Splendor: Pokémon Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Components
• Game Setup
• Game Overview
  • Card Descriptions
  • Actions
  • Add a Card
  • Token Holding Limits
• Evolution
• End Game and Scoring
• Pokédex Sheets

Game Components

• 40 Ball Tokens
  • 7 Poké Ball Tokens (Red)
  • 7 Great Ball Tokens (Blue)
  • 7 Ultra Ball Tokens (Black)
  • 7 Heal Ball Tokens (Pink)
  • 7 Quick Ball Tokens (Yellow)
  • 5 Master Ball Tokens (Purple)
• 90 Pokémon Cards
  • 35 Level 1 Cards
  • 30 Level 2 Cards
  • 15 Level 3 Cards
  • 5 Rare Cards
  • 5 Legendary Cards
• 4 Trainer Tiles (1 Per Player)
• Pokédex Sheet Pad
• Starting Player Marker

Game Setup

1. Shuffle each level deck separately. Then, place each deck in a column in the center of the table in ascending order (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3) from the bottom to top.

2. Reveal four cards for each level and place them in a row to the right of the corresponding deck.

3. Shuffle the rare cards and place them above the level 3 deck. Similarly, shuffle the legendary cards and place them to the right of the rare deck (leave space for a card between the two decks). Then, reveal the top card of the rare and legendary decks and place it to the right of their decks.

4. Sort and stack ball tokens by type and place them within easy reach of all players. This pool of tokens is called the supply.

5. For 3 player games, remove 2 tokens of each color. For 2 player games, remove 3 tokens of each color. There are always 5 master ball tokens (purple) regardless of the number of players.

6. The youngest player takes the starting player marker. Then, each player takes the trainer tile of their choice and places it in front of them.

During the game, players take ball tokens and use them to catch Pokémon, which award victory points and provide bonuses. Bonuses reduce the number of ball tokens players need to catch Pokémon in the future. Some Pokémon can evolve if they meet certain conditions. Evolved Pokémon provide more victory points.

When a player has 18 victory points, the game ends after the last player's turn that round; the player with the most victory points wins.

Game Overview

Card Descriptions

Each Pokémon card shows:

• Victory Points — the points earned for catching this Pokémon.
• Next Evolution — the Pokémon this card can evolve into.
• Evolution Condition — the bonuses needed to evolve this card.
• Pokémon's Image
• This Card's Bonus — the ball type bonus this Pokémon provides once captured.
• Balls needed to catch this Pokémon — the cost, shown in ball tokens, to capture this Pokémon.
• Pokémon's Name

Example: Emma spends 3 Heal Balls, 2 Quick Balls, and 2 Ultra Balls to catch Weepinbell. She returns the spent tokens to the supply.

Emma's Play Area — Players must stack their captured cards in columns by color, staggering them vertically so everyone can see the bonuses, victory points, and next evolutionary stage of their captured Pokémon.

Bonuses

The bonuses a player has from Pokémon cards captured on previous turns provide discounts when capturing new cards. Each bonus of a given color (type) equals a ball token of that color. Therefore, if a player has caught enough Pokémon, they can even capture a Pokémon card without spending any tokens.

Rare and legendary cards have two bonuses.

Bonuses are not spent; they can reduce the cost of a capture and count toward an evolution (see next page) on the same turn.

Players do not receive any additional tokens if their bonuses exceed the capture cost of the Pokémon card.

Example: Emma is trying to catch Weepinbell. She has 1 Quick Ball bonus from her captured Bulbasaur and 3 Heal Ball bonuses from her captured Polywag and Snorlax. So Emma only needs to spend 1 Quick Ball and 2 Ultra Balls to catch Weepinbell.

Actions

The game proceeds clockwise from the player with the starting player marker. On their turn, players must choose to perform one of the following four actions:

• Take 3 ball tokens of different types. If not enough ball tokens are available to take 3 tokens of different types, you may take 2 tokens (or even one). You cannot take the master ball token with this action.
• Take 2 ball tokens of the same color. This action is only possible if at least 4 ball tokens of that type are available in the supply before the player takes 2 tokens. You cannot take master ball tokens with this action.
• Reserve a card, take a master ball token. Take a face-up card from the center of the table or (if you're feeling lucky) draw the top card from one of the three decks (Level 1, Level 2, Level 3) without showing it to other players. Reserving a card is the only way to get a master ball token (wild). If there are no master ball tokens left in supply, you can still reserve a card, but you won't receive a master ball token. You cannot reserve rare or legendary cards. Reserved cards are kept in your hand and cannot be discarded. Players may not have more than 3 reserved cards in their hand. Reserved cards can be captured as an action on future turns or used for evolutions (see next page for evolution). Players are not penalized for having reserved cards left in their hands at the end of the game.
• Catch a Pokémon (take a card). A player may capture one of the face-up Pokémon cards in the center of the table or a reserved Pokémon card from their hand. To catch a Pokémon, a player must spend the number of ball tokens indicated on the card. The master ball token (purple) can replace any color, and players may use multiple master balls for a capture. Rare and legendary cards are captured the same way but require a master ball token to catch. Once you have spent all the tokens needed to capture, take the Pokémon card and place it in front of you.

