BMU 81%-15%, and beats straight Fool's Gold 57%-38%.  It also beats the optimized Masquerade bot 55%-39%.
 
'''{{Card|Bridge}}:'''  Gives +buy for cheap.  The cost reduction also minimizes the chance of unlucky turns where you get your +buy but don't have enough money in hand to buy two Fool's Gold (a problem with some of the weaker +buy cards), and gives you a decent shot at double Province or Province/Duchy turns late game (FG/FG/FG/C/Bridge is P/D, FG/FG/FG/FG/Bridge is P/P). Buying an opening Bridge bumps up the margin against BMU to 88%-9%, and beats straight Fool's Gold 67%-27%. Also beats the optimized Bridge bot 83%-13%.
 
'''{{Card|Envoy}}:'''  It's good for BMU, and it's good for Fool's Gold.  It beats BMU 76%-18%, straight Fool's Gold 50%-4-%, and the optimized Envoy bot 51%-41%.
 
'''{{Card|Smithy}}:'''  No surprises here.  Beats BMU 78%-18%, Fool's Gold 55%-36%, and the optimized Smithy bot 53%-38%.
 
'''{{Card|Thief}}''':  An interesting case, and one of the few types of games in which the card is actually useful.  In a mirror match-up, Thief acts as +buy, letting you pick up extra copies of Fool's Gold, while killing your opponent's copies (of course, you still run the risk of getting unlucky and just trashing his {{Card|Copper}} for him).  With a single Thief as an opener, it beats straight Fool's Gold 63%-30%, but it's worse against BMU than straight Fool's Gold is (though it still wins 64%-29%).
 
'''{{Card|Nomad Camp}}''': A Nomad Camp buy on turn 1 can get you a +buy and two Fool's Golds in your deck before your first reshuffle.
 
'''{{Card|Store Room}}''' is a very strong Fool's Gold enabler. See [http://forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=9130.0 here] for an article about this combo.
 
=== What doesn't Fool's Gold like? ===
 
As good a card as Fool's Gold is, there's a number of things that don't go along with it very well.  Some of them are expected, but some are surprising (at least to me).  Here are a few of them:
 
'''[[curser|Cursing attacks]]:'''  Just like having less crap in your deck makes you more likely to draw your Fool's Golds together, having more crap makes you less likely to do so.  Thus, if you're going to be eating a lot of {{Card|Curse|Curses}}, you should probably stick to Gold and Silver which at least retain their value in crappy hands, rather than turning into so much Copper.  {{Card|Mountebank}} is the worst of the lot, of course, since it gives you two cards that aren't Fool's Gold every time you get hit.  When Cursers are on the board, I'd probably just avoid Fool's Gold altogether.
 
'''Fast [[megaturn]]s:'''  Fool's Gold strategies can be pretty fast...but not necessarily the fastest thing on the board. If you think your opponent can probably pull off some kind of {{Card|King's Court}}/{{Card|Bridge}} monstrosity on turn 12, you should probably try and contest him on those grounds, rather than plodding along with your Fool's Gold strategy.
 
'''{{Card|Chapel}}:'''  Despite my assertion above that Fool's Gold loves trashing, it turns out not to get along with the king of trashers, Chapel.  Straight Fool's Gold beats Chapel/Fool's Gold 59%-38%.  Without any +buy to make up the turn you lose buying Chapel, you're probably only going to end up with 4 Fool's Gold in your deck when they run out, and with no Copper to back them up, that's not going to stand up to any greening whatsoever.  It may be viable to work Chapel into a Fool's Gold strategy that also gets some +cards from somewhere, but I suspect that's going to be too slow and lose the Fool's Gold race in a mirror.
 
'''{{Card|Moneylender}}, {{Card|Steward}}:'''  Good as these cards are, they both fall prey to the same problem as Chapel.  If you waste a turn buying them, you lose the Fool's Gold race, and the deck thinning and +{{Cost|}} they provide isn't enough to make up the difference.
 
=== Other stuff ===
 
'''Should I buy Gold and Silver after the Fool's Gold runs out?'''
 
In a word, yes.  It's not going to matter against a player who's not going Fool's Gold (by the time they run out, you're going to be buying Provinces and Duchies anyway), but in a mirror match-up, a player who buys Gold and Silver after the Fool's Gold runs out beats one who doesn't 85%-10%. Just do it.
 
