Splendor: Buried Treasure

[kerravonsen]

I don't know if any of you are interested in (board) games besides watervole and thewayne, but if you are, and you play Splendor, here is a nice variation of the rules, which I invented. (It is apparently similar to the "Cities" expansion of Splendor, but I hadn't known anything about that when I invented it. Besides which, it doesn't need an expansion set to play it)

Buried Treasure Variation

Rule 1:
For the first turn, every player must reserve a random Level 3 (blue) card from the deck. This is their "Buried Treasure" card.

Rule 2:
Altered winning conditions. Besides having to get 15 points, a player must ALSO purchase their Buried Treasure card "for free" before they can win.

For example, if their Buried Treasure card costs 5 Diamonds, 3 Sapphires, 3 Rubies and 3 Onyx, then they have to have at least 5 Diamond cards, 3 Sapphire cards, 3 Ruby cards and 3 Onyx cards, so that they can buy that card without having to use any tokens ("for free").

All other rules are the same.

I've found, when playing this variation, that it pays to focus only on getting the Buried Treasure card, because by the time one does get it, one usually already has 15 points.

Comments

[thewayne]

Splendor is an excellent game! Bought it when when it first came out. My favorite game store in Phoenix (well, Tempe) closed down after over 30 years in business, The Game Depot, and I managed to get an expansion for it at a nice discount.

I plan on getting it out and playing it again soon, I'll see what we can do with your rules!

[kerravonsen]

I'd love to hear how it goes and what you think of it!