Splendor

Splendor is a short, sharp engine builder. You take gem tokens, spend them on development cards, and each card you own gives a permanent gem bonus that makes every future card cheaper. Do that well and by the end you are buying expensive cards with almost no tokens at all.

First to 15 prestige points effectively wins — though the round always finishes.

Setup

1. Shuffle the three development card decks separately and place them in a single column, with 4 cards face up beside each level.
2. Put out the gem tokens according to player count:

Players	Each gem	Gold jokers
4	All of them	All
3	5 of each	All
2	4 of each	All

3. Shuffle the noble tiles and place one more than the number of players face up above the cards. Four players means five nobles.

The Pieces

Gem tokens

Five gem types — emerald, diamond, sapphire, onyx and ruby — plus a sixth token, the gold joker, which acts as a wild and can stand in for any gem when purchasing.

Development cards

Three levels, marked by the dots on the back. Each card shows:

Position	Meaning
Bottom left	The cost to buy it
Top left	Prestige points it is worth, if any
Top right	The gem bonus it gives you

That gem bonus is the whole game. It is a permanent discount applied to every card you buy afterwards.

Noble tiles

Nobles are a second source of prestige. The bottom left shows how many development cards of particular gem bonuses you must own to attract them; the top left shows the prestige they are worth. You never pay for a noble — you simply qualify.

How a Turn Works

On your turn choose exactly one of four actions.

1. Take three gems of different colours

One each of three different types.

2. Take two gems of the same colour

Only allowed if at least two of that gem will remain afterwards — so there must be four or more in the pile. If only three are left, you cannot take two.

3. Reserve a development card

Take any face-up card, or the unseen top card of any deck, and put it in your hand — then take one gold joker.

• Reserving is the only way to get a gold joker.
• If you reserve a face-up card, immediately replace it from the matching deck.
• If there are no gold jokers left, you may still reserve, you just do not get a joker.
• You may hold a maximum of 3 reserved cards, and you cannot discard them, so reserve deliberately.

Reserving is both defensive and offensive: it secures a card you want, and denies it to someone who wants it more.

4. Purchase a development card

Buy any face-up card, or one you reserved earlier, by paying its cost — reduced by your gem bonuses.

For example: a card costing 3 diamonds, 3 emeralds and 2 onyx, bought by a player who already owns cards giving a diamond, an emerald and an onyx bonus, actually costs 2 diamonds, 2 emeralds and 1 onyx.

The token limit

You may not finish your turn holding more than 10 tokens. If you are over, return tokens until you are at 10.

Attracting nobles

At the end of every turn, check the noble tiles. If you own enough development cards of the right gem bonuses, that noble visits you and you take the tile with its prestige.

If you qualify for more than one noble in the same turn, you may only take one. Take the one your opponents are closest to claiming.

How to Win

Play continues until the end of a round in which at least one player has reached 15 or more prestige points. Finish the round so that everyone has had the same number of turns.

The player with the most prestige wins. If there is a tie, the player with the fewest development cards wins — efficiency beats volume.

Strategy Notes

• Think several cards ahead. Decide which level 2 and 3 cards you are aiming for, then buy the cheap level 1 cards whose bonuses discount them.
• Do not try to win on tokens alone. Gems run out much faster than new players expect, especially at two and three players where the supply is reduced. The bonuses are the engine; the tokens just get it started.
• Watch the nobles. They are not required to win, but they are free prestige, and taking the one an opponent is building toward is often worth more than the points themselves.

Common Mistakes

• Taking two of a gem when only three remain. You need four or more in the pile to take two.
• Forgetting the 10-token limit. Check before ending your turn or you will be handing tokens back.
• Hoarding reserved cards. Three is the hard maximum and you can never discard one.
• Trying to take a gold joker directly. Jokers only ever arrive by reserving a card.
• Taking more than one noble in a turn. Only one, no matter how many you qualify for.
• Stopping the moment someone hits 15. The round is always completed so every player has had equal turns.