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Splendor
You play a Renaissance gem merchant, collecting gem tokens and buying cards to grow your house — one of the most widely played board games there is. Buy development cards with the 5 colors of gem tokens and the wild gold token, and each card you own stays as a permanent gem discount that makes your next purchase cheaper and cheaper — that engine building is the core. The rules are simple enough for a beginner to pick up fast, but the mind games over the token supply and the timing of reserving a card get fierce.
Rules
Collect gem tokens, buy development cards, and let those cards discount your next purchase until the engine runs itself — first to 15 prestige points wins. This guide covers the 10-token limit, reserving and jokers, and how noble visits work, with diagrams.
Components
| Component | Count | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Gem tokens | 35 | 5 colors × 7 — emerald (green), diamond (white), sapphire (blue), onyx (black), ruby (red) |
| Gold joker tokens | 5 | Can stand in for any color |
| Development cards | 90 | 40 level 1 · 30 level 2 · 20 level 3 |
| Noble tiles | 10 | 3 points each. You only use as many as players + 1 |
Setup
- 1Shuffle the development cards by level and lay out three rows, level 1 at the bottom up to level 3 at the top.
- 2Turn 4 cards of each level face up. There are always 4 visible cards per level.
- 3Shuffle the noble tiles and reveal players + 1 of them. The rest are removed from the game.
- 4Put the gem tokens in the middle, sorted into 6 piles by color.
| Players | Gem tokens (per color) | Noble tiles | Jokers |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 7 | 5 | All 5 |
| 3 | 5 (remove 2 of each) | 4 | All 5 |
| 2 | 4 (remove 3 of each) | 3 | All 5 |
Fewer players does not mean fewer jokers. There are always 5.
Your turn — exactly one of four actions
The youngest player starts, then play continues clockwise. On your turn you do exactly one of the four actions below. You cannot do two of them, and you cannot pass.
- 1Take 3 gem tokens of different colors
- 2Take 2 gem tokens of the same color — only if at least 4 of that color are left
- 3Reserve 1 development card and take 1 joker
- 4Buy 1 development card (either one face up on the table or one you have reserved)
10 tokens maximum at the end of your turn
If you hold 11 or more counting jokers, put tokens back until you are down to 10. You may put back the ones you just took. Your tokens are always kept out in the open where everyone can see them.
Buying cards and bonuses — the heart of the game
Pay the cost printed on the card in tokens and take the card. The tokens you pay go back to the middle. A joker can stand in for any color.
A card you own is a permanent discount
Each bonus color on the cards you own counts as 1 token of that color. As the bonuses pile up you pay fewer and fewer tokens, and in the end you buy cards without paying anything at all.
When a card is bought or reserved from the table, refill the empty slot immediately with a card of the same level. Only leave a gap when that deck has run out.
Reserving — the only way to get a joker
- Take a face-up card from the table, or draw the top card of one of the three decks without showing it to anyone, and put it in your hand.
- Reserving also gets you 1 joker. This is the only way to get one.
- If the jokers have run out you may still reserve, but you get no joker.
- You may hold at most 3 reserved cards in your hand.
- You cannot discard a reserved card. The only way to get rid of it is to buy it.
Reserving a card you know someone else wants is a perfectly fair move. Reserving blind from a deck keeps your opponents from knowing what you hold.
Noble visits
- At the end of your turn, if you have the bonuses a noble tile asks for, that noble visits you automatically.
- Only bonuses (cards you have bought) count toward the requirement. Tokens in your hand do not.
- A noble visit is not an action. You still took your normal action that turn.
- You cannot decline it. Each tile is worth 3 points.
- You take only one per turn. If you meet two nobles' requirements at once, you choose which one visits.
Ending the game and the winner
- As soon as someone reaches 15 prestige points, finish the round so that everyone has had the same number of turns.
- The player with the most prestige points then wins. Do not forget to count your nobles.
- On a tie, the player who has bought fewer development cards wins.
That tiebreak matters. Scoring with a few expensive cards beats piling up lots of cheap ones when the game ends in a tie.
Rules people get wrong
Q. Can I take tokens and buy a card in the same turn?
No. You do exactly one of the four actions per turn.
Q. I want 2 of the same color but only 3 are left.
You cannot take them. At least 4 of that color must be left. Take 3 different colors instead.
Q. I ended up with 11 tokens.
Put tokens back before your turn ends until you have 10. You may return the ones you just took, or older ones.
Q. Do tokens count toward a noble's requirement?
No. Only the bonuses on the cards you have bought count. No amount of tokens will bring a noble.
Q. Can I put off a noble visit?
No. It happens automatically once you qualify, and you cannot decline. If two nobles qualify at once, you pick one of them.
Q. Can I discard a reserved card?
No. Buying it is the only way to get it out of your hand, so 3 reserved cards tie up that much of your options.
Q. How do I get a joker?
Only by reserving. The take-tokens action never lets you pick a joker.
Q. Does the game stop the moment someone hits 15 points?
No. The round is played out so everyone has had the same number of turns. If you are last in turn order you get no chance to respond, but if you are early others can still catch up.
History and editions
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Designer | Marc André |
| Illustrator | Pascal Quidault |
| First published | 2014, Space Cowboys |
| Awards | Spiel des Jahres 2014 nominee · Golden Geek Game of the Year · Origins Award Game of the Year |
| Expansion / spin-off | Released | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Cities of Splendor | 2017 | An expansion with 4 modules |
| Splendor: Marvel | 2020 | A Marvel-themed retheme |
| Splendor Duel | 2022 | A standalone 2-player game — the rules are quite different |
Splendor Duel only sounds similar. Its board and rules make it a separate game. This guide covers the base game.
Sources
Space Cowboys official rulebook (Splendor)Cross-checked against Wikipedia: SplendorCross-checked against Namuwiki: Splendor (Korean)Rule summaries are reference content written by us, not quotations from the official rulebook. Always check the official rulebook for exact rules. Diagrams are original schematics, not rulebook illustrations.
Spotted a mistake? Tell us in the comments below →
Last updated 2026-09-14
💡 Master tip
The game turns on your timing: build discounts quickly with low-level cards to get your engine running, then switch to high-scoring cards. It also works well to notice which noble or which token color an opponent is going for and take those tokens first to block them.
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