Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth vs Splendor
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth lets you play as the leader of a pioneering group of spacefarers as you set off for the stars in hopes of creating a new civilization in space. The science fiction-themed in this game is a pretty far cry from the usually historical theme in the award-winning Civilization game franchise, but the game was pretty well-done mainly because it contains many of the features that had made Civilization 5 such a resounding success while changing things up a bit, such as replacing religion with affinity, just so everything is relevant to the overall theme of the game. There are also items that you can find on the alien planet that you're trying to colonize which will unlock nice storylines and quests for you to experience. And of course, there's the epic DLC, Rising Tide, which has elevated a mediocre but interestingly-themed game into an impressive one.If you're hoping for a game that's as amazing as Civ 5, Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth might end up disappointing some of you, but if you consider that this is the franchise's first attempt in doing a game that's not history-based, then well, this is a pretty good first attempt for an established, triple-A series.
Splendor
Splendor is the official digital adaptation of the popular cards-and-chips game of the same name. In this game, you'll work on increasing your prestige by trading gems and developing your town. With time and enough development cards, you may even attract the attention of powerful nobles to gain even more prestige!The gameplay can be a bit harder to get into especially if you have not played the game before, but once you do, you'll realize that the game is actually quite simple to play. Of course, "simple to play" doesn't mean "simple to win" though! You will still need to play a ton of matches before you can develop your own unique strategies which you then use to one-up your opponents. There are also single-player challenges for you to hone your Splendor skills!
This digital adaptation of Splendor stayed true to its original cards-and-chips game, but I find it falls a bit short of its full potential, mainly because it doesn't make full use of what the digital world can offer.