Experiment

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Experiment
Info
Cost
Type(s)	Action
Kingdom card?	Yes
Set	Renaissance
Illustrator(s)	Jason Slavin
Card text
+2 Cards +1 Action Return this to its pile. When you gain this, gain another Experiment (that doesn't come with another).

Experiment is an Action card from Renaissance. It is a one-shot Laboratory that comes with another copy of itself.

FAQ

Official FAQ

• When you play this, you get +2 Cards and +1 Action, and return it to its Supply pile.
• When you gain it, you gain another one; this applies whether you gain it via buying it or some other way.
• If you gain one to a place other than your discard pile, the 2nd copy goes to your discard pile. For example if you use Sculptor to gain Experiment, you get one in your hand, and one in your discard pile.
• If Experiment somehow is not in play (for example if played from the trash via Necromancer, from Nocturne), it fails to return to its pile.

Other rules clarifications

• If you gain an Experiment from the trash, the second Experiment is still gained from the Supply.
• If you play the early version of Band of Misfits (from Dark Ages) or the early version of Overlord (from Empires) as Experiment, you will return the card to its own pile, not to the Experiment pile. However, revisions to these cards means they now work similarly to Necromancer, so now if you use them to play Experiment you get the +2 cards and +1 Action and nothing is returned anywhere.
• If Experiment has no supply pile to return to (i.e., it was acquired via Black Market) it remains in play and will remain in your custody like any other card.

Strategy

Synergies/Combos

• Procession
• Necromancer
• Inheritance, Band of Misfits, Captain with the 2019 Errata

Versions

English versions

Print	Digital	Text	Release	Date
		+2 Cards +1 Action Return this to the Supply. When you gain this, gain another Experiment (that doesn't come with another).	Renaissance Renaissance (2021 printing)	November 2018
		+2 Cards +1 Action Return this to its pile. When you gain this, gain another Experiment (that doesn't come with another).	Prefer not referring to the Supply	June 29, 2022

Other language versions

Language	Name	Print	Digital	Text	Notes
Chinese	實驗 (pron. shíyàn)
Dutch	Experiment			+2 Kaarten +1 Actie Doe deze kaart in de voorraad terug. Als je deze kaart pakt, pak dan nog een Experiment (waarbij je geen nieuwe krijgt).
French	Expérience			+2 Cartes +1 Action Replacez cette carte dans la réserve. Quand vous recevez cette carte, recevez une autre Expérience (mais pas encore une autre).
German	Experiment			+2 Karten +1 Aktion Lege diese Karte in den Vorrat zurück. Wenn du diese Karte nimmst, nimm noch ein Experiment (für das du kein weiteres Experiment nimmst).	(2019)
Japanese	実験 (pron. jikken)			+2 カードを引く +1 アクション これをサプライに戻す。 これを獲得するとき、追加で実験1枚を獲得する(その実験は追加の実験を獲得させない)。
Russian	Эксперимент (pron. ekspyerimyent)
Spanish	Experimento			+2 Cartas +1 Acción Devuelve esta carta al Suministro. Cuando ganas esta carta, ganas otro Experimento (que no proporciona otro).

Trivia

Official card art.

Preview

Experiment is a one-shot Lab, but you get two of them.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Renaissance Previews #1: Mountain Village, Priest, Seer, Scholar, Experiment

Secret History

We tried several versions of this. After a bit as a Smithy (based on another card that died), it switched to a Lab, because that way there's usually no tracking (it uses an Action but gives +1 Action, so when it vanishes your play area still tells you the whole story, yes unless you Throne it or something). For a bit they both went to the same place - e.g. if you used Sculptor to gain Experiment, both Experiments went to your hand. That was too confusing for how often it came up. There was a version that was two different cards, the first gained you a copy of the second (the second being non-supply); there was a version that was three one-shot Labs instead of two; there was one that was like Border Village, it got you a cheaper card instead of another Experiment. In the end it's two one-shot Labs, which it was early on, but with a better wording.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, The Secret History of Dominion: Renaissance

Horses

Experiment's cost and effect when played are identical to the non-Supply card Horse from Menagerie. Donald X. Vaccarino remarked on the similarity:

If the card had existed, of course it would have been the Horse version instead of also having a pile of Horses called Experiments. Whether or not the card would have existed is too hard to say; in Menagerie you can do it as an Event, which is different some ways but the reduced number of cards required would beat out any other preferences there.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Interview with Donald X.

Why does this come in pairs?

An alternative way of doing Experiment without the bottom text is to have it give +3 Cards when played.

This possibility did not escape me. It was more interesting to have it be two cards. If I hadn't had the wording I did it might have just ended up as a single "+3 Cards" Horse, but I did have the wording, and got to do the more interesting card. Having them be two cards is different lots of ways.

—Donald X. Vaccarino, Interview with Donald X.