rules
Gem Merchants rules
Canonical Tilehaus procedures for Gem Merchants: equipment, deal, legal plays, and how the hand ends.
Buying cards
Pay the printed cost, reduced by your bonuses. Excess payment returns to the bank. The card's bonus gem permanently discounts future buys and its prestige scores immediately.
Frequently asked questions
Straight answers to what people search — for Google, voice, and assistants.
How do you win Gem Merchants?
Reach at least 15 prestige points. Finish the current round so every player has had the same number of turns, then the highest prestige wins. Nobles are worth 3 and visit automatically when your bonuses match their cost.
How do you play Gem Merchants?
Each turn you do exactly one action: take three different gems, take two of one gem if four or more remain, buy a development card, or reserve a card and take one gold if any remain. Bought cards become permanent discounts.
What do the gold chips do?
Gold is a wild that pays any single missing gem when you buy a card. You usually get gold by reserving. Most tables allow at most three reserved cards.
How many chips can you hold?
Published tables cap held gems at 10. Tilehaus currently allows overflow on the teaching table so new players are not stuck; buying cards is still how you score.
How many players is Gem Merchants?
Two to four. Chip counts change: 4 of each gem for 2 players, 5 for 3, 7 for 4, plus 5 gold. A subset of the ten nobles is in play.
When do nobles visit?
Nobles are not a turn. After you buy a card, if your bonus gems meet a noble’s printed cost, that noble visits for 3 prestige. You cannot refuse a visit on this table.
Is Gem Merchants the same as Splendor?
Same public rules family: gem chips, development discounts, nobles, race to 15. Splendor® is a trademark. Tilehaus is an independent table named Gem Merchants, designed in the same 2014 engine-builder mold.
How long does Gem Merchants take?
About 30 minutes for 2–4 players. Two-player races to 15 are often faster; four-player tables slow down on the bank.