Splendor (Base Game)

Splendor is an outstanding board game that’s easy to learn but offers great strategic depth. The rules are simple, making it perfect for new players, yet each game feels engaging and competitive as you plan your moves and adapt to others’ strategies. The components are high quality, especially the poker-style chips, which add a premium feel to the experience. It plays smoothly with different group sizes and doesn’t drag on, making it ideal for both casual game nights and serious strategy sessions. Every round feels rewarding, and the replay value is excellent. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys smart, elegant board games.

Fabulous game! Easy to learn how to play. Fun, family game, up to four people, if your family is bigger play in teams!

Very quick to learn and quick to play, but takes some serious observation of what you can do and what your opponents have done to develop a (flexible) winning strategy. Good for both beginners and experienced gamers, and shouldn't take more than 30-40 minutes to play. I recommend getting sleeves for the cards (2.5"x3.5" "poker" sized) because they will get used a lot. I'm not a big fan of the chips, but most people seem to like them and they are certainly much better than the cardboard chits you would have expected to get with most boardgames. The artwork is nice, but the theme feels pasted on. They could have made this with no artwork at all and it would have played exactly the same (and been just as much fun). The mechanics are relatively simple: you have a tableau of cards laid out, 4 each from 3 different decks. The cards from the I deck are the cheapest to buy and the least valuable, worth 0 or 1 point for victory; the cards from the II deck cost more and are worth 1-3 points; and the cards from the III deck are the most expensive to buy and the most valuable, worth 3-5 points each. Cards you purchase are played face up in front of you and give you a permanent discount thereafter, so purchasing a white diamond card (for example) gives you a permanent discount of 1 white for all future purchases. The price of a card is in the lower left, and cards are purchased with any combination of the right color cards and gem tokens. Thus, if a card costs 5 green to purchase, you could purchase it with 5 green tokens, the discount from 5 previously purchased green cards, 3 tokens and the discount from 2 previously purchased cards, etc. A gold joker token is "wild" and can be used in place of any color in the price on a one-to-one basis, so in the above example you could buy the card with 2 green gem tokens, discount from 2 previously purchased green cards, and a gold joker token. Purchased cards are replaced immediately from the appropriate deck, and gem tokens used to purchase a card are returned immediately to the supply/bank. If you purchase cards of the appropriate colors, either 4 each of 2 specific colors or 3 each of 3 specific colors, you get a "visit" from a "noble." This simply means you collect the appropriate noble tile. Nobles are worth 3 points each. On each turn, you take one of three actions: purchase a card that is face up or that you have previously reserved; reserve a card to your hand so that only you may purchase it on a later turn; or collect gem tokens. You may only reserve a card up to a total of 3 in hand, and the only way to clear a reserved card out of your hand is to purchase it on a later turn. If there are any gold jokers available, you get one when you reserve a card; this is the only way to get a gold joker token. To collect gem tokens, you may take 2 of a same color if at least 2 of that color would be left in the supply after you take yours (at least 4 present before you take your 2), or you can take 1 each of 3 different colors. If you have more than 10 tokens (gems and jokers) at the end of your turn, you must immediately discard down to 10 total. (There are a few edge cases to read up on, but that's the basic gameplay.) The game is played until at least 1 player reaches 15 points. When that happens, the current round is finished out so that everyone has had an equal number of turns, then the player with the most points wins. In a tie, whomever purchased the fewest cards wins the tiebreaker. The strategy lies in planning out how to get the cards and/or tokens you need for future purchases, identifying the cards your opponent is hoping to purchase, and controlling the very limited supply of tokens and visible cards by buying/collecting/reserving what your opponent wants or needs. You cannot directly attack an opponent; once a card is purchased, she has it permanently; once she collects gem tokens, she has them until she chooses to spend them. It is all a matter of forward thinking, preparing for your future card purchases and impeding or obstructing your opponent's intended future card purchases. The deck III cards have a uniform distribution of costs and values among the 5 card colors; the deck II and I cards do not. It's simple to understand, quick to set up, quick to play, fun to look at, fun to handle the tokens (chips), and most importantly, fun to play. The only random element is shuffling the 3 decks and the nobles before set up; it's basically all decisions after that. Bottom line: does it play well? Yes it does. Can you teach and play quickly? Yes you can. Will it still be as fun on the 50th play? Yes it will (is). Does it give good value for your entertainment dollar? Yes it does. Some people have called it a "filler" game, which is a special term among gamers meaning you can set up and play fairly quickly, without major strategy time/planning required, and still have fun. I also like to describe it as a "gateway" game, which means it can draw people who who usually don't think of themselves as gamers into the scene. It hits that sweet spot of affordable, quick, fun, non-cutthroat, with meaningful decisions, for many people. Edit: I personally don't like the tokens. They are better than the cardboard you would usually expect in a boardgame, but I find it's a little more fun for us to use "pirate" coins Pirate Dubloons, Set of 5 Replica Coins for the gold joker tokens, and acrylic "pirate" gems Jumbo Adhesive Jewels (100 pc) for the gem tokens. I am not 100% satisfied with the acrylic gems for this purpose, but the coins are perfect.

