Plan B Games | Century: Spice Road | Board Game | Ages 8+ | 2-5 Players | 30-45 Minutes Playing Time & Repos Production, 7 Wonders Duel, Board Game, Ages 10+, 2 Players 30 Minutes Playing Time

Product Information

The only bad points I can see to this game is that the theme is a bit on the bland side (pun intended) and at no point do you feel like a spice trader (Splendor has the same problem) and the game does feel like a solitaire experience as no real player interaction is involved. Once purchased, all Merchant cards slide one space to the left and a new card is added to the end of the row. Put as many gold coins here as the number of players, multiplied by two (eight, for example, in a four-player game). The clever thing about these three games is that as well as being excellent gateway games in their own right, any two of the three can amalgamate, providing a new bumper-game, entirely. Remember, the winner is not the one who completes the most Points cards, but rather the accumulation of their values.

Which brings us neatly to the second action a player could decide upon: acquiring one of the six Merchant cards on display. In Century: Spice Road, players are caravan leaders who travel the famed silk road to deliver spices to the far reaches of the continent for fame and glory. For someone who struggles with reading and learning rules even I managed to pick this game up within 10 minutes.I had a read up online and a lot of people were saying it was a game that would get rid of Splendor from people’s collections as it was a better game.

It’s easily a superior successor to Splendor, and may well become the next card game phenomenon for those seeking meaningful gameplay without sacrificing looks – Spice Road is style and substance, perfectly combined. To set up the game each player is given a Caravan Card, which is the storage for your spices and can hold ten cubes.The game is easy to set up and involves two very simple actions; Play a card from your hand or pick your cards up. If you wait for others to clear the queue, the Points card you’re eyeing up will eventually slide along into first or second in line, and with it, extra points in the shape of shiny things. If you have the quantity of spices required on a Points card, you can pay them back into their bowls and take that Points card. Another review at Ars Technica states that it is "slightly more complex" than Splendor, and that it is "an absolute joy to play". Affiliate links do not influence editorial coverage and will only be used when covering relevant products.