Splendor
$31.99
Splendor at a Glance
| Game Type Card Game, Economic, Renaissance, Card Drafting, Turn-Based, Resource Management | Play Time 30 mins | Skill/Complexity (2 - 5) Light - Medium |
| Age 10+ | Publisher(s) Space Cowboys and others | Published 2014 |
| Categories Family | Players 2 - 4 | Cost $30 - $40 |
| Our Rating 9/10 |
About – Description
Splendor is a turn-based, resource management game created by designer Marc Andre (Majesty: For The Realm, Barony, and Bonbons) and illustrator Pascal Quidault (Mutations: Book for Killpower Ball).
First published in 2014, Splendor has been nominated for a number of awards, winning five in the first year of release, including;
- Dice Tower Gaming Awards – Best Family Game
- Golden Geek – Best Family Board Game
- Golden Geek – Board Game of the year
- Tric Trac de Bronze
- Origins – Game of The Year
Who’s it best suited for?
Best suited for families and groups of 2-4 players. The strategies used when playing Splendor can be as complex or direct as the player chooses. This means that people of almost any age can pick the game up and learn the basics.
Those with an interest in strategy games will undoubtedly take to the game quicker than those without, but the basic premise is fairly simple to grasp and the short, half-hour games mean that it can be very easy to find yourself playing four or five practice matches in one session.
Skill – Complexity (Light – Medium)
While it might be possible to fluke your way to a win, Splendor does require some strategizing and planning on both a turn-based basis and looking forward to the long-term goal.
Like so many strategy games, Splendor is easy to learn but will take a lifetime to master – unless you’re a dedicated or experienced strategist.
Gameplay – How it Plays!
Let’s run through some of the basics of getting started and how it all plays out. Starting with some of the important components:
Tokens
Six colors; blue, red, black, green and white gems, and gold joker tokens. These are used to buy development cards and are returned to the table once spent.
Resource cards
Resources cards are split into 3 levels, indicated by the number of dots on the back of the card:
| Difficulty | Cost (gems) | Worth (prestige points) |
| . | 3-5 | 0/1 |
| .. | 5-8 | 1/2/3 |
| ... | 7-12 | 3/4/5 |
Once owned, resource cards give you a permanent source of one gem of the color indicated. This can be used in conjunction with gem tokens to purchase more development cards, but unlike tokens, these are not discarded once used and can be reused each turn.
For example, if you own a red development card and wish to purchase a card requiring four red gems, you will need to spend 3 red tokens.
Noble tokens
Nobles sit by the side of the playing area until a player has enough permanent resources to earn a visit from them. A visit is triggered when you have the required amount of development cards shown on the Noble token. At the end of your turn, check if you meet the requirements for the available nobles. If you do, take it and place it in front of you. It adds 3 prestige points to your total. If you meet the requirements for more than one noble at the end of your turn, you must choose one to take.
Setting Up
Game set up for Splendor depends on the number of players. The number of Noble tiles and gem tokens available scales up with each player added. There are always five gold (joker) token in play, regardless of the number of players, and these can be used as any colour of gem to buy resources.
To set up the game, place four of each level of resource card in a line next to the deck, keeping each level separate. Display the gem and joker tokens in the play area in reach of all players (how many of each will depend on the number of players), Place noble tiles within reach of all players (again, how many is reliant on the number of players).
Playing the Game
The youngest player starts, and play continues clockwise. On your turn, you may do one of the following actions:
- Take gem tokens; three if choosing different colors, two if the same color. You can only take two of the same color if the stack has four or more available.
- Reserve a development card; take a card from those face-up on the board and keep it in your hand until you choose to buy it. Reserving a card gives you a gold joker token.
- Purchase a development card; from those available or those reserved in your hand. If you use gem or joker tokens in this purchase, return them to their stack on the table.
At the end of your turn, check how many gem and joker tokens you have, if you have more than ten, you must discard the excess as you choose. Now is the time to check the resources required by nobles to see if any will be visiting you.
Ending the game
The end of the game is triggered when a player reaches 15 prestige points. Play continues until it reaches the person who played first. The winner is the person with the most prestige points at the end of the final round.
Versions & Editions
PC & Mobile
The official adaptation of the board game is available via the App Store, Google Play, Amazon Apps, and Steam. At $9 on PC and $5 for the mobile app, it’s easy to take your Splendor strategies online and play against friends, strangers, and against the AI in the new Challenges mode.
Marvel Splendor
If the need to collect precious stones to work towards an ‘endgame’ sounded familiar to you, you’re not alone. Marvel Splendor uses the same core rules, with new color schemes, event triggers, and victory conditions.
Splendor: Cities of Splendor (2017)
Four expansion in one! Cities of Splendor brings four new elements to the base game;
- The Cities – Replacing Nobles with new objectives to meet to gain prestige points.
- The Trading posts – A range of additional bonuses that affect the decisions you make in the game.
- The Orient – Additional development cards, giving additional pints or joker token when conditions are met.
- The Strongholds – Gives each player three towers that must be placed on available resource cards on the table. These allow for additional actions and add an interesting twist when strategizing against opponents.
There’s also a large amount of international versions covering many countries including Japanese, Thai, Hebrew, German and others.
Promotional tile expansions
Promotional noble tiles (see at BGG) have been produced for a number of occasions and events including:
- Shen Wansan and Zhou Ying (Promo, 2019)
- Zhang Qian (张骞) and Xiang Fei (香妃) (Dice Con, 2019)
- Mowna Lisa/Jacownde (Space Cow Promo, 2019)
- Nobles Promo Tiles: Jacques Cartier, Thomas More, Guillaume Budé, Diane de Poitiers (2018)
- Splendor: Cities of Splendor Promotional Tile (Brettspiel Adventskalender, Day 12, 2017)
- Dice Tower Promotional Noble (2017)
- Game Boy Geek Kickstarter Noble (2017)
- Special Noble Patron (Brettspiel Adventskalender, Day 16, 2015)
- Four promotional nobles (2015)
Likes & Dislikes
- Great theme and artwork.
- Very good complexity level (non-complex) for families and casual gamers.
- Ideal gateway game.
- Decent amount of strategy for the short play time.
- Easy to learn and teach.
- Some complaints about the recent editions lack of quality of the components.
Splendor is easy to pick up by people of all levels of gaming experience. The games are quite quick, and it can be easy to lose a few hours to several games between friends.
A common complaint among fans is the quality of the components seems to have dropped with later versions and productions of the game, but those with pre-2017 editions praise the high quality and attractiveness of the components and materials used.
Final Thoughts
Splendor is a staple of most board game enthusiasts’ collections and it’s easy to see why. It’s suitable for a range of people and can be a great ‘gateway’ game when entertaining guests who are new to board games.
With pretty pictures and an attractive theme used throughout, it’s likely to get people interested by looks alone, before the strategy and plotting really pulls them in!