'''When should I trash my Fool's Gold to top-deck a Gold?'''
 
I have no idea.  Geronimoo's simulator doesn't have a way of controlling the bot's behavior for this, and I don't know my way around rspeer's well enough to answer this question with it.  However, there are a couple things I think are probably important when deciding whether or not to trash:
* Can you already buy a Province?  If so, don't trash.
* How did the Fool's Gold split go?  The better it went for you (the more Fool's Golds you got), the less you should be inclined to trash.
* Do you have more than one Fool's Gold in hand right now?  If so, probably don't trash.
* Given what you know about what's left in your deck, are top-decked Golds likely to let you buy a Province next turn?  If yes, might be a good idea to trash.
* Is the game far enough from over that a VP card next turn is as good as one this turn, or are you really down to the wire?  If the former, you might consider trashing; if the latter, probably best to just buy buy buy.
 
'''Should I try and incorporate Fool's Gold into engines?'''
 
This is a tricky question, and in my experience, the answer is generally "no."  It's easy to see why you would want to:  Fool's Gold rewards big hands with lots of buys, and the best way to get that is a big, fancy engine.  The problem is, fancy engines take time to set up, and Fool's Gold is always a limited resource.  So, if you try to get your engine set up first, your opponent has time to buy up all the Fool's Gold, making your ability to draw your whole deck useless.  On the other hand, if you buy up the Fool's Gold first, you've probably spent enough turns on that race that it's too late to start building an engine; your opponent already has enough Fool's Golds to be buying Provinces.
 
There may well be some exceptions to this, but in my experience, Fool's Gold and engines don't mix especially well.
 
The cases where they do mix are when you don't need Fool's Gold, specifically; you've built an engine that draws your whole deck and now you want to add some buying power, and two Fool's Golds are worth {{Cost|5}} for {{Cost|4}} and two buys. If the Fool's Golds weren't there you'd have just built the same engine but rounded it off with a {{Card|Death Cart}}, or {{Card|Poor House}}, or a {{Card|Throne Room}} with a [[terminal Silver]], or just a few more expensive [[Treasure]]s; using two FGs might save you a turn compared to buying two {{Card|Gold|Golds}}.
=== Synergies/Combos ===
*+Buy
* [[Trashing]] (if it gives +buy)
*+Cards, most standard [[Big Money]] enablers
* {{Card|Thief}}
 
=== Antisynergies ===
* [[curser|Cursing attacks]]
* Trashing (if it doesn't give +buy, and if your opponent is also going for FG)
* Fancy [[engine]]s
== Trivia ==
=== Secret History ===
=== Secret History ===
{{Quote
{{Quote
Line 113: Line 115:
}}
}}


 
{{Navbox Hinterlands}}
{{Navbox Cards}}
{{Navbox Cards}}
[[category:alt Treasure]]
[[category:variable coin]]
[[category:one-shot]]
[[category:treasure gainer]]
[[category:opponent interaction]]

Latest revision as of 18:27, 27 June 2024

Fool's Gold
Info
Cost $2
Type(s) Treasure - Reaction
Kingdom card? Yes
Set Hinterlands
Illustrator(s) Ryan Laukat
Card text
If this is the first time you played a Fool's Gold this turn, +$1, otherwise +$4.
When another player gains a Province, you may trash this from your hand, to gain a Gold onto your deck.

Fool's Gold is a Treasure-Reaction from Hinterlands, and it is the only Treasure-Reaction card in the game. While costing only $2, Fool's Gold gets progressively more powerful the more of them are played together.

FAQ

Official FAQ

  • The first Fool's Gold you play in a turn is worth $1, and all further copies are worth $4.
  • So if you play three of them, you get $1 + $4 + $4, or $9 total.
  • Fool's Gold is also a Reaction.
    • When another player gains a Province, you may trash Fool's Gold from your hand to gain a Gold from the Supply, putting it onto your deck.
    • You cannot use this ability when you gain a Province, only when another player does.

Other rules clarifications

  • If you play the same Fool's Gold twice in the same turn (with Crown or Counterfeit), the second play will produce +$4.
  • If another player gains a Province during your turn (e.g. you play a Governor and they trash a King's Court into Province), you can react with your Fool's Gold.
  • Even if your 1st Fool's Gold gets blocked by Highwayman, your other Fool's Golds will still give +$4.

