Game Spotlight – Splendor - A Pen A quill and a datapad

For those that like to play board games but don’t want to take an hour to figure out the rules, Splendor is the perfect game for you. The rule book is 3 pages long and the objective for the base game is to get to 15 victory points (the game calls them prestige points). Sounds easy, right? There is an expansion pack that is a lot of fun once you know the game, but let’s focus on the base game for now.

I will start by saying I don’t enjoy super complicated games. My attention span just isn’t that long. This is my absolute favorite game because each playthrough is different, even if you play with the same group of players, There’s an app for this game so you can play against computer players as well. I prefer playing the physical game because I like the feel of the gem tokens. They’re solid, hard to lose, easy to stack. My strategies vary, but I usually end up as the opportunist. I only plan one or two moves ahead because of how fast the game board changes.

What you need to play:

2-4 players

Splendor base game

Rule book (it’s more like pamphlet, don’t stress)

The youngest player gets to start. For real, it’s in the rules. There’s a lot of different strategies you can use but the goal is to gather enough resources, in this case gems, to buy mines, transportation, and artisans, which are represented by cards. Once you buy one of these cards, they count as a resource in the gem that matches the color on the card. There’s a limit to how many tokens, gems, you can take each turn. You can either take tokens, reserve a card, or buy a card on a turn. There is a mild level of competition to the game because you want to win over the nobles, who are worth more prestige points than most of the cards. The first person to 15 points wins but the round is completed so everyone has the same number of turns. There are some rules for tie-breakers.

As a whole, the game is a little slow to start but once everyone has grabbed up a decent number of cards, the finale can come up pretty fast. Once you get a hang of the mechanics, the games usually take around 30 minutes. In the beginning when everyone is learning the rules, the game can take 45 minutes to an hour. I’ve never had a game go longer than that.

Try one of my absolute favorite games today! Oh, also, there is a Marvel version too!

Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope this review helps you find a great new game!

Relevant links:

Base Game: https://apenaquillandadatapad.com/Splendor