SPLENDOR DUEL (2022)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	PUBLISHER
2	30 mins	Marc André Bruno Cathala	Space Cowboys

I enjoy original SPLENDOR at all counts, but I’m only really good at it when it’s 1v1. The more people at the table, the more disrupted the board state gets before coming back around. I prefer going head to head in a tight engine building race.

That said, when the duel version was announced, I was curious if we needed a 2-player only version.

But SPLENDOR DUEL does a fantastic job of being different enough to be worthy of a space on the shelf.

There’s a control mechanic on taking chips now, so you’re not as free to grab what you need.

There are now Privilege tokens that can be used strategically to gain a little extra from your turn.

There is also control of the discarding of used gem tokens. They don’t get returned to the centre anymore, but instead go in a bag, only to be returned to the board when one player decides to lay them back out.

The cards have extras too. From crown symbols that work towards one of the new win conditions, to wild colours and special powers that are activated on placement.

I really like this version, and it’s almost perfect.

However, I find the new Pearl tokens can make the game quite frustrating. Several games we’ve had become bottlenecked when the two Pearl tokens are in the bag, and all the available cards need one. In the games I lose, it usually comes down to being stuck on this resource.

And while I love that they’ve thrown in two extra win conditions to diversify players gameplans, we’ve not even been close to either of them, and each game has still been won on points.

Overall, SPLENDOR DUEL works great for people who mostly play 1v1, but it also shouldn’t be written off by people who own the original. It’s got enough difference to make it another good choice on your shelf.