Splendor

Overview

Players are renaissance merchants collecting gem tokens, buying development cards that give permanent discounts, and attracting nobles. First to 15 prestige points triggers the end.

Two to four players. Designed by Marc André, published by Space Cowboys.

This entry is checked against the current Space Cowboys rulebook (©2024), which accompanies the revamped 10th-anniversary edition with new art.

1. Setup

Sort the 90 development cards into their three levels — 40 level 1, 30 level 2, 20 level 3 — and shuffle each. Deal four face up from each level.

The youngest player takes the First Player marker.

Shuffle the nobles and reveal one more than the number of players.

Gem tokens depend on player count:

Players	Tokens per colour
4	7
3	5
2	4

There are always five gold, whatever the count.

2. A turn

Take exactly one action.

Take three different gems

One token each from three different colours. If fewer than three colours are left, take two, or one. You can never take gold this way.

Take two of the same gem

Only permitted if at least four tokens of that colour are in the supply before you take them. With three or fewer left, you can't double up. Never gold.

Reserve a card

Take any face-up card, or the top card of a deck, into your hand and take one gold.

You may hold at most three reserved cards. A card reserved from the top of a deck is hidden from other players.

You may reserve even when no gold remains — you simply get no gold. With three reserved cards already, you can't reserve at all.

Reserved cards can't be discarded. The only way to get rid of one is to buy it. There's no penalty for reserved cards left in your hand at the end.

Purchase a card

Pay its cost with tokens and the permanent bonuses from cards you already own. Gold is wild and may be spent in place of any colour, even one you hold. Purchase from the table or from your reserve.

If your bonuses already cover a card's cost, it's free, but extra bonuses don't give you tokens back.

Whenever a card is taken from the table, replace it from the same level's deck. If that deck is empty, play on with fewer cards.

3. The token limit

You may never end your turn holding more than ten tokens. Discard down to ten if you exceed it.

4. Bonuses and nobles

Every development card shows a gem bonus, which in the current edition sits in the top-right corner and also sets the card's colour. That bonus permanently reduces the cost of future purchases by one token of that colour, and is never spent.

This is the engine: early cheap cards are not bought for their prestige — most have none — but for the discount.

At the end of your turn, if your card bonuses meet a noble's requirement, take the noble. This isn't an action and doesn't use your turn. The noble is worth the prestige shown on its tile.

Only one noble per turn. If you qualify for several, choose one, and hope the others are still there next turn.

5. Ending the game

When a player has 15 or more prestige at the end of their turn, keep playing until everyone has had the same number of turns. The player to the right of the first player takes the last turn. Then the highest total wins.

Ties go to the player who bought fewer development cards. If that's still tied, the tied players share the victory.

6. Strategy

Watch what your opponents are collecting. Taking the token they need, or reserving the card they are saving for, is often worth more than advancing your own position.

Level 1 cards are about bonuses, not points. A stack of five in one colour turns level 3 cards from unreachable to routine.

Reserving is defensive as much as acquisitive. Denying a noble is a legitimate and frequently decisive play.

Trading tokens

The rules have no trading. They never mention it, and none of the four actions lets you swap tokens with a player or the supply. You can't turn three rubies into a sapphire, and gold only comes from reserving a card, because both gem-taking actions exclude it.

Tokens leave your possession only when you spend them on a development card.

Commonly argued

• You can only take two of a colour if four or more remain. Not three.
• Nobles are automatic. You cannot decline one to avoid triggering the end.
• Bonuses are permanent and never spent.
• The ten-token limit applies at the end of your turn, not during it.
• Reaching 15 does not end the game immediately — the round is completed.
• Fewer cards wins a tie, which rewards efficiency over volume.
• Reserved cards can't be thrown away. You must buy them or keep them.
• Taking a noble isn't an action. It happens at the end of your turn on top of whatever you did.
• Gold can be spent even when you hold the real gem.
• The four-token check is made before you take, so four in the supply is enough.