Reviewed by: Herb Levy
(Space Cowboys/Asmodee, 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up, 30 minutes; $39.99)
A beautiful woman and medieval merchant lurk in the background but your eyes remained transfixed on the shimmering stone you hold in your hands. You are hypnotized by the splendor of the stone – and you will have to be – for Splendor, the new game designed by Marc André, is all about precious stones and you need to concentrate on amassing the ones you need to increase your prestige to win.
Splendor’s bookshelf box contains 90 “Development” cards divided into three sets: level 1 (40 cards), level 2 (30) and level 3 (20). There is also a supply of tokens representing jewels and precious stones: 7 each of Emerald (green), Sapphire (blue), Ruby (red), Diamond (white) and Onyx (black) along with 5 Gold (yellow). There are also 10 Noble tiles and rules.
All of the colored tokens become a “bank” available to all players. Each individual card set is shuffled and four cards from each level flipped to create a four by three array. The Nobles tiles get mixed as well and one more Noble than the number of players is placed, face up, at the top of the array. (Remaining Noble tiles are not used.)
On a turn, a player may do ONE of four possible actions: take three tokens of different colors, take two tokens of ONE color (but only if there are at least four tokens of that color in the stack when taking that action), “reserve” one Development card and receive a yellow token (the only way to get a valuable yellow token, valuable because yellow tokens are “wild” and may be used as any color) or purchase one Development card from the array. Buying those Development cards is key.
Each Development card depicts a “development” of sorts (better transportation, artisans etc.) and a price. The price is in tokens, a certain number of certain color(s) required to be exchanged to obtain that specific card. Some cards may also have “prestige points” too. In addition, each Development card displays one particular jewel or precious stone in its upper right corner. Once purchased, that card will ALWAYS generate ONE stone of that color whenever needed. So, for example, if I already have a card with a white diamond on it and I need four white diamonds to buy another card, I only need three additional tokens to make up the difference. The more cards purchased, the more stones are produced WITHOUT needing tokens. And that’s where those Nobles come in.
Like Development cards, Nobles tokens display a “price” but these cannot be bought. Nobles, instead, must be “enticed” to visit you and, when visiting, bring their prestige value along with them. The “price” of a Noble is displayed as a set of requirements (such as 3 blue, 3 white, 3 black). At the end of each turn, players check to see if they have managed to “entice” a Noble to visit. If a player has accumulated development cards that produce those amounts and colors of jewels, then that Noble visits that player and brings his/her 3 Prestige Points along. Only one Noble may visit on a turn so, if a player can choose between two, better take the one that other players are closes to taking. That way, you can keep a Noble out of opposing hands and claim that second Noble on your next turn. Even better, a visiting Noble cannot be lost. Those Prestige Points stay with you for the entire game.
Play continues until one player has amassed 15 Prestige Points. At that point, the round continues so that everyone has had an equal number of turns. High score wins. Tie? Then the player who has bought the FEWEST Development cards claims victory!
Splendor benefits from an excellent presentation. The colors used are easily recognizable (no orange/red or blue/green blends to challenge you). Add to that that each token carries a picture of the gem or stone itself and mistakes with colors are reduced to a bare minimum. The tokens themselves are hefty, casino quality, chips which adds to the playing pleasure.
Although there is a certain initial reminder of Sid Sackson’s Bazaar in its abstract nature and the use of colored chips to be collected and redistributed to buy valuable cards, Splendor is a much lighter, family style, game Despite that, there is ample room for strategy and decision making. Which development tiles should you claim? And when? Development cards are more difficult to obtain as their levels increase but higher level cards award Prestige Points as well as stone production. And what about those valuable wild tokens? Stashing a development card in your hand is the only way to get those valuable wild tokens AND a good way to slow up the progress of an opponent from building an “engine” to capture a Noble and those additional Prestige Points. (But there are restrictions. There is a hand limit of 3 development cards. Even more significant: no one may hold more than 10 tokens at the end of a turn so hoarding, a tempting strategy to prevent opponents from getting needed colors which would have broken the game, is prohibited.) The artwork by Pascal Quidault is eye-catching and appealing both with the tiles which enhance rather than obscure necessary game information and, particularly, the striking box cover art that practically dares you to take this game down from the shelf.
Splendor is a first rate family game that provides enough challenge to keep kids amused and adults engaged making it a well deserving finalist for this year’s Spiel des Jahres (German Game of the Year) award.
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