Splendor Kids
Splendor Kids Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
Use your resources to nourish the people as you journey through the Kingdom. Each Traveler who arrives at the Palace of Splendor before the gates close will win the game.
Contents and Setup
A. 1 Kingdom game board consisting of 3 sections (each with a different front and back side). Place the Kingdom board in the center of the table, randomly choosing which side of each section to use. For your first game, or for shorter play sessions, remove the central section (A2) and use only the two ends of the Kingdom board (A1 and A3).
B. 4 Purse boards. Each Traveler takes a Purse board, along with their corresponding Traveler pawn.
C. 4 Traveler pawns. Before your first game, apply the stickers to the pawns. Each Traveler places their pawn on the Port starting space near the bottom of the Kingdom board.
D. 1 Resource Supply. Before your first game, apply the stickers to their designated spaces on the Resource Supply tray (see the diagram on the sticker sheet).
E. 42 Resource tokens (7 in each color): Mushroom (black), Apple (red), Cabbage (green), Hazelnut (brown), Water (blue), Gold (yellow). Place the 7 Gold Coin tokens in the Resource Supply, then place the other Resource tokens in the Resource Supply, based on the number of Travelers:
- 4 Travelers: 7 Resource tokens of each color.
- 3 Travelers: 5 Resource tokens of each color.
- 2 Travelers: 3 Resource tokens of each color.
NOTE: These numbers are also provided on the Resource Supply. The remaining tokens are returned to the box as they will not be used during this game.
F. 20 square-shaped City tiles (4 in each color). Shuffle the City tiles and place them in a draw stack next to the Kingdom board, Resource facedown.
G. The Palace Gates (to be assembled). There are two possible positions for the Gates: "Open Gates" or "Closed Gates". The Traveler who has most recently seen a gem (real or not) will be the first Traveler of the game. Place the Palace Gates to the right side of that Traveler's play area, in the "Open Gates" position.
H. 4 Queen's Medals. Place the Queen's Medals near the top of the board.
8 round-shaped Village tiles. For your first game, return the Village tiles to the box. In future games, place the Village tiles according to the rules found in the Mysteries in the Kingdom of Splendor variant rules (found on the last page).
How to Play
Starting with the first Traveler and proceeding clockwise, Travelers take turns playing. On their turn, a Traveler can either:
Take Resource Tokens
OR
Move Their Pawn on the Game Board
Then the Traveler to their left takes their turn to play.
Take Resource Tokens
The Traveler takes from the Resource Supply:
- 3 Resource tokens, each of a different color (not Gold Coins); OR
- 2 Resource tokens of the same color (not Gold Coins); OR
- 1 single Gold Coin token (yellow).
The Resource tokens taken by the Traveler are placed on their Purse board. A Traveler cannot have more than 8 total Resource tokens on their Purse board at any time. If a Traveler ever has more than 8 tokens after taking or receiving them, they must return any excess Resource tokens of their choice to the Resource Supply until they have only 8 tokens remaining.
Move Their Pawn on the Game Board
The Traveler moves their pawn along a single road. To do this, they must pay the resources indicated on the banner next to the road their Traveler pawn will take. Used resources can be delivered to a City to collect a City tile or to a Village to play an additional turn.
Resources are paid from the Traveler's Purse board using either Resource tokens or City tiles.
- Any used Resource token is spent and returned to the Resource Supply.
- Any used City tiles are flipped and kept Resource facedown at the top of the Purse board.
- A Gold Coin resource can be used in place of any other resource.
The Traveler then moves their Traveler pawn along the road for which they have paid the cost, representing food being delivered.
If their Traveler pawn lands on a City, the Traveler immediately takes a new City tile from the top of the stack, and places it faceup along the top of their Purse board. Then, they flip all their other City tiles, Resource faceup.
If their Traveler pawn lands on a Village, the Traveler immediately takes an additional turn. They can either Collect Resource tokens or Move their pawn on the board again.
Example of a Game Round
- On his turn, Marc takes 1 Water token, 1 Cabbage token, and 1 Mushroom token from the Resource Supply. He now has a total of 9 Resource tokens; therefore, he returns 1 Hazelnut token to the Resource Supply and keeps the remaining 8 tokens on his Purse board.
