When comparing Splendor vs The Voting Game, the Slant community recommends The Voting Game for most people. In the question“What are the best Android board games?” The Voting Game is ranked 15th while Splendor is ranked 19th. The most important reason people chose The Voting Game is:
Players are constantly socializing with each other, be it by laughing along at the questions and results or explaining their choices. This leads to many stories being told throughout the whole game, which can also lead to inside jokes and throwbacks in the next questions, making the game a memorable and fun experience for everyone involved.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Satisfying to see progression
It’s enjoyable to watch your trading empire grow. The game starts slowly with you gathering gems to create some basic buildings and futureproofing yourself, by the end of the game there’s quite a lot of cards on the playing surface. You can also get points for attracting nobles to your side by getting a specific combination of gem cards, which gives you a building direction and a goal to work towards.
Pro Fine-looking artwork
Splendor’s artwork is follows a Renaissance theme and is quite detailed and beautiful. The cards of the game feature depictions of ships, gem mines, and shops from the era. The coins are colorful and have stickers on them representing the type. There are also portraits of historical figures on the noble cards, for example, Henry VIII, Isabel of Castile, and Elisabeth of Austria.
Pro Scales well
The game plays very well in the designated 2-4 player range. It has some nuances that depend on the number of players, for example, the amount of coins and nobles in play.
It’s possible to go past the 4-player maximum by getting another copy for more coins. Another solution would be to add something like poker chips or other types of coins to the game.
Pro Good for beginners
The game’s rules are easy to grasp, but Splendor also features quite a bit of depth and strategy, which makes this a great gateway option for people just getting into board games, even children.
Pro Can be played aggressively or peacefully
The game is suited for both playstyles mostly due to the card reserving mechanic. This is great because you can adjust to the company you are playing with, whether they want to be fully competitive and try to deny each other’s plays or laid back and just watch the empires grow without interfering.
You can reserve a card to use it later or, even better, so your opponents can’t use it. You also get a “wild” gold piece, which can substitute any color required in buildings. You can have a maximum of three cards reserved at once.
Pro Easy to learn
The basics of the game are very straightforward and easy. You can start playing in a matter of minutes, which is great for absolutely everyone – young and old, experienced and new.
The game begins from the youngest player and continues clockwise. In their turn the players can perform one of three actions: take three different gems, take two gems of the same color, reserve a development card and take a gold gem, or purchase a development card. All development cards give permanent gem bonuses for later buys and some cards give prestige, which is required to win. Prestige is also gained from nobles, which can be attracted if specific conditions are met.
The game enters the last round when a player reaches 15 points. The game is won by the player with the most points after this round.
Pro Challenges help keep the game fresh and encourage you to optimize your strategy
In addition to being able to play the regular game of Splendor, the app also includes a challenge mode that will present you with a variety of different win conditions and play situations that can be quite valuable for refining your skills at the game.
Pro Pass and play abilities allow you to play with a friend
In addition to being able to play against the AI, the app has a pass and play mode that makes it possible to play in person with a friend.
Pro The visual design matches very closely with the actual physical version of the game
The layout of the board in the app and how you interact with it very closely mirrors how the game is laid out in real life, making the app an excellent way to learn the game and/or refine your strategies.
Pro A lot of hilarious player interaction
Players are constantly socializing with each other, be it by laughing along at the questions and results or explaining their choices. This leads to many stories being told throughout the whole game, which can also lead to inside jokes and throwbacks in the next questions, making the game a memorable and fun experience for everyone involved.
Pro Good replay value and variability
The Voting Game is highly replayable because of the large amount of possible house rules and four official expansions.
There are some rules mentioned in the official instructions that can help change up the game, for example, by allowing players to vote for themselves or transforming the game into a drinking game. You’re also free to add your own house rules, change the win condition or just play for fun.
The Voting Game has four unique expansion packs – NSFW, Fill In The Blank, Political, and Create Your Own Expansion. Each of these brings new thematic questions to the table that adds to the replay value and fun. For example, the Create Your Own Expansion lets the players themselves create some unique questions before the game begins, whereas the Fill In The Blank expansion adds question cards with blank spaces that are filled in when it’s your turn.
Pro Players can come and go
If you’re playing the game just for fun without a win condition, then players can join or leave as they please without impacting the game too much. It is very easy to deal in another player to a game already in progress once a question is finished. Similarly, if someone has to go, then the game can continue without interruption simply by removing the player’s number from the other player’s hands.
Pro Large player count
The Voting Game is great for a larger party with a lot of people because it’s made for a maximum of 10 players. This means that usually nobody will be left out of the fun.
Pro Very simple
The game is very straightforward and easy, making it possible to teach it to anyone in a few sentences. Each player is assigned a number and given a deck of number cards with the same amount of cards as players in the game. Every turn a new question is revealed, for example, “Who would find a way to break out of prison and succeed?” The players then vote for the player who, in their opinion, fits the description. The player that received the most votes gets a point. If it’s a tie, then the reader decides the winner. The first player to get 10 points wins the game.
Cons
Con Luck of the draw
The building cards that are drawn from the decks are random, which means that the game can often boil down to top-decking a building that’s either very valuable or completely worthless to you or an opponent. The nobles are random as well, but they won’t impact the game as critically – they are there just to direct you to a goal.
Con No online mode currently
Unfortunately, the only two modes of playing the base game are pass-and-play and vs the AI, there is no option for online play against other real opponents.
Con Highly player dependent
The game changes drastically depending on the people you play it with. Players need be in the right mindset and mood - if there is someone shy, easily offended or easily embarrassed in your group, then the game can turn into an unpleasant experience very quickly.
Con Not very replayable if played with the same group
If you play The Voting Game with the same people repeatedly, then the game can quickly lose its charm. It’s possible to exhaust too many questions in your initial playthrough, which can lead to you having to answer the same questions in your future plays, which, in turn, creates repetitive answers and situations.