Strategy

Fool’s Gold is a cheap, dense payload card that is entirely reliant on colliding with copies of itself. As such, Fool’s Gold is most usable in Kingdoms with thinners, which can remove your starting cards and increase your odds of such collisions. Fool’s Gold is also good with sources of +Buy, both to get multiple copies of Fool’s Gold at once and to effectively utilize the potentially large amount of $ generated. Draw also works well with Fool’s Gold, as every additional stop card supported can be another $4 generated. Fool's Gold is less likely to be impactful in Kingdoms lacking one or more of these effects.

Cards that provide multiple of the effects above synergize well with Fool’s Gold. Forager, Counterfeit, and Sanctuary all provide early thinning and +Buy so that you can start buying and colliding Fool’s Golds. On an early $5, a Mint (trashing 5 Coppers) can similarly be useful to both encourage collisions and quickly add more Fool’s Golds. Terminal draw cards with +Buy, such as Barge, also work nicely with Fool’s Gold, but will often appreciate other sources of thinning.

In Kingdoms with the right support, Fool’s Gold can be a very effective source of payload. Because of its cheap cost, with each additional copy generating $4 but only costing $2, it’s easy to add to your deck and an effective way to rapidly increase your economic output. Additionally, with sufficient copies, it generates more $ per stop card than does Gold; three copies of Fool’s Gold generates the same amount of $ as three Golds or $3 per card, four copies of Fool’s Gold generates 3.25$ per card, and so on. Fool’s Gold is best added to your deck after you’ve begun working on your deck control, as if you can’t reliably line them up adding a Fool’s Gold is similar to buying a Copper.

Even in Kingdoms with the right support, Fool’s Gold still has some of the typical problems of Treasure-based payload. Most importantly, it’s a stop card that can cause even a strong engine to dud with unlucky shuffles. Second, because its use is restricted to the Buy phase, you cannot set up gain and play situations as you can with other strong payload cards such as Altar, and it anti-synergizes with Throne Room variants and draw to X.

Fool’s Gold’s Reaction is rarely worth using, as doing so likely reduces your $ generation for your coming turn, and trashing a Fool’s Gold reduces your odds of colliding them in future turns. As an example, if you have two Fool’s Golds in hand, Reacting and trashing one reduces your coming turn’s economy by $4 in exchange for $3 the turn after. In most cases, Reacting for a Gold is likely going to cause you to generate less $ than if you just keep the Fool’s Gold. Also, adding a stop card to the top of your deck is likely to cause an engine to dud.

External strategy articles

Note: Article(s) below are by individual authors and may not represent the community's current views on cards, but may provide more in-depth information or give historical perspective. Caveat emptor.

Versions

English versions

Print Digital Text Release Date
Fool's Gold Fool's Gold from Goko/Making Fun If this is the first time you played a Fool's Gold this turn, this is worth $1, otherwise it's worth $4.
When another player gains a Province, you may trash this from your hand. If you do, gain a Gold, putting it on your deck.		 Hinterlands October 2011
Fool's Gold Fool's Gold from Shuffle iT Worth $1 if it's the first time you played a Fool's Gold this turn, otherwise worth $4.
When another player gains a Province, you may trash this from your hand, to gain a Gold onto your deck.		 Hinterlands (2016 printing) December 2016
Fool's Gold Fool's Gold from Shuffle iT If this is the first time you played a Fool's Gold this turn, +$1, otherwise +$4.
When another player gains a Province, you may trash this from your hand, to gain a Gold onto your deck.

Hinterlands (2020 printing)

Hinterlands (Second Edition)

