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[GendoIkari]

Just played this for the first time last week, and immediately bought it. It reminds me a little of Innovation, except way more simple in the rules. And yet, it seems that the strategy could be extremely deep. Really fun game!

[sitnaltax]

I'm surprised at the comparison to Innovation. In my mind, Innovation is a game of surprises, big combos, big swings, and big moves. By contrast, Splendor is a game of inches: you need to find the most efficient moves so you can just barely edge out the other players to the nobles you're racing for and the few cards that will secure your victory. It's a fine game that I own and enjoy, but unlike Innovation I never say "whoa" or remember any particularly crazy happenings.

[Teproc]

Yeah I don't really the see how it's similar to Innovation.

It's a good game, a little cold but very interesting for such a quick and easy game to learn.

[GendoIkari]

Well the similarity isn't in any specifics or overall strategies, but just in the high-level description of what you do in each game. That is to say, both games can be described as "in this game, you win by adding cards to your tableau, and the cards that you've added to your tableau so far make it easier to add the next card to your tableau."

[Awaclus]

My sister got this and I've been playing it a lot recently. I think it's a good game, but it's super difficult to understand the strategy. I've been trying to see what colors are common in the Noble tiles and the high point cards and buy a lot of those cards, but that hasn't been always very successful. Does anyone know how to play this game well?

[SwitchedFromStarcraft]

My take on it is that it is a card game, so luck enters into it quite a bit.  I've played 5 games in the past 3 weeks, and each time the cards that are available in the "easy row" on my turn require 2 or 3 tokens in each of 3  colors, and the cards available for other peoples turns require 1 token in each of 4 colors, so I have been at a serious disadvantage very early in the game.

I don't know how much this matters, but all of my games have been with 5 players.

[DG]

My sister got this and I've been playing it a lot recently. I think it's a good game, but it's super difficult to understand the strategy. I've been trying to see what colors are common in the Noble tiles and the high point cards and buy a lot of those cards, but that hasn't been always very successful. Does anyone know how to play this game well?

There are actually a lot of different things to take into account and if you focus too heavily on one strategy it can win you one game and lose you the next, making the results seem lucky or random. You've got left/right opponents, spoiling your opponents, hoarding, planning ahead for the second and third levels, planning for nobles, accumulating cheap single pointers, pure efficiency of purchasing, etc. It can all make a difference.

[D3Games]

I think Splendor rewards balance and awareness more than anything else. If you go into it with a set strategy, you may find yourself burned by the other players. You need to be ready to adjust and block via reservations or be more aggressive depending on the other's playstyle.

[sitnaltax]

My take on it is that it is a card game, so luck enters into it quite a bit.  I've played 5 games in the past 3 weeks, and each time the cards that are available in the "easy row" on my turn require 2 or 3 tokens in each of 3  colors, and the cards available for other peoples turns require 1 token in each of 4 colors, so I have been at a serious disadvantage very early in the game.

I don't know how much this matters, but all of my games have been with 5 players.

The game only officially goes to 4. I guess you could try to squeeze in a fifth, but then there's a chip shortage and card shortage. Do you play with houserules like setting the chip maximum to 8/player rather than 10/player?

If all the cards available to you suck, consider moves like taking chips you don't need right now, or reserving a level 3 card that looks good to you. Having a wild chip can help you seize good cheap level 1 cards if they present themselves, so it's not as inefficient as it feels.

(What level 3 card might look good? My favorites are one of a pair that both require a single long color, like if 7 Red and 7 Red/3 Black are showing. These are especially good if Red isn't heavily used in the Nobles so it's easier to get the 4th or 5th. With one gone, that color is then less attractive to others, and if you get both that's 9 points or so right there.)

[SwitchedFromStarcraft]

Interesting observation, that the game only goes to 4 (officially).  The game was taught to my wife and me at a gaming night at one of our FLGS, so I never read the rules.  I did ask specifically if the game would accommodate 5 players, and was told yes.  I never even looked at the box.

I did enjoy the games I played, though indeed there were many times that there was not a given color token on the board.  Out of 5 players, there usually not more than 3 or four cards on reserve across the 5 hands.  I only realized that that might be unusual in game three or four, when someone went to reserve a third card for themselves.  I protested that the limit was 2 per player, because that was what I had been told for that very first game.  The book was pulled out, and it apparently does say the limit is three reserved cards.

Thanks for the tips.  They may help.  I intend to buy this game for a niece and nephew for Christmas, and take it on a cruise with us.  It's is an interesting game.