What I love most is how Splendor balances luck and strategy. The randomness of card draws keeps things fresh, but smart decision-making always shines through. It scales well with 2–4 players and never feels stale. If you’re looking for a game that’s easy to teach, fun to play repeatedly, and genuinely rewarding to master, this one delivers. Highly recommend for family game nights, casual players, and strategy lovers alike!

Splendor: 2-4 Players, Ages 10+, Average Play Time = 30 Minutes In a lot of the games I play, accumulating wealth is often an uphill battle. Whether I am playing “Suburbia”, “Power Grid”, “Monopoly”, or almost any digital simulator like “SimCity”, I find myself needing more money and I often have to scheme and strategize in order to obtain it. Not the case with “Splendor”, surprisingly. While there isn’t money in this game per se’, you will need to obtain certain colored gems in order to buy various cards. The difference here is that earning gems is as simple as choosing to do so on your turn, but which gems you decide to take based on the cards currently available is where the real strategy comes into play. After all, the pool is constantly changing as players buy and reserve cards. Therein lies the appeal to this game, at least to me. It’s not only a question of whether or not I can obtain the chips I’ll need to purchase the cards, but will the cards be available by the time I have enough to buy them? The available pool of cards is constantly in flux and if you’re playing against an observant opponent, they can pull the rug right out from under you and reserve cards they see you going after. There’s also the fact that there are five different colors one can save for…if there’s a shortage on one color in the bank, it’s easy enough to switch tactics temporarily and go after another color or two. Of course, it’s tempting to keep after a particular color when the noble tiles require it in order to be won. I suppose what I’m getting at here is that “Splendor” is a game about making decisions. You’ll often spend your turn thinking about what you want to go after based on the available cards and the noble tiles available. For this reason I don’t consider “Splendor” to be “fast-paced” because the situation and card combinations are always changing. This can be good or bad, depending on what kind of games you prefer. I will come right out and say however that the game is easy to learn and teach to others. Moreover, you could technically blow through a game quickly IF you don’t mind not thinking through all of the possibilities on the table…hey, some people are fine with that (myself included, depending on my mood). “Splendor” is indeed an excellent game worth picking up. Since no two games are ever the same, it has an incredibly high replayability value. The fact that I find the game to be addicting is just icing on the cake. The components themselves are colorful and fit the theme while the instructions were an easy read. The chips were nicely weighted, which is an added bonus. It didn’t take me long to grasp everything after about ten to twenty minutes. All in all, an easy recommend for kids and adults alike.

This is an excellent game on many fronts. It's simple, deep, fast (30-60 minutes), not overly competitive, and of course it's fun. The basic concept of the game is: - You choose resources (gems) - Or you use the gems you have to buy cards - The cards you buy provide you with more gems and possibly victory points The other rules or mechanics include: - You can "reserve" a card as your turn, which makes it purchasable only by you, and also gives you a "variable" gem. - If you have enough cards of certain colors you may also get "nobles" (victory cards) - There are three "tiers" of cards...costs and victory points go up at each tier. (any card purchasable at any point.) That's really about it...the rules are 2 1/2 pages long, and it takes about 2 minutes to teach new players. For Splendor's simplicity, it's surprisingly deep. You really think about what you want to do before you take an action. But on the other hand, if someone takes the resource or card you needed, you generally have other almost-as-good options. The strategy is in which gems/cards you choose as part of a overall card-buying strategy. The variability is which cards and nobles come up on the initial deal, or which cards replace purchased cards. (nobles are not replaced.) Finally, the production values are really solid. - The "gems" are heavy poker chips with a really nice feel. - The cards have decent art, and are printed on good stock. The "nobles" are printed on cardboard. - Everything stores well and precisely in the box, with nice touches like finger holes to pull each of the gems out easily. I wouldn't hesitate to buy it again, gift it to gamer friends, or recommend it to others. I had only two minor notes, neither of which deducts from the score. - The biggest (tier 1) deck had a little trouble fitting in it's slot. - The "dark" gem was a bit too dark, being printed on a darker background.