- On her turn, Catherine takes 2 Cabbage tokens from the Resource Supply and adds them to her Purse board.
- On his turn, Olivier takes a Gold Coin token from the Resource Supply.
- On his next turn, Marc decides to move his pawn to the nearby Village. He returns 2 Mushroom tokens and 1 Apple token from his Purse board to the Resource Supply, and flips his Hazelnut City tile facedown. He then advances his pawn to the Village. By delivering food to the Village, he can immediately take an additional turn. He takes 2 Hazelnut tokens from the Resource Supply and adds them to his Purse board.
- On her turn, Catherine wants to move her pawn to the neighboring City. First, she spends 2 Cabbage tokens and 2 Water tokens by returning them to the Resource Supply. She also flips her Water City tile facedown, and then advances her pawn. Finally, when she arrives in the City to deliver food, she gains a new City tile from the draw stack, which she adds to the top of her Purse board. She also flips her other 2 City tiles faceup.
End of Game
When a Traveler's pawn reaches the Palace of Splendor, the Queen immediately honors them with a Medal; they can choose any of the available Medals near the top of the game board.
The first Traveler to reach the Palace changes the Palace Gates to the Closed Gates position (leaving the Palace Gates to the right of the first Traveler).
This action signifies that the Palace Gates are closing. Play continues as normal until the Traveler to the right of the Palace Gates takes their turn, at which point the game ends. This allows all Travelers to take an equal number of turns during the game.
All Travelers who have reached the Palace of Splendor and received a Medal from the Queen will be declared winners!
End of Game Example
- On his turn, Marc moves his pawn to a City (1).
- Then Catherine moves her pawn to the Palace of Splendor (2A). The Queen honors her with a Medal of her choice (2B). Then, the Palace Gates start closing (2C): this will be the final round.
- Olivier plays his final turn. His pawn also reaches the Palace of Splendor (3A), allowing him to choose a Medal (3B).
- It is the end of the game. Marc can't play again because he is positioned to the left of the Closed Gates. Catherine and Olivier share the victory.
Mysteries in the Kingdom of Splendor
Once familiar with the main rules, experienced Travelers are encouraged to use the following variant rules.
Setup
When setting up the game with this variant, all three sections of the Kingdom board should be used. As the last step of setup, randomly draw Village tokens and place 1 facedown on each of the Village spaces in the central section of the game map. Return any unused tokens to the box without looking at them.
Next, draw 3 City tiles from the top of the stack and place them faceup next to the City tile draw stack to create the Marketplace.
Additional Rules
Taking City tiles. When a Traveler takes a City tile after delivering food to a City, they can choose between two options:
- They can take the top facedown City tile from the draw stack; or
- They can select 1 from the 3 faceup tiles in the Marketplace. If the Traveler selects a tile from the Marketplace, they must immediately replace it with the top City tile from the draw stack, placing it faceup in the Marketplace.
Effects of the Village tiles. When a Traveler's pawn lands on a Village on the central board, and the Village tile has not yet been flipped over, the Traveler flips it over and applies its effect immediately. Then, they return the Village tile to the box (except in the case of "Treasure" or "Queen's Gem"). After applying the Village token's effect, the Traveler also benefits from the regular Village effect, allowing them to take an additional turn.
Tornado (1x). The Marketplace has been devastated! All 3 tiles in the Marketplace (the faceup tiles next to the City tile draw stack) are returned to the game box. For the remainder of the game, City tiles can only be drawn from the top of the facedown draw stack.
Treasure (2x). The active Traveler places the Treasure token on a token space on their Purse board and can spend it like 1 Gold Coin token. This counts towards the maximum of 8 Resources on the Purse board.
Drought (2x). All Travelers with more than 5 Resource tokens must immediately discard resources until they have only 5 tokens on their Purse board. The normal limit of 8 still applies going forward.
Kind-Hearted Thief (2x). A thief is on the loose in this village! The active Traveler chooses 1 of their Resource tokens and gives it to another Traveler of their choice.
Queen's Gem (1x). The lost Queen's Gem has been found in this village! The active Traveler takes the Queen's Gem token and places it next to their Purse board. At the end of the game, if the Traveler with the Queen's Gem reaches the Palace of Splendor, that Traveler wins the game alone.