Add a Card

When a Pokémon card from the center of the table is captured or reserved, replace it immediately with a card of the same level. During the game, there should always be 4 cards available for each level (if the deck of cards for that level runs out, leave the space empty). Rare and legendary cards are played the same way, but only 1 card is available for each.

Token Holding Limits

Players must keep all ball tokens in an area visible to other players. At the end of your turn, you can only have 10 ball tokens (including master ball tokens). Players can have more than 10 tokens during their turn, but before ending their turn, they must return tokens to the supply until they have only 10 ball tokens.

Evolution

You can obtain new Pokémon by evolving previously caught Pokémon. Evolved Pokémon provide more victory points than Pokémon at previous levels. Level 1 Pokémon evolve to level 2, and level 2 Pokémon evolve to level 3. Level 3, rare and legendary Pokémon do not evolve (in this game).

Evolving does not count as an action. At the end of your turn, after checking if you exceed the token limit, you can evolve one of your captured Pokémon that meets the evolution requirements.

The top of the level 1 and 2 cards shows what the Pokémon will evolve into and the type and amount of bonuses needed to evolve.

If a player has enough bonuses to meet the Pokémon's evolution conditions shown (they have enough captured cards with those bonuses) and the card which is the next level up for that Pokémon is in the center of the table or reserved in their hand, they can evolve it.

When checking if evolutionary conditions are met, only look at the bonuses from captured cards, not the ball tokens. Bonuses can still count toward an evolution even if it reduced a capture cost this turn. Rare and legendary cards have 2 bonuses, so count them as 2 when determining bonuses.

You do not consume or discard cards with bonuses for evolutions.

When a Pokémon evolves, replace it with the Pokémon of the next level from the center of the table or your reserved cards. Place the Pokémon of the previous level face down under your trainer tile. Players don't get bonuses or victory points from the cards under their trainer tile.

Players can only evolve one Pokémon per turn. If you have more than one Pokémon that can evolve, choose which one you want to evolve this turn. Evolving is not mandatory; you can choose not to evolve a Pokémon even if it meets the requirements.

Example: At the end of Emma's turn, the Ivysaur card (Level 2) is face-up in the center of the table. Emma wants to evolve a previously captured Bulbasaur into an Ivysaur. To evolve her Bulbasaur, she needs 3 Heal Ball bonuses; her previously captured Snorlax and Poliwag cards meet this evolution requirement. So she takes the Ivysaur card and places it in her play area. Then she places the Bulbasaur (the previous level card) face down under her trainer tile.

End Game and Scoring

The sum of the victory points shown on the cards in front of you (excluding face-down cards and cards in your hand) is your current victory point total.

When a player reaches 18 victory points, complete the current round so that each player has played the same number of turns. After the last player's turn (player to the right of starting player marker), end the game and calculate the victory points.

The player with the most victory points wins. In the event of a tie, the player with the most cards under their trainer tile (i.e., the player who evolved more) wins. If that's still a tie, the player with more Pokémon in front of them wins.

Pokédex Sheets

Catch all the Pokémon that appear in the game!

The first time you play this game, take a Pokédex sheet. At the end of the game, mark all the Pokémon you've caught (including the cards under your trainer tile).

Keep your marked Pokédex sheet for future games. Each time you catch a new Pokémon in subsequent games, mark it on your sheet.

If you've completed your Pokédex sheet, congratulations, you're a true Pokémon Trainer! Take a picture to share and show off.

The Pokédex sheet lists the following evolution lines found among the game's Pokémon cards:

• Nidoran♀, Nidorina, Nidoqueen
• Bellsprout, Weepinbell, Victreebell
• Gastly, Haunter, Gengar
• Machop, Machoke, Machamp
• Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, Venusaur
• Squirtle, Wartortle, Blastoise
• Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Pidgeot
• Poliwag, Poliwhirl, Poliwrath
• Geodude, Graveler, Golem
• Caterpie, Metapod, Butterfree
• Charmander, Charmeleon, Charizard
• Abra, Kadabra, Alakazam
• Oddish, Gloom, Vileplume
• Dratini, Dragonair, Dragonite
• Weedle, Kakuna, Beedrill