Dominion Alchemy Expansion Card Game | Strategy Board Game for Adults & Families | Perfect for Game Nights & Social Gatherings

This review is for those who are already familiar with the mechanics of Dominion:There are already many reviews on Alchemy, why write another one? I write this because I do not think this expansion deserves all the hate it gets. This expansion is a collection of powerful Dominion cards that, contrary to popular belief, are not necessarily more difficult to incorporate in a regular Dominion game. They simply require more discerning in their purchasing. This is of course due to the use of the Potion currency.First though, let me put it out there that Alchemy cards are very powerful cards, competitive even on boards with cards from other more popular expansions such as Prosperity. They are (arguably) rather cheap and synergize very well with each other, creating strategies for "spamming" certain of these cards to facilitate massive draw and gargantuan hands. Nearly all of these cards give at least +1 action, so in actual gameplay they hardly ever interfere with the other cards you are implementing.This sounds great, of course, but there is a catch, and that catch is the Potion cost. Potion is a treasure card that has a qualitative value rather than a quantitative. Potions are required for all but one of the "power cards" in Alchemy, usually in supplementary fashion with regular coin, e.g. an Alchemist card costs 3 coin + Potion.There are two common complaints about Potions. First, the Potion costs 4 coins, and you have to buy a Potion first, then wait for your shuffle, and then use the Potion to buy the card you actually want. Thus it creates an extra step in getting the card you want, and buying the Potion at the cost of 4 means you may miss out on a good action card that costs 4. Second, Potions do not help you buy Provinces. A hand with 6 coin and a Potion can certainly be disappointing if you need to buy a Province, knowing that if that Potion was a Silver you would have had it. So the thing about them is that it requires discerning when the cards that require Potions are worth getting the Potion for or not.Consider for example a random Dominion board that has both Laboratory and Alchemist:Laboratory gives +2 cards +1 action and costs 5 coins.Alchemist also gives +2 cards +1 action but can be returned to the top of your deck if you play a Potion that turn. This means that all your Alchemist cards can be played turn after turn if set up right. Clearly this makes Alchemist a superior card in terms of function.However, the Alchemist requires the Potion to purchase. This effectively increases its cost, which balances out its superior gameplay function when laid next to Laboratory. So when starting a game with both Laboratory and Alchemist, you have to weigh the value of the Alchemist--is this Alchemist worth getting a Potion for? Or is the only-slightly-inferior Laboratory going to be just as good? Should I buy the Potion at a cost of 4 coin, or buy an action card that costs 4 that will help me get a Laboratory after my next shuffle?This same principle applies to nearly all the Alchemy cards. You have to estimate their value in comparison to the other cards on the board and weigh the cost of getting the Potion. This often requires great skill and experience as a Dominion player to come out ahead. In that same vein, I believe that this expansion is so unloved because Potions and Potion-cost cards are usually misplayed in terms of the timing and quantity of the purchases. Many novice players will buy more than one Potion when one is entirely adequate, or buy the Potion at an inopportune time. At the risk of offending many, I submit that many people often times just play a few games with Alchemy, experiment with the new cards, lose, and subsequently run out of patience for the Potion-cost cards. It takes a while to figure out optimal play for these cards, so this expansion is definitely not for the beginner Dominion player.What also must be considered is that purchasing Potion-cost cards is optimized while utilizing additional Buys. This is very important to keep in mind to make best use of your money in the game. Consider when you have a hand of 5 coin and a Potion and want to buy a University, which costs 2 coin + Potion. That leftover coin is certainly sad not to be used, and most likely your next hand will not be very good. This dilemma, however, makes some of the less-loved cards in the game more attractive, e.g. Woodcutter (+2 coin +1 buy). Playing a Woodcutter with 3 additional coin and a Potion means you can buy that University and something that costs three coin. On many boards without Alchemy cards, additional Buys are not important early on. Mix in some Alchemy cards, and suddenly that Woodcutter looks like a really good opening purchase.Now I have to hedge all this with a disclaimer: I must admit that when playing a Dominion game randomly set up (how I normally play), it is sometimes best to ignore Potions if there is only one card on the board that requires them. Many reviewers seem to think that this makes the expansion bad or not worth the money. I disagree. The same argument could be said for any of the expansions this size. I own all the small expansions. There are many times when there is only one card from one of these expansions, and for some reason it is not optimal on that board and subsequently ignored. Its value is weighed against its cost, and it is found wanting. Does that make the whole expansion that card belongs to bad? No. Additionally, the Alchemy cards operate so smoothly together, that if there are multiple Potion-cost cards on the board, Potions become even more attractive because of the synergy these cards achieve, even at different price points.In conclusion, what I like most about Alchemy is the powerful synergy of the cards, and the unique game mechanics that Potions offer. Alchemy cards offer exciting options for different "engine" strategies that can completely punish an opponent that decides Potions are not for him. These cards will definitely change your Dominion experience, and the expansion is totally worth the money if you are serious about Dominion strategy.