In my personal opinion i believe this is the best game to introduce a person into boardgames. The game is easy enough where it can be explained in 10-15 minutes to both older people such as grandparents and young children. (to like 10 yrs old) The game itself is solid and straight to the point. "You collect resources then use those resources to buy cards. Those cards in turn reduce the cost of other cards, making it easier for you to obtain more expensive cards. Expensive cards typically hold victory points, the method of winning in this game." That is my speech that i explain to new players im showing this game to. Once they have it in their head its quite simple to learn. The box itself doubles as a holding area for the game pieces. this way all the game pieces wont be rattling around everywhere which is a plus because i started taking the game with me to friends and family gatherings because they enjoyed it. The playing pieces are not cheapy either. the poker chips in this game that represent the gems actually felt so much more premium than normal chips that ive ever held. The plastic is strong and wont bend, and what really sealed the deal is that they have a generous amount of weight to them. I wish other games had poker chips like this. As for the cards they were fine theres not a lot i can say about cards, they did their job. Overall the game is great for beginners. It has deep strategy that can keep 18 yrs and up not bored. And it can be taught to young children. The best part is that the game is one of those games that works well with just two players and it never gets to repetitive.

I got this game because it looked like what you would get if you stripped out all of the attack/defense cards from Dominion and reduced it to a simple game of "strategy to get victory points through economic planning". And that is EXACTLY what this game is! But as I thought, it's more fun than that sounds. You don't attack or defense against other players in this game. Not directly. Instead they are your competitors. There is a limited amount of "money" in the form of gems, and a limited amount of nobles (pure victory point objectives), so you have to choose which upgrades (in the form of cards that count as gems) that you want to get carefully. Since the game has almost zero setup, and the easier rules I've ever seen, this is the solution for people who want to have quick match rather than spending a whole night setting up and putting away something like Dominion. Overall, the game has a feel similar to lost cities. Both games have gorgeous artwork, are a simple matter of out-witting your opponent to make more money than them. Both are fast-paced, easy to learn, and fun, fun fun! The quality of the components is fantastic, and you literally just pop 90% of the pieces out of their plastic wrapper when you first open the game. There is only set of tiles you have to snap out of a board, and that's it. Simple to unpack, simple to play, and very fun. My wife normally doesn't like economic games (Monopoly, Acquire) but after playing many rounds of Dominion this game was easy. Likewise, if your games of Dominion often came down to people just buying up all the gold and then all the victory points, try this game instead. It's much simpler to setup, faster to play, and very fun.

Good game. Fun to play. Good quality cards and pieces. Easy to learn this game.

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We love this game

Wir sind absolut begeistert von Splendor! Dieses Spiel ist ein echter Gewinner, der sowohl Gelegenheitsspieler als auch erfahrene Brettspielenthusiasten gleichermaßen anspricht. Die Mischung aus strategischem Denken und einfachen Regeln macht es uns leicht zugänglich, während die Tiefe der Entscheidungen und das Streben nach Prestige und Reichtum für anhaltende Spannung sorgen. Die Qualität der Spielkomponenten, insbesondere die wunderschön gestalteten Edelsteine, verleiht dem Spiel eine taktile Freude. Die Mechanik des Kartenkaufs und -aufbaus ist faszinierend und eröffnet uns vielfältige Wege zum Sieg. Ein weiterer Pluspunkt ist die kurze Spieldauer, die es ideal für schnelle Partien oder auch längere Spielabende macht. Splendor fördert strategisches Denken, Wettbewerbsgeist und Interaktion zwischen den Spielern, was zu unvergesslichen Spielerlebnissen führt. Insgesamt sind wir der Meinung, dass Splendor ein Juwel in der Welt der Brettspiele ist - ein echter Klassiker, der immer wieder auf den Tisch kommt und uns Freude bereitet.

easy to pick up. fun game bought only for $34 when on sale