The set most guides name as the best first expansion. Duration cards add planning without much extra rules.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Duration cards that keep working on your next turn, plus mats and tokens.
One of the most-picked favorites in a 2023 r/dominion player survey and a top-three pick in guides. Big money and Colonies make games feel bigger.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Big-money cards: Platinum, Colony, treasure cards with effects, and victory point tokens.
The top favorite in the 2023 r/dominion survey and an IGN top pick. Ways give your action cards extra uses.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Horses, Exile mats, Ways (other ways to use action cards), and Events.
An IGN top pick and a top-five favorite in the 2023 r/dominion survey.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Loot treasures, Traits that change a whole pile, more Durations and Events.
A top-five favorite in the 2023 r/dominion survey and well regarded in guides.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Projects you buy for lasting bonuses, Artifacts, and villager and coin tokens.
IGN calls it a beloved early pick, but nobody in the 2023 r/dominion survey named it their favorite. The 2nd edition needs base cards.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Cards that let you pick between effects, and Victory cards that also do something during play.
A favorite of many experienced players, but it is one of the more complex sets. Get it after a few others.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Debt costs, split piles, Landmarks that change scoring, and Events.
Solid and useful; one long-time player called it boring but it ranked higher than expected in the 2023 survey.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Cards that do something when you gain or buy them, plus reaction cards.
Strong theme and an IGN top pick, but it is one of the more complex sets and ranked lower in the 2023 survey.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: A new Night phase, Boons and Hexes, and Heirlooms that replace some starting Coppers.
One reviewer rates it very highly, another found it middling. Debt and Prophecies can feel punishing.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Shadow cards you can play from your deck, Prophecies that change rules later, Debt and Events.
Few guides rank it; the one ranking we found puts it in its top five.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Events you can buy, Reserve cards you save for later, Travellers that upgrade, and bonus tokens.
Ranked high in one guide, but IGN notes some card names deal with poverty, which some groups dislike.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Trashing and upgrading cards, Shelters that replace starting Estates, and Ruins.
Ranked noticeably lower than other recent sets in the 2023 survey, and one reviewer called it forgettable. Get it after the favorites.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Favor tokens, Ally cards to spend them on, and split piles you can rotate.
In the 2023 survey, 1st-edition Guilds was the lowest-rated in-print set after Alchemy. The 2024 combined box has not been ranked yet.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: Cards that reward a varied deck, plus coin tokens you can save and cards you can overpay for.
By far the lowest-rated set in the 2023 r/dominion survey. Its cards need a Potion and want more cards from the same set.
Needs: You need basic Treasure and Victory cards from the Dominion base game or the separate Base Cards set.
Adds: A new Potion treasure that you need to buy most of its cards.
Buy Dominion base game:Amazon (opens in a new tab)Rio Grande Games (opens in a new tab)Miniature Market (opens in a new tab)
Seaside. The set most guides name as the best first expansion. Duration cards add planning without much extra rules.
Our verdict: buy this first. It adds: Duration cards that keep working on your next turn, plus mats and tokens.
We’d buy Seaside first. See the side-by-side comparison for what each adds and needs.
Same publisher
Rankings are our editorial picks, built from the reviews linked on each expansion page. Last checked 2026-09-27.