Homebrew Games Part 2: Splendor

Splendor is a simple strategy game about becoming as influential as possible in the gem industry.  On your turn, you may do one of 3 actions: take up to 3 gems (as long as there are some left in the bank!); buy a card on the table using gems (granting you Prestige Points and permanent gems); or reserve a card (you gain a wild "gold" gem token and you may use a future turn to purchase your reserved card).  If you meet the requirements to collect a Noble card, then you automatically take it and gain 3 Prestige Points at the end of your turn.  The first player to reach 15 Prestige Points wins the game.

The game starts off relatively slowly.  Players spend most of their turns collecting gems to buy basic cards with.  As you gain more cards, you also gain "permanent gems."  You may use the card's gem over and over to buy newer, more expensive/more valuable cards.  By the end of the game, most players are taking cards (and therefore usually aquiring Prestige Points) almost every turn.  Each turn becomes a critical decision in the race to 15 points.

While visiting some extended family, we wanted to play Splendor.  Most of us owned it, but we didn't have it on-hand.  We were going to stay for a while, so we decided to make our own.

First, I researched the cost/type/points of each of the game's 100 cards.  I then cut index cards down and marked cost/type/point values on all of them, to match the original game (I didn't want to change the mechanical balance).  After every card was prepared and playable, I recruited some friends and family to contribute to adding art to the 100 cards.  This process has taken almost a year, but now each card has its own unique drawing!

A few months after we started, we purchased a plastic gem set from www.topshelfgamer.com and made a "bank" with a half-dozen muffin tray from the dollar store.  We also added felt in the bottom of the tray wells to reduce the noise.

Some of the cards are part of a set (e.g. the 3 Powerpuff Girls cards).  Our house rules include +1 point for completing a set of 2 and +2 points for completing a set of 3.  We also play to 20 points, just for fun.

Everything is hand-drawn in marker/pencil by me, Kristen, Eric, Andrew, Trevor, and Chase.