Dominion: Menagerie Review - with Tom Vasel

Tom Vasel takes a look at a new expansion for Dominion! Menagerie!
00:00 - Introduction
01:17 - Overview
15:06 - Final Thoughts
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BGG Link: boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/298055/dominion-menagerie

[@failboy6901]

Tom would you consider making a top ten Dominion Expansions?

[@ADzDaRRman]

yes plz

[@fightingkitchen7960]

YES!

[@curtissiebold4460]

What are your favorites (whoever sees this)

[@BoardGamesBricksHobbies]

​​@@curtissiebold4460 I like Dark Ages and Nocturne! I like how Dark Ages kinda starts you off in a hole and makes you dig your way out. Nocturne is great too as it adds a new phase. (though I wouldn't recommend it as a first expansion because of that)

[@batadjole2280]

As someone who never played Dominion before (but considers to do so), i would love to see a top list of the Dominion expansions.

[@charliek2557]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2aWiHisdqqCqNE

[@JaKamps]

Pretty sure Dice Tower has done videos concerning (ranking) the Dominion expansions.

[@Dalmatinac3]

Tom's favorite - Prosperity and Seaside. Those two are a must and the first two you should get.

[@Dalmatinac3]

@@ELMQ Prosperity is the the best lol.

[@gamera2351]

Ugh! Rahdo! No!

[@alecgalbraith5604]

I think a big benefit of the Way cards is that it mitigates bad draw luck a little bit. Sometimes I draw action cards that are useless based on the rest of my hand, so Way cards can potentially be a saving grace to let you get something out of your action card.

[@natejones6029]

probably my favorite expansion so far. exile is a great concept and long overdue I hope it is a feature Donald continues in later expansions as it has so much potential. The ways are fantastic they are super simple in design but add so much fun to the game and give you a choice in how you play your actions. this is very beneficial when you would otherwise get colliding terminals on an unlucky shuffle. Donald not only made 20 well designed ways he also included way of the mouse which turns all 2-3 cost cards in all the expansions into possible ways( I think that's near an additional 65 potential ways). Menagerie has a fresh new take on player interactions that goes beyond the traditional destroy your opponent deck theme with new interesting reaction cards. 20 new events and 30 new kingdom piles I think this may offer more than any other expansion while remaining componently simple

[@oschiott]

Two comments: 1) Yes, Durations/Reactions are already available (Caravan Guard from Adventures). 2) This still isn’t available in Norway. The only one I’ve seen that has it listed expects to get it July 31st. Other than that, I like your review, and, from playing it somewhat online, this could definitely be my favorite expansion. Don’t know for sure, though. Not yet. Keep up the great work!

[@gamesafire4744]

Tom thank you for this video. Dominion was the first deck builder I ever bought. With a limited budget it really helps to see you go through the cards in this one.

[@ybswnd]

Thanks for the review! I was waiting for this one. ;) Personally I love WAYS. I think it's pretty cool to have an extra option for your action cards. Especially if the way has an action. That way you can buy more terminal action cards and still play them in one turn. On the other hand I don't mind if the game takes more time. I always thought it was to short anyway lol. Also I almost always play with colonies and platinum, because that way you can really use strategies and build a solid deck. Oh btw, I play dominion for about 7 months. This week I'll get my 3rd to last expansion in the mail: menagerie. Looking so forward to it! I watched all your dominion vids and I really enjoyed them. They inspired me to get all the sets (nocturne is awesome ;) ). Keep up the good work!!

[@doity]

I actually love the ways and like the alternate cost cards. Of course love the exiling mechanic too! Would put this in the top expansions for sure.

[@teslavoltagames3208]

I have found the artwork has improved quite a bit with each expansion especially since Empires. Some older sets have good artwork.

[@sawderf741]

Snowy village encourages less plus action cards and would reward shorter chains. Perfect design in my opinion.

[@danielmckinley87]

You bring up a very good point about current Dominion Players at the end of this video: Mine is arriving in the mail tomorrow......

[@rebca_]

Notice how falconer says "When _any_ player gains a card". That includes yourself.

[@jorgeantoniolandaverde711]

Great video, I am a big fan of your content. I would want to know what to buy if I want to buy the game. Is there anywhere they still sell the base game?

[@LastFootnote]

Basically everywhere. It’s second edition, but in my opinion that’s all to the good.

[@StraboSE]

I want to get off Mr. Vaccarino's Wild Ride.

[@piotrjasik2835]

Horses are sidekicks of this game :D

[@MrJoeyWheeler]

Mastermind feels like one of the most broken cards, when you combine having multiples of it in your deck with a lot of draw power action cards. I've had combos that let me go through my entire deck each turn with masterminds.

