Splendor - Learning to Play in 2025

One of my board gaming friends recently competed in a Splendor tournament in person. I've known and seen the game on shelves and online but never knew the premise of what the game entailed. Better late than never, here are my thoughts about Splendor.

What is Splendor?

Splendor is a multiplayer resource management and engine-building game where players draft cards from a communal pool of cards using gem tokens that they've accumulated. Cards drafted reduce the cost of other cards, and first player to accumulate fifteen prestige points win.

In Game Thoughts and Experience:

After I was taught the rules of Splendor, I was very excited to hit the ground running and play. The rules are simple to teach, but the game is hard to master. Even though it is a multiplayer game, it does feel like solitaire because there are not any game mechanisms that force you to interact with other players. I definitely think that the game does the job well at keeping you on your toes, and stalls in the game are rare unless your group is new to the game.

Things that caused confusion:

• The action in which a player takes a gold gem token was a little confusing. I underestimated the value of the gold gem until I used it for my own benefit.
• Nobles are acquired and not bought. This meant that you need to have the development cards in play to satisfy the noble's requirement. The gem tokens that you have do not count.
• I had to be reminded that you could not take two of the same gems unless the entire stack was in the supply (in a two player game at least).

Things I would do differently next play through:

In my next play through, I do know that there will always be a more optimal action to take than the one my brain wants me to take. Thinking this way does kill the fun out of games, but squandering your turns doing nothing useful or not making any progress to advance your state in the game is wasteful. There is always a better move out there, and it will take a lot of understanding and analysis to get to that point.

Would I Play Again?

9/10. Splendor is one of those games that you have to play in moderation. It will get stale if you play too many games too frequently in a short amount of time, but I can see myself saying yes to playing if someone suggests playing it.