Splendor

Today's game review is for the 2014 release Splendor.  For 2-4 players, it can be played in 30 minutes.

Overview
You play the role of a merchant who uses gems to acquires resources (development cards).  These in turn allow you to produce more gems to acquire more resources.  Collect the right combination of development cards, and  you'll warrant royal visitors.  Some cards you acquire, and any royal visitors, will carry with them victory points.  Be the first to acquire 15 and you win!

Each resource (development card) in the game has a cost and a output, and some have victory points.
- cost: indicated on the lower left of the card.  The cost will be a certain color and quantity of gems, which you need to pay to acquire that card..
- output: on the upper right of the card.  If you can pay the cost and acquire the card, you then get to use the output one time per turn for all future turns.
- victory points: on the upper left of the card.  If you own that card, you get that many victory points.

For example, look at the image below.  The leftmost card has a cost of 2 blue and 2 red, and yields 1 green.  So if you have two blue and two red gems on your turn, you can pay for the card and put it in front of you.  The next turn (and any thereafter), you can use that card to produce 1 green to pay for other development cards.  Note that some development cards also have victory points.

example development cards; image from here

Simplified Gameplay
There are three development decks, each with development cards that offer higher benefits (for higher cost, of course).  See illustration below for how the decks are laid out; each turn, you perform one of four actions:

- pick up 3 gems of different colors
- pick up 2 gems of the same color
- reserve a card and pick up a gold coin

reserving a card means to keep it face-down in front of you; it allows you to buy it later (if you want) and prevents others from doing so.  The gold coin is a 'wild card' and can be used as any color of gem when paying for a development card.

- buy a card (either on the table or in your reserve) and put it on the table in front of you

Whenever you buy or reserve a card, put another card (from the corresponding development deck) onto the field.

At the end of your turn, if you've amassed enough development cards (with gems of the right colors/quantity) to meet a noble, that noble permanently visits you and adds his/her victory points to your total.  The nobles are at the top of the example below.  For example, if you collect 4 cards with a brown jewel output and 4 cards with a red jewel output, you'll get a visit from Henry VIII and earn 3 victory points.

the layout- image from here

After your turn, the clockwise player takes his turn.  The game ends when one player has 15 victory points.  The full rules are here.

Review
This is a solid, fun game.  It's easy to learn (the rulebook is so short!) but hard to master, and the replayability is high.  It may seem to start slowly, but it accelerates rapidly, and a game can be over before you know it.  It reminds me of a simplified combination of Dominion and Ticket to Ride (thanks to a friend for that insight; he's spot on).  This one is recommended.

Rating: A