Splendor

Number of players: 2–4 Players
Playing time: 30 Min
Complexity: 1.77 / 5
Age: 10+

About the game
In Splendor, players are Renaissance merchants competing to build the most prestigious trading empire. Collect jewel tokens, purchase development cards representing mines, transportation, shops, and other commercial holdings, then use your growing wealth to attract influential nobles.

Each turn, choose one action: take gem tokens, buy a development card, or reserve a card for a future purchase. Development cards require combinations of gem tokens, but every card you buy gives a permanent gem bonus that makes later purchases easier. Build an efficient engine of discounts, move from inexpensive developments to valuable high-level cards, and collect prestige points along the way.

You can reserve a face-up card—or draw blindly from a deck—to keep an important development away from rivals. Reserving a card also provides a gold token, which acts as a wild resource. Meanwhile, noble tiles reward players who collect the right combinations of permanent gem bonuses, adding prestige without requiring an extra action.

When a player reaches 15 prestige points, the current round is completed so everyone has the same number of turns. The merchant with the highest prestige wins. Splendor is an elegant, fast-paced game of resource collection, card development, engine building, and tactical competition.