| Intrigue |
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 |
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| Info |
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| Type |
Standalone |
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| Icon |
 |
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| Cards |
500 |
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|
258 (25 sets) |
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|
208 |
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|
25 |
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|
8 |
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Other Card(s) |
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| Theme(s) |
- Choices between different effects
- Multi-type Victories
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| Release |
July 2009 |
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| Official Rulebook |
PDF |
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Dominion: Intrigue is the first expansion to Dominion designed by Donald X. Vaccarino, released in 2009 by publisher Rio Grande Games. The box contains 25 Kingdom Cards and Basic Supply Cards to support up to 4 players, or up to 6 players when combined with those from base Dominion.
Contents
Basic Supply Cards
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Kingdom Cards
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Goko Half-Sets
Peasants and Aristocrats
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Underlings
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Flavor Text
Something's afoot. The steward smiles at you like he has a secret, or like he thinks you have a secret, or like you think he thinks you have a secret. There are secret plots brewing, you're sure of it. At the very least, there are yours. A passing servant murmurs, "The eggs are on the plate." You frantically search your codebook for the translation before realizing he means that breakfast is ready. Excellent. Everything is going according to plan.
Impact of Intrigue
Intrigue broadened the range of possible card effects beyond what was available in the base set in two major ways: it introduced cards that offer a choice between multiple distinct effects, as well as Victory cards with multiple types and functional effects beyond scoring points. Each of these functions would join the arsenal of basic Dominion card-design elements and go on to be reused by Donald X. Vaccarino in multiple future expansions. They nevertheless have held up as the distinctive theme of Intrigue, which contains more Victory kingdom cards, and more cards that offer an explicit choice between distinct effects, than any other expansion.
Intrigue also increased the strategic and tactical depth of Dominion beyond what the base set offered by introducing more cards that benefit from advanced play: for example, rewards careful deck-tracking in a way no card in the base set does; requires paying close attention to an opponent's strategy to know what cards will disrupt it; and and require decks specifically tailored to their strengths to be useful.
Intrigue developed a somewhat unfounded reputation as a highly attack-heavy expansion: in actuality, Intrigue contains fewer Attack cards than the base set and fewer than the next expansion, Seaside. This reputation arises in part from the fact that the Attack cards Intrigue does have all have a reputation as particularly annoying attacks to get hit by (even the relatively weak , which is unpleasant out of proportion to how effective it is), and in part because it has some non-Attack cards ( and ) that affect players in ways that occasionally make them feel like they're being attacked.
Intrigue Theme
Game designer Donald X. offered some insight into some themes of the set here, with how the Kingdom cards fit into that theme:
- 10 Choices: Pawn, Masquerade, Steward, Swindler, Wishing Well, Baron, Mining Village, Minion, Torturer, Nobles
- 7 Also choices, but less unique: Courtyard, Secret Chamber, Ironworks, Scout, Saboteur, Trading Post, Upgrade
- 4 Victory cards: Great Hall, Duke, Harem, Nobles
- 5 Cards interacting with Victory cards: Baron, Ironworks, Scout, Duke, Tribute
- 4 Off-theme: Shanty Town, Bridge, Conspirator, Coppersmith
Trivia
Secret History
Intrigue has existed in many forms over the years. It came into being as 12 cards in 2006, immediately became 15 cards, got expanded to 20 cards not too long afterwards, stayed at 20 for a long time, although cards paraded through it, got tried at 16 briefly, went back to 20, then made the leap to 25. Originally the set had three sub-themes; one of them (
one-shots) gradually left, and another (decision-making cards) got expanded. The other theme (victory cards that do something) stayed as is but got cards to supplement it. Flavor-wise it always had Intrigue as a tentative theme, but it got much more Intrigue-like during development.
From the start, Intrigue was groomed to be the first expansion. To me that meant making it the most true to the main set. If the first expansion was especially exotic, then when only the main set and that expansion were out, half the game would consist of this exotic stuff. If the second expansion is the first exotic one, then it's down to a third of your cards (if you have the first expansion too) (of course it's even less if not all of the second expansion is exotic). That seems more reasonable. The mechanics in the first expansion are things that to me are just a basic part of the game; later expansions may not have as many victory cards that do things or cards that say "choose one," but they'll have those things when they're wanted. The main set didn't have those things in part to keep it simple for new players and in part because you can only fit so much in 25 cards.
For more detail on the design of the cards see Secret History of the Intrigue Cards or the cards themselves.
Recommended Sets of 10
Intrigue Only