Other language versions

Language Name Print Digital Text Notes
Czech Kočičí zlato
Dutch Klatergoud (lit. shining gold)
Finnish Katinkulta
French Or des fous
German Katzengold German language Fool's Gold 2011 by HiG Wenn du Katzengold zum ersten Mal in diesem Zug ausspielst, ist es $1 wert, ansonsten ist es $4 wert.
Wenn ein Mitspieler eine Provinz nimmt, darfst du diese Karte aus deiner Hand entsorgen. Wenn du das machst: Nimm dir ein Gold und lege es auf deinen Nachziehstapel.		 (2011)
"…ausspielst ausgespielt hast,…"
German Katzengold German language Fool's Gold 2019 by ASS Wert $1, wenn dies das erste Mal in diesem Zug ist, dass du ein Katzengold ausgespielt hast, ansonsten Wert $4.
Nimmt ein Mitspieler eine Provinz, darfst du diese Karte aus deiner Hand entsorgen, um ein Gold auf deinen Nachziehstapel zu nehmen.		 (2019)
German Katzengold German language Fool's Gold from Shuffle iT Wenn dies das erste Mal in diesem Zug ist, dass du ein Katzengold gespielt hast: +$1, ansonsten +$4.
Nimmt ein Mitspieler eine Provinz, darfst du diese Karte aus deiner Hand entsorgen, um ein Gold auf deinen Nachziehstapel zu nehmen.		 2. Edition
(2022)
Italian Oro dello Stolto
Japanese 愚者の黄金 (pron. gusha no ōgon) これがこのターンに使用した最初の愚者の黄金の場合、$1。それ以外の場合、$4。
他のプレイヤーが属州1枚を獲得するとき、手札からこれを廃棄してもよい。廃棄した場合、金貨1枚を山札の上に獲得する。
Polish Złoto głupców Polish language Fool's Gold Jeśli po raz pierwszy zagrywasz w tej turze Złoto głupców +$1; w przeciwnym razie $4.
Kiedy inny gracz dodaje Prowincję, możesz wyrzucić na Śmietnisko tę kartę z ręki, aby dodać Złoto na wierzch swojej talii.		 (2024)
Russian Золото Дураков (pron. zoloto durakov)
Spanish Oro Falso (lit. fake gold)

Trivia

Official card art.

Theme

This name was on different cards at different points; it was a useful name. The original Fool's Gold was the action version of Diadem. This card was hard to name and this name seemed to fit, so here it is. It varies in value, and when people get desperate towards the end, they don't look as closely at your money.
—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards

Preview

Fool's Gold meanwhile is the kind of card you might want two of on turn two. A Fool's Gold-based economy can rake in the cash, provided you can get rid of your Coppers and/or draw extra cards. One is only worth $1, but two together are $5, and three are $9. Other quantities are left as an exercise for the reader. Fool's Gold can also turn into Gold in the late game. You may not even want to do this when you're going all-out for Fool's Golds, but some games you just picked one up randomly when you had $2, or you got some to stop other players from getting all of them, or you got some and then realized, wait a minute, I do not have what I need to make this work. And then you wait patiently for someone to buy a Province, and cash in. The Gold you gain goes right on your deck, so you even have a chance to draw it before the game's over.
—Donald X. Vaccarino, Hinterlands Previews #2

Secret History

The top started out as worth $1 per copy you had, on a version of Ill-Gotten Gains. It needed a tortured wording to have it be that if you played three you got $3 for each, since you play them one at a time. Bill Barksdale suggested having it be $1 and then $4, which was much simpler. It's stronger when you have just two, and weaker when you have more than three, but that all worked out. Meanwhile the bottom started on a card in a later set, and bopped around a little before ending up here. At one point the Gold didn't go on top of your deck, but it's so late, it has to go there.
—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of the Hinterlands Cards