[@IdlestHands]

Not 100% but weren't you playing Cardinal wrong? There's nothing on the card to indicate that you get to choose which card a player exiles?

[@Raymondt81]

I have the base game, seaside, dark ages and prosperity. I want to buy more dominion but i cant figure out wich one. I realy like good combo cards and i dislike cards wich add extra stuff like coins. I reallh want to be it a card game only. Should i buy this or empires or another set?

[@AnataleGS]

Waay later, but it is a good expansion if you don't like tokens and else. Empires haver a lot of other cards that require extra components (Victory tokens, debt tokens, and so on and on)

[@susanscandles]

I played Dominion years ago when new to gaming so overwhelming. Really like deck building best like Mystic Vale. If want to try again, is base game enough or would you suggest expansion and which one?

[@jonaskoelker]

The base game and Intrigue (the first expansion) have a 2nd edition, with some of the most boring cards replaced by more interesting and better designed cards. If you get either (or both), make sure to get 2nd edition. Later sets also have 2nd editions which give you a bigger font and "they" instead of "he" in the texts. Worth getting too, but the difference is less earth-shattering. The base game has the most vanilla cards. I don't think that makes the game boring-Dominion is about building a richly interoperating deck out of simple(ish) parts. Simpler parts doesn't mean less intricate wholes. Never the less, I think it has a little less staying power than sets with more quirky cards. The designer has a guide, "what Dominion expansion should I get next?", going over which expansions you might like, depending on what you like and dislike in a game. It's at forum.dominionstrategy.com/index.php?topic=19523.msg788889#msg788889. In the "[what is popular opinion]" section of this guide, DXV recommends Seaside, Prosperity and Empires. I've played Seaside and Empires and I liked them both. I'm familiar with the Prosperity cards. Seaside and Prosperity seem the most straightforward, Empires seems richer (= more complex, but not too much I would say). I personally really like Intrigue (2nd edition). It's strategically rich without the individual cards being complicated (nor, mostly, too obvious). A few attacks are swingy and feel mean. If that's not your cup of tea you can either ignore those cards or use this knowledge to pick a different expansion. I also like Adventures a lot; it's also strategically rich, with a good chunk of cards you look at and go "hm, I wonder how to use this to its fullest effect", a puzzle I enjoy solving. If you have the chance to try expansions at e.g. a friend's house, I recommend trying before buying.

[@susanscandles]

@@jonaskoelker thank you SO much for the reply and being so helpful! I have been trying to watch as many videos as possible. I do not like take that games, so may narrow choice down. Hear a lot about Prosperity and Seaside as favorites and Tom really liked Renaissance. Thank you again for time you took to share. Excited to get my base copy.

[@susanscandles]

@@jonaskoelker doe 2nd edition base box have room for some expansions? If not, might make sense or need to get big box with Intrigue.

[@jonaskoelker]

@@susanscandles IIRC what the 1st edition boxes are like, the 2nd edition boxes are exactly the same. In any case, there's no way you can fit two sets into one box. Compact storage is always a challenge with Dominion. Having played some more Dominion, I'd like to add that I like Dark Ages and Renaissance a lot. Dark Ages has a lot of cards and thus room for many interesting interactions. Renaissance is very efficient in optimizing strategic depth per mechanical complexity: it's mechanically simple but still offers interesting interactions.

[@andreasmalits395]

Horses are a great addition to the game. They are comparable to the renaissance Action and Money Tokens....just for +1 Card ... and as a card because a +1 Card token woud be pretty bonkers ... Collecting Tokens and then: "Ok...i get an additional 10 Cards" sounds a little bit too strong :)

[@CosmicTavern]

This is a fun expansion and the horses are interesting. Just played the first game of this today. Didn't play with any of the exile cards but that seems like a fun mechanic.

[@drhane]

Exile songs? 😉

[@CosmicTavern]

@@drhane lol I must have been listening to music while writing the reply. Hmm maybe Dominion can add some type of music themed expansion. 😆

[@jorgedasilva7665]

So, if you have a lot of horse cards you're saying it gets hot and horsey?

[@dielegendenvonandor7843]

Thank you But why not excellent?

[@Kallistosprom]

Top 10 dominion expansions?

