Splendor App is a Worthy Recreation
There’s no question that Splendor is one of the most popular board games of the last year. But how does the official app adaptation from Days of Wonder hold up for board gamers?
The look is a sumptuous recreation of the original game, so Splendor players will find themselves in familiar territory. The icons and card art are exactly the same, and even the text fonts have been replicated.
The game has been faithfully recreated as well, allowing fans of the game to dive right in. The pieces and and rules work exactly as you might expect, and the app has a simple, intuitive interface. All you have to do is tap the gems and cards you want to buy, and the game takes care of the rest.
The Challenges of Splendor
While Splendor lacks an online multiplayer mode, the game presents a series of Artificial Intelligences to defeat in solo play. These AIs pursue reasonable strategies, and beating them all will take some time. Once you’ve done that, there’s also a scoring system. It measures both the points you scored and how quickly you scored them, giving you a good way to challenge yourself and improve your performance in later games.
Each game moves quickly, taking fine to ten minutes to complete. The brisk play makes up for the lack of social interaction.
Smacking AIs will pall after a while, but game has two more play modes. A series of 18 challenges will test your wits by imposing different sets of variant rules. The variants are pretty easy to defeat, but the different sets of rules show off the elegance and flexibility of Splendor’s core game mechanics.
There’s also a pass-and-play mode, which is a good way to get a multi-player going when you’re out and your real-world Splendor set is at home. The game’s speed and almost completely open information make it a good choice for pass-and-play.
Even when you’re alone, though, Splendor is well worth your time. Whether you’re honing your skill, sharing the game with a friend, or just killing some time, this premium app is worth every penny.