Gaming with the Family: Splendor review

Over the course of Memorial Day weekend, quite a few board games were played with my family.  We're on a series of posts that takes a look at a few games played from the perspective of what worked / didn't work for enticing my family into the hobby. 

     Splendor

         2-4 players
         30 min to play
         ages 8+




How to Play

Splendor is a game where players are merchants attempting to gather prestige points through mines, transportation methods, shops, and alluring the favor of nobles.

On your turn you really have two choices:

1. collect gems, the basic resource of the game
2. buy a card with gems you have collected and/or through the permanent gem bonus granted from previously purchased cards
• there is also an option to reserve a card that you want to buy but cannot at the time, thus saving the card for only you to be able to buy on a later turn

This continues until one player reaches 15 prestige points granted through purchased cards or from gathering enough cards to attract a noble. The final round is completed and the player with the most points is the winner.

Thoughts

gameplay - B+
components - A-

One reason Splendor makes a great gateway game is that along with it's attractiveness, it begins to introduce multiple concepts such as set collection, basic engine building, and light math. While a light game, there is some depth which will have you asking questions like:


• Do I pick up 2 chips of one color to help me get a certain card faster or 3 chips which will give me more?
• It looks like someone is going for the card I want, should I reserve it?
• There's nothing on the table that I want. Is it worth taking a chance to reserve a random card?



Goes great with coffee in the morning

Initially, playing to 15 points seems like a lot as point gathering starts out rather slow with players focusing on developing their resources. However, this quickly changes and turns into a frenetic grab for higher value point cards and nobles.

Splendor is a lot of fun at all player counts, and as you add more players it requires that you be more agile in your planning. While there isn't direct player conflict, you'll often find yourself competing for the same cards. This requires keeping tabs on what other players are doing and possibly attempting to prevent them from acquiring the gems or cards you think they may want. I like this aspect of the game as it gives you something to think about between player turns.

One aspect that really helps Splendor stand out are the components. The highlight are the chips representing the resource gems. These are made out of heavier poker chips which have a nice tactile feel when gathering and holding these basic resources. The art on the cards is enticing, but in a subtle manner that helps tie the rather loosely applied theme together. I do wish the box was a bit smaller as everything could easily fit into a box almost 1/2 of the size, but this is a minor gripe and can be remedied by a custom box. Overall, the components are very well done and do help draw people into the game.


Yay:

• quality components - really like the poker chips used for gems; appealing art on the cards
• scales well - gameplay is great for all player counts
• moves quickly - turns do not take long and there's enough for you to think about between them
• easily explained - limited playing options allow new players to quickly grasp concepts

Meh:

• box size - seems like this could have been a smaller box; also find it slightly annoying that the card dividers are not spaced appropriately for each stack of cards
• limited depth - not a lot going on and after a few plays you'll have discovered most of what the game has to offer



Splendor is one of my families favorite games at the moment. Play moves quickly and there is enough there to satisfy more experienced gamers, while newer players will not be overwhelmed with too many choices or find themselves unable to compete. One of the best gateway games available today and would never turn down an opportunity to play this game.

-NA



Family Meeples: 4/5






My Meeples: 4/5