[@oschiott]

I can give you the best rated from BGG right now, for what it’s worth: 1) Menagerie 2) Renaissance 3) Empires 4) Prosperity 5) Intrigue 6) Adventures 7) Seaside 8) Dark Ages 9) Hinterlands 10) Nocturne I might as well finish the list: 11) Guilds 12) Cornucopia 13) Alchemy Interestingly enough, but maybe not surprising, the three small expansions are the only ones not to crack the top 10.

[@BigOllieSpin]

@@oschiott I personally think that dark ages is the best. Hinterlands is a noy good playing by itself buy if you compine it with others, its amazing. I agree with seaside nr 7 because its overhyped.

[@fightingkitchen7960]

@@oschiott Although, I don’t think that’s entirely fair. Because the average rating of 500 people on expansion A = 8.4 & an average rating of 2000 people on expansion B = 8.1 doesn’t necessarily mean that expansion A is better than B since less people rated expansion A.

[@oschiott]

@@fightingkitchen7960 I agree, and these rankings are nowhere like my personal rankings. Just wanted to give an as unbiased opinion as possible, which I think the BGG rankings is the best tool for, atm.

[@fightingkitchen7960]

@@oschiott True.

[@exterminateexterminate9751]

displace is sooooo good.

[@richardshort2001]

Horses are just straight up Sidekicks from Legendary.

[@jacksonbrickmedia939]

Dominion might be running out of ideas. It makes sense with so many expansions.

[@lostnfound4125]

Camel train platinum ftw

[@xshadowscreamx]

Dominion: another one

[@Schlohmotion]

Dominion fans: do it again

[@NinjarioPicmin]

lol not even 2 minutes in and i already spotted a mistake. Kiln says The next time you PLAY a card this turn, you may first get a copy of it. You don't play gold though, you can only get like duplicates of action or night or duration cards etc. but not gold or silver etc.

[@Ellie926k]

Thats ummm, not how the game works. You have to play your treasures if you want to get the coins from them, so you can use kiln to gain treasures. In fact one of its best cases is printing platinums

[@fightingkitchen7960]

I think you play treasure cards.

[@NowUndefined]

I'm disappointed that they didn't include more animals than just horses

[@LastFootnote]

It’s strange that you feel that way, considering the set does include many other animals.

[@TheParadox3000]

@@LastFootnote heh, cheeky

[@chuckm1961]

Black Cat is problematic. Too powerful to ignore. If someone starts buying them and you don't, you lose.

[@whitesoxMLB]

It's actually one of the weakest cards in the expansion.

[@TheParadox3000]

Now that's quite an oversimplification

[@chuckm1961]

westgot Cool. Do you have actual game experience disapproving this, if not just post when you do and let us know how to beat it. If not, I’ll assert that whoever buys the most of this card is going to win. Assuming, of course, that they don’t play like an idiot otherwise.

[@whitesoxMLB]

​@@chuckm1961 Let's test it out online then? Best of 5? (7?) with Black Cat in the kingdom sound good? And we can see if the Black Cat-spam wins most games. Just let me know your handle on dominion.games.

[@chuckm1961]

whitesoxMLB I never used the phrase “black cat spam.” What did you think I was saying?

[@CosmicTavern]

More horsepower!

[@masiczobe6074]

Dominion - my little pony edition

[@Bonzoso21]

After the designer insisted that Guilds would be the final expansion, I spent quite a bit on a wooden case, organizer, and labeled plastic dividers for everything up to that point. Needless to say, I will never buy the post-Adventures expansions.

[@whitesoxMLB]

Needless to say, you're missing out

[@nathanwallace1597]

@@whitesoxMLB for someone who went through all that effort, you think he'd have gone through the effort to read anything that donald x said from that time

[@Marcus-zl5yf]

He did not "insist" that Guilds was the "final" expansion. He said it was a transition from regular expansions to periodic ones. He was pretty clear about the fact that there very likely would be future Dominion expansions. They just weren't planned at that time and he didn't know what or when they would be. You woefully misunderstood him. It's to your detriment as well, as Adventures, Empires, Nocturne, and Renaissance were all excellent additions (I cannot speak to Menagerie, never having played it yet).

[@TheParadox3000]

He didn't insist on it being the last expansion, he just said that it was the last of the planned expansions and he MIGHT revisit dominion somewhere down the line. Well and he did.

[@natejones6029]

each expansion past guilds didn't just make the game bigger, each expansion makes the game better. I can understand your bitterness in being told it was the end but wasn't but by dismissing the later expansions you are missing out on the best parts of dominion

[@CitizenCold00]

You pouring out the cards legit made me angry. Show some respect to the greatest card ever made.

[@MassEffectFan113]

Base, Intrigue, Seaside, Prosperity. All you need. Game went downhill since then.