v . t . e
Cards $2 Crossroads • Fool's Gold $3 Develop • Guard Dog • Oasis • Scheme • Tunnel $4 Jack of All Trades • Nomads • Spice Merchant • Trader • Trail • Weaver $5 Berserker • Cartographer • Cauldron • Haggler • Highway • Inn • Margrave • Souk • Stables • Wheelwright • Witch's Hut $6 Border Village • Farmland
Removed cards $2 Duchess $3 Oracle $4 Noble Brigand • Nomad Camp • Silk Road $5 Cache • Embassy • Ill-Gotten Gains • Mandarin
Combos and Counters Trader/Feodum
Other concepts When gain
v . t . e
Dominion Cards
Basic cards $0 Copper • Curse $2 Estate $3 Silver $5 Duchy $6 Gold $8 Province
Dominion $2 Cellar • Chapel • Moat $3 Harbinger • Merchant • Vassal • Village • Workshop $4 Bureaucrat • Gardens • Militia • Moneylender • Poacher • Remodel • Smithy • Throne Room $5 Bandit • Council Room • Festival • Laboratory • Library • Market • Mine • Sentry • Witch $6 Artisan
Removed cards: $3 Chancellor • Woodcutter $4 Feast • Spy • Thief $6 Adventurer
Intrigue $2 Courtyard • Lurker • Pawn $3 Masquerade • Shanty Town • Steward • Swindler • Wishing Well $4 Baron • Bridge • Conspirator • Diplomat • Ironworks • Mill • Mining Village • Secret Passage $5 Courtier • Duke • Minion • Patrol • Replace • Torturer • Trading Post • Upgrade $6 Farm • Nobles
Removed cards: $2 Secret Chamber $3 Great Hall $4 Coppersmith • Scout $5 Saboteur • Tribute $6 Harem
Seaside $2 Haven • Lighthouse • Native Village $3 Astrolabe • Fishing Village • Lookout • Monkey • Sea Chart • Smugglers • Warehouse $4 Blockade • Caravan • Cutpurse • Island • Sailor • Salvager • Tide Pools • Treasure Map $5 Bazaar • Corsair • Merchant Ship • Outpost • Pirate • Sea Witch • Tactician • Treasury • Wharf
Removed cards: $2 Embargo • Pearl Diver $3 Ambassador $4 Navigator • Pirate Ship • Sea Hag $5 Explorer • Ghost Ship
Alchemy P Transmute • Vineyard $2 Herbalist $2P Apothecary • Scrying Pool • University $3P Alchemist • Familiar • Philosopher's Stone $4 Potion $4P Golem $5 Apprentice $6P Possession
Prosperity $3 Anvil • Watchtower $4 Bishop • Clerk • Investment • Tiara • Monument • Quarry • Worker's Village $5 Charlatan • City • Collection • Crystal Ball • Magnate • Mint • Rabble • Vault • War Chest $6 Hoard $6* Grand Market $7 Bank • Expand • Forge • King's Court $8star Peddler $9 Platinum $11 Colony
Removed cards: $3 Loan • Trade Route $4 Talisman $5 Contraband • Counting House • Mountebank • Royal Seal • Venture $6 Goons
Cornucopia & Guilds $2 Candlestick Maker • Hamlet $2+ Farrier • Stonemason $3 Menagerie • Shop $3+ Infirmary $4 Advisor • Farmhands • Plaza • Remake • Young Witch $4+ Herald $5 Baker • Butcher • Carnival • Ferryman • Footpad • Horn of Plenty • Hunting Party • Jester • Journeyman • Joust (Rewards: Coronet • Courser • Demesne • Housecarl • Huge Turnip • Renown)• Merchant Guild • Soothsayer $6 Fairgrounds
Removed cards: $3 Fortune Teller $3+ Doctor • Masterpiece $4 Farming Village • Horse Traders • Taxman • Tournament (Prizes: Bag of Gold • Diadem • Followers • Princess • Trusty Steed) $5 Harvest
Hinterlands $2 Crossroads • Fool's Gold $3 Develop • Guard Dog • Oasis • Scheme • Tunnel $4 Jack of All Trades • Nomads • Spice Merchant • Trader • Trail • Weaver $5 Berserker • Cartographer • Cauldron • Haggler • Highway • Inn • Margrave • Souk • Stables • Wheelwright • Witch's Hut $6 Border Village • Farmland
Removed cards: $2 Duchess $3 Oracle $4 Noble Brigand • Nomad Camp • Silk Road $5 Cache • Embassy • Ill-Gotten Gains • Mandarin
