In Splendor Duel, you need to show your worth as a master jeweler against your opponent.
2 players, ages 10+
Playing time: 30 minutes
Designers: Marc André & Bruno Cathala
Artwork: Davide Tosello
Publisher: Space Cowboys
https://www.spacecowboys.fr/our-board-games
👉 The gameplay is similar to the original version: during your turn, you can choose to pick gemstones, buy a jewel or reserve a jewel. The difference lies in the way you take the gemstones. These are taken from a 5×5 grid, and you can take up to 3 tokens from an uninterrupted line. This possibly gives the opponent a scroll when taking 3 identical gems or 2 pearls, a new kind of gem.
📜 Scrolls can be used to take one gem of your choice from the grid during your turn.
💎 When purchasing jewel cards, some of them will have an extra ability such as taking an extra gemstone, an extra turn, a scroll or even steal a gem from the opponent. Some of the cards show a crown symbol, these can be collected to gain the influence of the royals, giving the player an extra ability and points.
⭐️ This duel version also comes with new end game conditions: not only the game will end when reaching a total of 20 points, but also when a player reaches 10 points on cards of the same color, or 10 crowns depicted on their cards.
💬 In my opinion, this 2 player reimplementation of Splendor manages to capture the feel of the original version in an excellent way. The new way of drafting chips is a great addition and with 3 victory conditions the game feels more balanced. The scrolls are definitely an added value, making the game a little more cutthroat than its predecessor. I highly recommend this version to anyone who enjoys playing Splendor!
Tabletopping 