My husband and I played this last night and I LOVED it! It's simple yet very strategic. It felt like Ticket to Ride, but also a little similar to 7 Wonders (both games that have a lot of play in our board game group). As you stated, this game would be even better if it could go up to 5 or even more players. I'm glad we bought it!
I have seen 3 reviews on this game including yours. Drive thru Review and Watch it played with Rodney. You all say the same thing. Fun and easy game. I will have to get it. thanks Tom.
So I just played this today and am now realizing we may have played wrong, but I prefer how we played. When we reserved cards, we reserved our choice of the face up cards rather than a random face down. I feel this adds a lot more strategy playing this way, allowing you to block other players much more easily and save something you really want for later. I'm so glad we played this way, as I probably would've hated the game otherwise, and I recommend trying it out if you think the game is too light or involves too little player interaction or strategy.
In my opinion, it looks like the game 7 wonders duel. In Duel there are 3 "ages" whereby the cards become more expensive in the higher ages. In Splendor you have also a kind of 3 ages/rows. And the "discount" mechanism is also very similar to 7 wonders Duel. The fiches in Splendor actually are the raw materials (wood, stone, clay etc.) in Duel.
I've just bought this game after hearing about it on the podcast. Sounded like a game my girlfriend might like. She's my main gaming partner so it is extremely important for me to find games we could play together. She's a big fan of Ticket To Ride Nordic and Marklin and Carcassonne. Splendor is going to hit the table tonight, I have high hopes for it. The plastic chips are really great, so nice to handle them! :)
I saw the watch it played over view and posted in the comments that this could be the next hit. Someone disagreed, but after seeing that tom vasel loves it, I could be right...
We love this game and have played it successfully with 5 and 6 players. It drags a little at the start but even running out of chips now and again doesn't ruin it just change the strategy and force people to reserve cards a lot more than normal.
I'm thinking of buying this game because it seems like one that would come to the table fairly often (my friends like simple games). I've played it once and didn't think it was amazing, but it's so popular maybe I was wrong? Thanks for the review Tom!
I only played the game once and think I might have been wrong. Have you never played a game and disliked it and later decided you liked it? This happened to me recently with 2 games, camel cup and 7 wonders. Splendor is a good fast game that would go down well in my game group, and I thought maybe I misjudged it...is that alright with you?
Sorry guys, i'm not trying to diss the game, but, for me, there has to be some excitement factor, something where u can screw other players over and they are aware of it, like in ticket to ride, Tsuro, hell even classic ludo and UNO have that concept. Many people on forums online say "oh i don't know how so and so won, he just started hoarding all the gems and blah blah" But hey if you guys like it, then its worth the 30 dollars..
Purchased this yesterday after being shown a demo in a game shop and seeing that the hubby might actually like it ( I'm not so much a hard core gamer as some but a bigger gamer then my other half). We played best of 3 games and love it, definitely one I'll be playing again in the not so distant future...
Looks like a very good game but I have a hard time with games with no themes. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it I just REALLY love games with theme especially when the theme fits the game. I might still get it if I can get it cheap though.
Really similar to "Continental Express" i think, but "Continental Express" seems to me that it has more choices and yet is simpler and fun. Try it ! =D
Yes the really sad thing is my 8 year old son has picked this game up real quick and destroyed myself and my wife in just under 15 minutes last week. We had 4 points each and suddenly realised he had changed his tactic to collect cards quickly and bank some bigger cards so cash them all in really quickly at the end...8 for gods sake...dammit!
I'm starting to realize that theme is the most important thing to me. I've heard so much good about this game and I always see it around, but it just seems so boring. Grab colored chips to buy cards, cool.
You missed one major rule: if you have more than 10 tokens at any one time, you must discard down to 10. Other than that, great video, and I’m interested in this game.
Weird! Listening to the description, it sounds incredibly boring! But I suppose it must have at least a decent amount of fun to offer, since so many people are praising it...
Lacertist You're right. It is kinda boring and simple. Good for non gamers or as a filler. I have it on my phone and enjoy it there for a quick mobile game, $7 in the play store I thought it was worth it. This would never hit my table though while playing board/card games.
What do you think of the fact this game can be broken so easily? Got it for my family and my brother did some math and broke it in less than a day 😞 have you done a video on games with flaws??
@@thedicetower so my brother goes for the lowest high point cards. He reserves all of them he can as soon as they come up. He goes after just coins and buys any lower low cards if he can or reserves if he still has a spare. It's just a formula - always go for the lowest # needed to buy. Is that not broken...?
There are several ways to thwart this strategy - Reserve the high point cards early - Reserve the 1-4, 2-5, and 3-6 cards, it's hard to get the 4-7 and 5-7:3 cards without at least a small engine and a couple of gold coins. If you're really feeling nasty you can reserve the 0-3 cards too - If you take 3, and only 2 are really necessary, the 3rd should be in the color he's trying to get the 7 on - If you need a gold coin and have nothing good to reserve, reserve a Tier 1 card in the gem color he's trying to get that he can get easily - Take 2 of a color or reserve cards a lot - You should be winning with 5-8 purchased cards One particular nasty strategy is to let him reserve a 4-7 and 5-7:3 card early, then reserve cards in 1st and 2nd tiers like crazy. If he doesn't have a backup plan, he's toast
Has anyone else found that, in playing, the quickest strategy to win is to reserve big ticket point cards and rack up points that way? I mean, my 10 year old niece has won 5 games in a row with this strategy and half the time she is running around doing 10 other things while playing…. Is there another strategy that really stacks up? (pun….intended)
I'm confused how that would make you win. You can only hold 3 at a time until you purchase one you've reserved. It adds another layer of strategy and usually prolongs a game. Sounds like you might be playing wrong.
+Nisa Supasatit-Lash My brother uses that strategy - reserving 5 pt cards on the very first turns. He has yet to win a game using that one. It's not a surefire, let alone, effective strategy.
i look at the noble and the colors they require. i notice the nobles that have a color (hopefully 2) in common. I focus on those colors first. the noble usually requires 3 each of those colors. that is a good starting point. from there i just keep a watchful eye on what VP cards are on the board that are withing my reach over the next couple of moves, while seeing if any other players may want them too.
4 or 5 point cards are hard to get unless you have a combination of ~3-4 gold coins and gems If you reserve Tier 1 and Tier 2 cards early that deprives her of gold coins. Also reserve cards that helps him build her engine and take chips of the color he's aiming for. You can stop her dead in her tracks, if she doesn't have a plan B she is finished
The game plays fast, so any feeling that it is 'dry' doesn't matter much -- like most abstract games, it's pure strategy. Certainly, it's not my favorite game, but I end up playing it a lot because my non-gamer friends enjoy it also (one told me a couple of days ago that she intends to buy a copy of the game after playing it with me just once). It plays with 2 to 4, equally well, but certainly the strategies change with more people, which is interesting (at least to me). And everyone just loves the look of the game. For me, the only negative is that its theme is very weak. Obviously, if you are looking for a deeper game, or one with a stronger theme, this won't be for you. But for its category (fast-playing abstract games) it's one of the better ones around.
Jeez how is this game 50$ CAD? Is it literally just because of the poker chips lol? It really does look like a fun game, but 50$ for a few cards and some chips? No.