Dark Ages $0 Ruins (Abandoned Mine • Ruined Library • Ruined Market • Ruined Village • Survivors) $0* Spoils $1 Poor House • Shelters (Hovel • Necropolis • Overgrown Estate) $2 Beggar • Squire • Vagrant $3 Forager • Hermit (Madman) • Market Square • Sage • Storeroom • Urchin (Mercenary) $4 Armory • Death Cart • Feodum • Fortress • Ironmonger • Marauder • Procession • Rats • Scavenger • Wandering Minstrel $5 Band of Misfits • Bandit Camp • Catacombs • Count • Counterfeit • Cultist • Graverobber • Junk Dealer • Knights (Dames Anna • Josephine • Molly • Natalie • Sylvia • Sirs Bailey • Destry • Martin • Michael • Vander) • Mystic • Pillage • Rebuild • Rogue $6 Altar • Hunting Grounds
Adventures $2 Coin of the Realm • Page (Treasure Hunter • Warrior • Hero • Champion) • Peasant (Soldier • Fugitive • Disciple • Teacher) • Ratcatcher • Raze $3 Amulet • Caravan Guard • Dungeon • Gear • Guide $4 Duplicate • Magpie • Messenger • Miser • Port • Ranger • Transmogrify $5 Artificer • Bridge Troll • Distant Lands • Giant • Haunted Woods • Lost City • Relic • Royal Carriage • Storyteller • Swamp Hag • Treasure Trove • Wine Merchant $6 Hireling
Events: $0 Alms • Borrow • Quest $1 Save $2 Scouting Party • Travelling Fair $3 Bonfire • Expedition • Ferry • Plan $4 Mission • Pilgrimage $5 Ball • Raid • Seaway • Trade $6 Lost Arts • Training $7 Inheritance $8 Pathfinding
Empires 4D Engineer 8D City Quarter • Overlord • Royal Blacksmith $2 Encampment/Plunder • Patrician/Emporium • Settlers/Bustling Village $3 Castles (Humble • Crumbling • Small • Haunted • Opulent • Sprawling • Grand • King's) • Catapult/Rocks • Chariot Race • Enchantress • Farmers' Market • Gladiator/Fortune $4 Sacrifice • Temple • Villa $5 Archive • Capital • Charm • Crown • Forum • Groundskeeper • Legionary • Wild Hunt
Events: 5D Triumph 8D Annex • Donate $0 Advance $2 Delve • Tax $3 Banquet $4 Ritual • Salt the Earth $43D Wedding $5 Windfall $6 Conquest $14 Dominate
Landmarks: Aqueduct • Arena • Bandit Fort • Basilica • Baths • Battlefield • Colonnade • Defiled Shrine • Fountain • Keep • Labyrinth • Mountain Pass • Museum • Obelisk • Orchard • Palace • Tomb • Tower • Triumphal Arch • Wall • Wolf Den
Nocturne $0* Will-o'-Wisp • Wish $2 Druid • Faithful Hound • Guardian • Monastery • Pixie (Goat) • Tracker (Pouch) $2* Imp $3 Changeling • Fool (Lost in the Woods • Lucky Coin) • Ghost Town • Leprechaun • Night Watchman • Secret Cave (Magic Lamp) $4 Bard • Blessed Village • Cemetery (Haunted Mirror) • Conclave • Devil's Workshop • Exorcist • Necromancer (Zombies: Apprentice • Mason • Spy) • Shepherd (Pasture) • Skulk $4* Ghost $5 Cobbler • Crypt • Cursed Village • Den of Sin • Idol • Pooka (Cursed Gold) • Sacred Grove • Tormentor • Tragic Hero • Vampire (Bat) • Werewolf $6 Raider
Boons: The Earth's Gift • Field • Flame • Forest • Moon • Mountain • River • Sea • Sky • Sun • Swamp • Wind
Hexes: Bad Omens • Delusion (Deluded) • Envy (Envious) • Famine • Fear • Greed • Haunting • Locusts • Misery (Miserable/Twice Miserable) • Plague • Poverty • War
Renaissance $2 Border Guard (Horn • Lantern) • Ducat • Lackeys $3 Acting Troupe • Cargo Ship • Experiment • Improve $4 Flag Bearer (Flag) • Hideout • Inventor • Mountain Village • Patron • Priest • Research • Silk Merchant $5 Old Witch • Recruiter • Scepter • Scholar • Sculptor • Seer • Spices • Swashbuckler (Treasure Chest) • Treasurer (Key) • Villain
Projects: $3 Cathedral • City Gate • Pageant • Sewers • Star Chart $4 Exploration • Fair • Silos • Sinister Plot $5 Academy • Capitalism • Fleet • Guildhall • Piazza • Road Network $6 Barracks • Crop Rotation • Innovation $7 Canal $8 Citadel
Menagerie $2 Black Cat • Sleigh • Supplies $3 Camel Train • Goatherd • Scrap • Sheepdog • Snowy Village • Stockpile $3* Horse $4 Bounty Hunter • Cardinal • Cavalry • Groom • Hostelry • Village Green $5 Barge • Coven • Displace • Falconer • Gatekeeper • Hunting Lodge • Kiln • Livery • Mastermind • Paddock • Sanctuary $5* Fisherman $6* Destrier • Wayfarer $7* Animal Fair
