Splendor Review

Intro

Splendor landed on tables in 2014 and immediately proved that simple doesn't mean boring. This Renaissance-themed engine builder has you playing gem merchants, collecting colorful poker chips that represent precious stones, then using those gems to buy cards that generate more gems. It's the kind of elegant loop that hooks you from the first play.

The game handles 2-4 players in about 30 minutes, though it really shines with three. With a 7.4/10 rating and a pile of awards including the 2014 Golden Geek Game of the Year, Splendor sits in that sweet spot of being approachable for families while offering enough meat for serious gamers. The rules fit on a few pages, but don't mistake simplicity for lack of depth.

How It Plays

Your turn in Splendor boils down to three choices: grab gems, buy a development card, or reserve a card for later. That's it. The magic happens in how these simple actions create a satisfying engine.

When taking gems, you either grab three different colored chips or two of the same color. There's a catch though - you can only hold ten chips total, so you can't just hoard forever. This creates natural tension as you balance collecting resources with actually spending them.

The development cards are where things get interesting. Each card costs a combination of gems to purchase, but once bought, it provides a permanent discount on future purchases. Buy a card that costs four sapphires, and now you get one free sapphire toward every future purchase. Higher-tier cards cost more but provide better discounts and precious prestige points.

The reserve action lets you claim a card face-down, preventing opponents from snatching it while giving you a wild gold token. It's a small move with big implications - sometimes you're securing a key card, other times you're just blocking someone else's strategy.

Race to 15 prestige points and you win. Simple goal, but the path there involves building an efficient gem-producing engine while watching what everyone else is doing.

Highlights

What makes Splendor special is how it distills engine building to its essence. Every card you buy makes future purchases easier, creating that addictive "just one more turn" feeling. You start scraping together gems for cheap cards, but by mid-game you're acquiring expensive developments for free thanks to your growing collection of discounts.

The noble tiles add a brilliant layer of competition without complexity. These provide bonus points if you meet certain development requirements, but there are fewer nobles than players. Suddenly you're not just building an engine - you're racing to specific combinations while trying to block others from the same goals.

The game scales beautifully across player counts. With two players, it's a tight efficiency puzzle. Add more players and it becomes about reading the table, reserving key cards, and adapting when someone grabs the gems you needed. The chip economy naturally creates scarcity - there are only seven chips of each color, so popular gem types run dry quickly.

Splendor also nails the difficulty curve. New players grasp it immediately but discover layers of strategy over multiple plays. Do you rush cheap cards for quick engine building? Go straight for expensive point cards? Focus on specific gem types or diversify? Every approach can work depending on what cards appear and what opponents are doing.

The production quality deserves mention too. Those poker chips feel substantial in your hands, and the card art strikes the right balance between functional and attractive. It looks like a premium game without being fussy.

Criticisms

Splendor's biggest weakness is also its strength - the theme barely exists. You're buying gem mines and shops in theory, but in practice you're collecting colored chips and cards with numbers. If you need thematic immersion to enjoy a game, this one might leave you cold. The mechanical efficiency that makes it so smooth also makes it feel a bit abstract and dry.

The game can suffer from analysis paralysis with certain players, especially at four players. While your options are limited, the implications of each choice ripple through the entire game. Some people will agonize over whether to take gems or reserve a card, and there's not much you can do but wait. It's not Splendor's fault exactly, but it's worth knowing.

There's also a luck factor that can frustrate competitive players. The order cards appear matters enormously - sometimes the perfect card for your strategy shows up at the right moment, other times you're stuck adapting to what's available. Good players minimize this through smart reserving and flexible strategies, but bad draws can definitely sting.

Conclusion

Splendor earns its reputation as a modern classic because it does one thing exceptionally well: it makes engine building accessible without dumbing it down. If you enjoy games where your early decisions pay dividends later, where you're constantly optimizing efficiency, and where you can see your strategy unfold over 30 minutes, this is your game.

It's perfect for families looking to graduate from basic board games, couples who want something more engaging than typical two-player fare, and gaming groups that need a reliable opener or closer. The fact that it teaches quickly but rewards repeated play makes it ideal for gateway gaming - introducing people to hobby games without overwhelming them.

Just don't expect deep theme or groundbreaking innovation. Splendor succeeds because it takes familiar mechanisms and polishes them to a mirror shine. Sometimes that's exactly what you need.