Game Review – Splendor

Hello after a long break, I hope you enjoyed reading about Azul and Phase 10. Today I’m introducing a new game to you, called Splendor.

Splendor is a card based board game which was launched in 2014, and can be played by 2-4 players. The game consists of 40 gem token, 90 development cards and 10 Nobel tiles.

Imagine yourself to be a gem merchant in this game, where your objective is to be the first player to reach 15 points. You can get points by collecting the cards placed on the table. The set up of the game is illustrated in the below picture.

The number on the top left corner of the card denotes the points the particular card carries, usually the cards from the green row do not have any points, however they are cheaper to buy.

To begin with, a player can either pick up from the bank, 3 tokens of different colour or 2 tokens of the same colour (placed at the top in the picture). However, at no point in time you can have more than 10 tokens on you. Pick up tokens keeping in mind a card that you would like to buy, initially start buying cards from the cards placed in the green row.

Once you’ve bought the cards they are yours to keep, you do not have to return them to the bank, while you do have to return the tokens back while making a purchase. For example if I have already bought the first ruby card by giving 2 sapphire tokens and 1 emerald token to the bank and I now wish to buy the emerald card on the left of the last row I will only have to give 1 diamond token, sapphire token and onyx token, I will not need an additional ruby token.

In one turn you can either pick up tokens, or buy a card. You cannot do both. Now coming to the Nobel tiles, these are the ones placed at the top. You need to have the number of cards stated there with you to be eligible for these tiles. For example, to buy the leftmost tile I will need to have with me 3 emerald cards, 3 sapphire cards and 3 ruby cards. If at the end of your turn, you become eligible for a Nobel tile, you pick it up. It does not count as a separate chance. Nobel tiles can only be picked up with cards and not tokens.

That’s all, you’re all set to play Splendor. I have left out a small detail in this article, i.e. the use of the gold tokens. Pick up your game today from Boardgames Hub and know this twist.

Note : Stay tuned because Boardgames Hub is coming up with an exclusive collection of new games soon and we at Bombay Ficus are really excited to share them with you! Use code ‘Bombay Ficus’ to avail exclusive offers and discounts. Click on the button below!

For more details follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.