Events: $0 Delay • Desperation $2 Gamble • Pursue • Ride • Toil $3 Enhance • March • Transport $4 Banish • Bargain • Invest • Seize the Day $5 Commerce • Demand • Stampede $7 Reap $8 Enclave $10 Alliance • Populate
Ways: Butterfly • Camel • Chameleon • Frog • Goat • Horse • Mole • Monkey • Mouse • Mule • Otter • Owl • Ox • Pig • Rat • Seal • Sheep • Squirrel • Turtle • Worm
Allies $2 Bauble • Sycophant • Townsfolk (Town Crier / Blacksmith / Miller / Elder) $3 Augurs (Herb Gatherer / Acolyte / Sorceress / Sibyl) • Clashes (Battle Plan / Archer / Warlord / Territory) • Forts (Tent / Garrison / Hill Fort / Stronghold) • Importer • Merchant Camp • Odysseys (Old Map / Voyage / Sunken Treasure / Distant Shore) • Sentinel • Underling • Wizards (Student / Conjurer / Sorcerer / Lich) $4 Broker • Carpenter • Courier • Innkeeper • Royal Galley • Town $5 Barbarian • Capital City • Contract • Emissary • Galleria • Guildmaster • Highwayman • Hunter • Modify • Skirmisher • Specialist • Swap $6 Marquis
Allies: Architects' Guild • Band of Nomads • Cave Dwellers • Circle of Witches • City-state • Coastal Haven • Crafters' Guild • Desert Guides • Family of Inventors • Fellowship of Scribes • Forest Dwellers • Gang of Pickpockets • Island Folk • League of Bankers • League of Shopkeepers • Market Towns • Mountain Folk • Order of Astrologers • Order of Masons • Peaceful Cult • Plateau Shepherds • Trappers' Lodge • Woodworkers' Guild
Plunder $2 Cage • Grotto • Jewelled Egg • Search • Shaman $3 Secluded Shrine • Siren • Stowaway • Taskmaster $4 Abundance • Cabin Boy • Crucible • Flagship • Fortune Hunter • Gondola • Harbor Village • Landing Party • Mapmaker • Maroon • Rope • Swamp Shacks • Tools $5 Buried Treasure • Crew • Cutthroat • Enlarge • Figurine • First Mate • Frigate • Longship • Mining Road • Pendant • Pickaxe • Pilgrim • Quartermaster • Silver Mine • Trickster • Wealthy Village $6 Sack of Loot $7 King's Cache $7* Loots (Amphora • Doubloons • Endless Chalice • Figurehead • Hammer • Insignia • Jewels • Orb • Prize Goat • Puzzle Box • Sextant • Shield • Spell Scroll • Staff • Sword)
Events: $1 Bury $2 Avoid • Deliver • Peril • Rush $3 Foray • Launch • Mirror • Prepare • Scrounge $4 Maelstrom • Journey $6 Looting $10 Invasion • Prosper
Traits: Cheap • Cursed • Fated • Fawning • Friendly • Hasty • Inherited • Inspiring • Nearby • Patient • Pious • Reckless • Rich • Shy • Tireless
Rising Sun 5D Mountain Shrine 6D Daimyo 8D Artist $2 Fishmonger • Snake Witch $3 Aristocrat • Craftsman • Riverboat • Root Cellar $4 Alley • Change • Ninja • Poet • River Shrine • Rustic Village $5 Gold Mine • Imperial Envoy • Kitsune • Litter • Rice Broker • Ronin • Tanuki • Tea House $6 Samurai $7 Rice
Events: 8D Continue $2 Amass • Asceticism • Credit • Foresight $3 Kintsugi • Practice $4 Sea Trade $5 Receive Tribute $7 Gather
Prophecies: Approaching Army • Biding Time • Bureaucracy • Divine Wind • Enlightenment • Flourishing Trade • Good Harvest • Great Leader • Growth • Harsh Winter • Kind Emperor • Panic • Progress • Rapid Expansion • Sickness
Promo $3 Black Market • Church $4 Dismantle • Envoy • Sauna/Avanto • Walled Village $5 Governor • Marchland • Stash $6 Captain $8 Prince
Events: $5 Summon
Base Cards $0 Copper • Curse $2 Estate $3 Silver $4 Potion $5 Duchy $6 Gold $8 Province $9 Platinum $11 Colony
See also: Second Edition • Errata • Outtakes (Confusion) • Fan cards • Card storage • List of cards (in other languages)
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