Splendor Strategy: The Engine, the Nobles, and Tempo

Splendor strategy is almost entirely about tempo. The game has no dice, no hidden information except reserved cards, and only three kinds of action. Two players making reasonable decisions will finish within a turn of each other, and the one who wasted a single turn early loses. This guide is about not wasting that turn.

Splendor is small enough that the whole thing fits in your head, and that is what makes it worth studying.

How does Splendor work?

On your turn you do one of three things: take gem tokens (three different colors, or two of the same color if at least four of that color remain), reserve a development card (take it into your hand plus one gold token, which is a wild), or buy a development card from the table or from your reserved cards.

Development cards cost gems and give you a permanent bonus of one gem color, which reduces the cost of future cards. Cards come in three tiers: tier one is cheap and mostly worth zero points, tier two costs more and is worth one to three points, tier three is expensive and worth three to five. Nobles are worth three points and come to you automatically when your bonuses meet their requirement.

First player to fifteen points triggers the end; the round is finished so everyone has the same number of turns, and the highest score wins. You can never hold more than ten tokens.

What is the engine in Splendor?

The engine is your collection of bonuses. Every card you own makes future cards cheaper, and after seven or eight cards, you are buying tier two cards for one or two tokens and tier three cards for three.

A typical winning game:

Two-player games tend to run longer in turns per player than four-player games, where more competition for cards speeds the race but token scarcity can slow it.

The key insight: points in the first third of the game are almost worthless. A player who buys a one-point tier two card on turn four instead of a zero-point tier one card has one point and a weaker engine. By turn fifteen the engine player has caught up and passed them.

How should you build bonuses in Splendor?

Not evenly. Players who try to collect one of each color end up with a bland engine that buys nothing cheaply.

Pick two colors, maybe three, that the tier two and tier three cards on display reward. Look at the face-up cards at setup. If the tier three cards want lots of green and blue, and the nobles want green and blue, those are your colors. Build five or six of each and ignore the rest, except as incidental bonuses on cards you buy anyway.

The tier one cards you want early are the ones that cost three or four tokens total and give you one of your target colors. The tier one cards that cost five or more tokens are not worth a turn unless they are the only way to a noble.

A rough priority order for the opening:

1. A tier one card in a target color that costs three tokens you already hold.
2. Tokens that let you buy two tier one cards over the next two turns.
3. A reserve of a strong tier two card that your engine will afford in two or three turns.
4. Anything else.

Taking two of the same color is usually worse than taking three different colors, because three tokens is more buying power than two. The exception is when a specific card needs four or five of one color and nothing else does.

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When should you reserve a card in Splendor?

Reserving is the most misused action in the game. New players reserve when they feel threatened. Experienced players reserve for three specific reasons.

• To take the card an opponent is about to buy. If the player to your left is one blue short of a four-point tier three card, and you can reserve it, do. They now have to find a different route, and you have a gold token.
• To get a gold token when the tokens you need are gone. If there are only two red tokens in the supply and you need red, reserving anything gives you a wild for red and denies nobody.
• To lock in a card you will buy in two turns. If the card you need could be bought by someone else, reserve it now and buy it when you can.

Do not reserve a card you cannot afford within three turns. A reserved card in your hand is a dead slot (you can hold only three), and the gold token is the only thing you got for a whole turn.

And do not reserve from the deck blind unless the gold token alone is worth the turn. It rarely is.

How do nobles work in Splendor strategy?

Nobles are three points for free, but only to the player who gets there first. Each noble requires a specific set of bonuses, typically three of each of three colors or four of each of two.

Count the nobles at setup (the number of nobles is one more than the number of players). Identify which two nobles share colors with each other and with the best tier three cards. Build toward those. A player who collects a noble on turn twelve is three points ahead of a player who does not, and three points is often the margin.

Watch other players’ bonus counts. If an opponent has three white and three blue and the noble wants three white, three blue, three green, every green card they buy is a threat. If you can take the green tier one cards off the table first, you have slowed them a turn or two. If you can get to that noble before them, you have taken three points from them and given them to yourself, a six-point swing.

One noble is realistic. Two is a great game. Planning for three is how you end up with a wide engine that does not reach fifteen.

What does tempo mean in Splendor?

Tempo means who is one turn ahead. Because both players get the same number of turns, the player who converts tokens to cards one turn faster wins.

Things that cost tempo:

• Taking tokens when you could have bought a card. Buying is always a step forward; tokens are a step toward a step.
• Reserving a card you cannot afford soon.
• Hitting the ten-token limit and having to return tokens.
• Buying a card that does not advance your target colors or your points.
• Letting an opponent take the card you were saving for, so you have to re-plan.

Things that gain tempo:

• Buying a card with your bonuses alone, spending zero tokens.
• Buying a card that completes a noble in the same turn.
• Reserving the card your opponent needs the turn before they can buy it.
• Triggering the end on a turn where your opponent cannot reach fifteen in their final turn.

The end trigger deserves a note. The round finishes after fifteen is reached, so if you are the first player and you hit fifteen, everyone else gets one more turn. If an opponent can reach sixteen on that turn, you lose. Count their points, their bonuses, and the cards on display before you trigger. Sometimes buying a two-point card to reach fourteen and waiting a turn is the winning play.

Splendor is a game we put in front of people who think they do not like strategy games, because it is quiet, quick, and makes everyone feel smart by the third play. For the vocabulary underneath it, see our explainers on engine building games and what a tableau is, since Splendor is the cleanest example of both. If your table wants a gentler planning game next, our Azul guide is a natural pairing.

The game is the reason. The people are the point.

FAQ

What is the best opening move in Splendor?

Take three different tokens that let you buy a cheap tier one card in a color the tier three cards and nobles want. Buy that card on turn two or three. Do not chase points for the first five turns.

How many cards do you need to win Splendor?

A winning board usually has a dozen or so development cards, with most points coming from a handful of tier two and tier three cards plus one noble.

Should you reserve cards in Splendor?

Reserve to deny an opponent a card they need next turn, to take a gold token when your color is sold out, or to lock in a card you will buy within two or three turns. Do not reserve out of general caution.

How do you get nobles in Splendor?

Nobles come to you automatically at the end of your turn once your permanent bonuses match their requirement. Pick the one or two nobles whose colors overlap with the strong cards on display and build those colors.

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Splendor is in the Indianapolis lounge’s first-ten list for exactly the reasons above: it teaches in five minutes and rewards a hundred plays. The Ludarium newsletter sends new pieces on games, the people who play them, and the lounge as it comes together. Subscribe and get the next strategy guide before it goes on the site.