The Tabletop Takeaway: A Board Game Design Podcast · Ananda Guneratne, Charlie McCarron, Trevor Muller-Hegel

118. Splendor

·26 min·2 clips

Charlie argues that Splendor's noble cards provide a crucial higher-level strategy, making the game more engaging than a simple point-collection exercise.

Splendor looks simple at first. The table starts with the basic loop: take three different gem chips, take two matching chips, reserve a card and get a wild chip, or buy a mine. That is pretty much the game, and it works. Permanent gems make each purchase feed the next one, so early cards still feel useful even before anyone is scoring much. The pace stays brisk because every turn asks for one clean choice. Small differences between actions start to feel bigger than they look on paper. The reservation rule gets the most attention. Taking one wild chip sounds weak beside taking two or three regular chips, but holding a card changes the calculation. That is the neat bit. A reserved card does not translate cleanly into token value, so the player feels like they gained position, not like they settled for a bad turn. Ticket to Ride gives them the comparison point. Its rainbow locomotive can clog the visible market, and the special clearing rule comes off as a patchier fix. Splendor sidesteps that problem. The wild chip gives less raw quantity, but reservation keeps the market moving and gives the player something to care about. The design lesson is practical: a low-output action can still feel good if the bonus has situational value instead of plain arithmetic value. The panel keeps checking the rule against how it feels on an actual turn. Near the end, they drift into variants. Splendor Duel sounds like a very different beast, while the Cities expansion comes up with some admitted uncertainty. The verdict is warm. After pulling the mechanism apart, the group treats Splendor as nearly complete: quick, clean, and still worth talking about.

As heard by us

A clear, practical look at why Splendor's choices feel so efficient at the table.

Splendor is a clean entry in the show's set collection run, and this episode keeps its attention on why the game feels so tight at the table. The hosts move through turn structure, then into the real question: how wild chips, reservation, and permanent gem production change the…

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you want Splendor explained choice by choice, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Tabletop Takeaway: A Board Game Design Podcast