If you've played Splendor so many times your gem chips have faded and you've given characters on the noble tiles first, last and middle names, this is the list for you. At its core, Splendor is a drafting and set collection game where you're forced to make tough decisions about how you want to build up your resource pool while keeping a close eye on what your opponents are doing.  

This is our top five games you should try if you enjoyed Splendor. All of these titles feature similar mechanics and play styles as Splendor, but have their own unique twist that makes them just as much fun to play.

Century: Spice Road

Century: Spice Road closely mirrors Splendor in the mechanics and goal of the game, as well as the actions you take to try to win. This game is the first in a series exploring the history of each century, with spice-trading taking center stage in the first installment. Players are caravan leaders travelling the famed silk road, trying to deliver spices to the far reaches of the continent to gain fame and glory. Each turn players need to decide one of four actions to perform:

• Establish a trade route (represented by taking a market card)
• Harvest spices or make a trade (by playing a card from your hand)
• Fulfill a demand (by meeting a victory point card's requirements and taking it - this is similar to the gem requirement on cards in Splendor)
• Rest (all of the cards you've played can be picked up and returned to your hand)

The final round is triggered once a player has claimed their fifth victory point card, at that time all victory points are tallied and whichever caravan leader has the most wins!

Buy Century: Spice Road now! 

Splendor Marvel

We usually try to avoid including expansions on our You May Also Like lists, but in this case, we had to make an exception. Splendor Marvel is just different enough to make it stand on its own. Plus its Marvel, we all love Marvel, don't we? Plus, plus - this is a standalone game, so its less of an expansion to Splendor and more of a superhero homage.

Since you're reading this list you're probably already familiar with how the Splendor base game works. Even though Splendor Marvel uses Splendor’s high-quality materials and core rules, it has new victory conditions, a new endgame trigger, and a different color structure. You can also gain Infinity Points with the new Avengers Assemble tile that can be passed (or stolen) from one player to another several times during the game!

Buy Splendor Marvel Splendor now!

Smash Up

Smash Up is exactly what you would expect from the name, in more ways than one. This board game's claim to fame is the insane, seemingly endless combinations of 'teams' you can come up with each time you play. Known as a 'shufflebuilding' game, the game begins with a simple premise: take the 20-card decks of two different factions, shuffle them into one deck of forty cards, then compete to crush, slam or smash more Bases than your opponents. Each faction in the game involves a different gaming mechanism.

During the game, basic cards (each with their own abilities and difficulties) are at stake. Players try to have the most power on the basis of your minions when the base is smashed. When a base is smashed, each player in first through third place scores points. Fourth place? Sorry, brother, next time. Sound easy? Maybe... Sound fun? Definitely.

Buy Smash Up now!

Azul

Azul was released in 2019 to huge acclaim. It is a pattern builder, where players select a group of tiles on their turn, using them to construct an attractive set of ceramic tiles for the walls of the King's palace in Portugal.

Players take turns drafting colored tiles from groups of tiles in the center of the table to their board. Later in the same round, players score points based on how they've placed their tiles on their board, a representation of how they have decorated the palace. Extra points are earned for completing sets and specific patterns; wasted (or unused) supplies lower the player's score. The player with the most points at the end of the game has impressed the King and wins the game.

Buy Azul now!

Sagrada

Sagrada is a dice drafting game, where players are using drafted dice and tools-of-the-trade to construct their stained glass window masterpiece. Each player builds a stained glass window by building up a grid of dice on their player board over a series of rounds. Dice of the same number or color may never be placed beside one another. Special tools can be used, in the form of cards players can purchase, but once a tool is used it will cost players more to use it again in the future.

End game scoring is variable and changes each game, depending on achieving various patterns and varieties of placements as well as bonus points for shades of a hidden goal color. The highest scoring window artisan is declared the winner!