Splendor Duel - Board Game Review - Now You Have Two Ways To Play

[@ourfamilytogether]

I was lucky to get a copy on Sunday at Essen and we’ve now played it 6 or 7 times. We used to play 2p Splendor. Never again. We love Duel!

[@donnakeferlis1649]

always happy to see Fizzgig supervising

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

All my mascots now are effectively taking it in turns for the spotlight!

[@michieltummers1303]

i LUUUUUUUVVVV this game, cant wait for my copy to arrive, played it multiple times at Spiel, such a great little gem (pun intended)

[@wallyvdb87]

i very much liked playing this... while i reaaaally disliked Splendor. The communal board of picking gems gives this imo muuuuch more depth then normal Splendor (like you mentioned: not only the tactical puzzle, but also the 'tug of war' element). So i agree with your vid, except your statement 'if you don't like Splendor, your not gonna like this' ;)

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

That's a surprise as 95% of the rules are Splendor really. The new board adds more depth yes, but the goal of the game remains the same.

[@wallyvdb87]

@@TheBrokenMeepledon't really agree. the goals are also different (like you mentioned and liked: the 3 winning conditions) and give more different tactical/strategic options; but it s that depth of the board (and the surplus with the tug of war) that I think I missed in Splendor the most. +it gives a more tactile feel, grabbing those gems from the board which we also likes... just our thoughts though :)

[@jamesjacobthomson6198]

Completely agree. Great game!

[@shortydancer]

Hey the cards do fit sleeved! Just takes some creativity. In the big well put them face down. Then I’m the tabbed well, put the bag/chips and some cards on top. Then put the cardboard boards on top!

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Why would face up or face down matter for a rectangular card?

[@shortydancer]

@@TheBrokenMeeple how dare you?! You can put your cards up like a savage. That’s on you bro. Lol

[@jgutkind]

Always appreciate your insight on if color blind player will struggle with a game

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

You're welcome - I may not be colour blind, but my Dad is and in any case, other reviewers won't mention it.

[@Emilianuff]

Great video. I've all Splendor games, base game, Cities expansion and Splendor Marvel. And I can't wait to play Splendor Duel. Firstly - because I play mostly with my 11 y.o.son, who is pretty good in this game. He wins quite often, even with adults. Secondly - because I agree with You, Luke, that everything, in witch Bruno Cathala is envolved, is just better. Twists added by him modify gameplay smoothly, in elegant way, no to ruin the base game, but to elevate it to new level. And once again he did it - i mean that he has created a new winner in competition for two player games in 2022, based on game out of 2013. What a year 2022 in board games we have, when old games like Splendor and maybe even Basillica which is only renewed, not transformed like Splendor Duel compared to original Splendor is, are candidates for Game of the Year in 2player games😉

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Yeah and on that note I should have enough "fuel" to do my 2 player Top 10 lists I promised now!

[@Emilianuff]

​@@TheBrokenMeeple can't wait to watch this "just promised" Top 10 2 player games! I really like your channel, mostly because it seems like we have similar tastes about games. And what comes with that - 'cause you like Portal Games, what makes that your game shelf looks in many spots like mine;-)

[@bookaddict777]

I am one of the innumerable people who actually likes 2-player 7 Wonders and has no use for 7 Wonders Duel. I think I am going to stick with the original Splendor as well. Thanks for the review, Luke.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Fair enough! So why do you like the 2 player 7 Wonders then?

[@bookaddict777]

@@TheBrokenMeeple It is the strategy of not giving a needed card to another player - you can foist them off the the dummy player and there is nothing the other player can do about. So it becomes, "OK, I am going to keep this card for me because I need it, but Beth over there would like that one so off to the dummy player it goes."

[@kevinosullivan3861]

Great review thank you. I am a fan of Splendour and it works well at two for me so great to see this option. Audio was slightly off from about 7ish minutes or was that my imagination?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Probably not, the audio was off in general because the mic battery was low - meaning it didn't pick up my input as well as it should and probably relied on the internal camera mic too much. Thankfully after re-recording Tribes of the Wind we're back in business with a fresh battery.

[@aidenclarke1983]

Shame to hear that it may not be colourblind friendly. First impressions watching your video, it doesn't look too bad. Sarah and I play and love Marvel Splendot as I can identify colours easier than the original. I'll try borrow it from the library next week at Gridcon to see if I can get on with it 😊

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Good man! Give it a try and see, hopefully you'll be fine, but there's certainly no "clear" aid to visuals.

[@aidenclarke1983]

@@TheBrokenMeeple got a couple games of Splendor Duel at Gridcon and loved it. Didn't really struggle with being colourblind. Managed to get hold of a copy to add to the collection 👍🏻

[@tuntemon]

I did manage sleeve them with thin sleeves and it worked fine. I put all of them in a stack instead.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

"Thin" sleeves being the operative word.

[@CK-mi3sd]

In a normal game night we usually have 4-5 people. Not sure if any duel game will make it on my game table. Splendor is good, but someone in my group like Spice Road and its variants (Spice Road 1+3 and Spice Road 1+2) much more.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

I'm the same with 2 player games but I do own a few for those moments. And the pipe dream that I'll meet a gamer nerd girl who wants to play them all! :P

[@gforud]

Two 9 and 10 in a row, (this and the next one) excited. is the tribe of the wind, elevated above this one or not?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Two 9's? This one was 9 and the other was a 10, don't recall another 9 - I guess I read your note wrong.

[@gforud]

@@TheBrokenMeeple my bad something like this " two high ranking game, one 10 and one 9" :)

[@shaunhughes2]

Yeah this looks great. Shame I’ll have to do a little bit of surgery on that nice insert for my sleeves.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Just chuck it, it's not essential really.

[@shaunhughes2]

Thanks again for the excellent review! Just got our copy and our first play was great! In regards to the insert, I ended up putting the sleeved cards in the top section and the bag of jewels in the bottom section, but you are correct, it’s definitely not necessary. I think we could even fit the original Splendor in here too if we trash it!

[@thisguy436]

Which sleeves did you use to sleeve your cards?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Sleeve Kings all the way.

[@thisguy436]

Thank you.

[@januszchytrus723]

what is the size of the cards?

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Mini Euro size sleeves but it's a snug fit

[@A._J_.]

Wild guess: Luke should purge 40% of his game shelf contents.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Already did a recent purge, but that was barely . . . . . 5% And that got filled by Essen games! :P

[@A._J_.]

@@TheBrokenMeeple Essen preview vids that I've seen look like a down year

[@J-Wheeler-G]

it's the same artist as Coimbra isn't?

[@Emilianuff]

No. Splendor Duel is illustrated by Davide Tosello, but Coimbra was done by Chris Quilliams.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Yeah the styles don't match.

[@J-Wheeler-G]

@@Emilianuff just looked it up and you are right. Those characters look very similar though.

[@Emilianuff]

@@J-Wheeler-G yeah, same cartoon style. Splendor Duel's graphics remind me even more those from Western Kingdom's trilogy than from Coimbra. But you're right - all of'em seem like being developed to remind sth else on purpose:-)

[@J-Wheeler-G]

@@Emilianuff Makes sense.