Tabletop Spotlight: 7 Wonders

Today's spotlight features a game near and dear to my heart: 7 Wonders. I've always had somewhat of a soft spot for historical games, and this one caught my eye immediately when it came out in 2010. At the time, I was pretty new to deckbuilder type games; I had tried playing through Dominion and Ascension, and was starting to see the similarities between the TCG games I knew already and a streamlined card game. I was hooked right away and have since purchased multiple expansions, too!

7 Wonders (by Repos Productions) is a drafting style board game for up to seven players, incorporating a fast-paced game economy into a strategic deck builder with a diverse number of ways to score points. What that translates to is the fact that 7 Wonders is a difficult game to master. A deceptively simple gameplay mechanic- drafting cards (buildings) around the table and creating your own wonder of the world- cleverly hides a game with a ton of ways to score victory points and backstab your neighbors.


Played in three 'ages,' 7 Wonders puts each player in charge of one of the ancient wonders of the world... The pyramids of Giza, the hanging gardens of Babylon, the Colossus of Rhodos, and more! On top of the monumental task of creating these amazing feats of architecture, you must also build a civilization around it, using commerce, military, and domestic buildings to gain you resources and points. While that seems daunting, you aren't alone! Your neighbors are working on their own wonders to complete, and will buy and sell you resources to help you along the way. But watch out! Their military might can grow exponentially and earn them points (and take away yours)!

What I like about this game is that no two games, even with the same group of people, are alike. The vast options of ways to score points, the multiple versions of each wonder you can choose, and the people sitting at the table all dictate how a game will turn out. A lot of the time, I will think I've done okay but end up in last place! The replay value is very high with this one, folks.

On top of everything (this game did win the Spiel de Jahr in 2011), 7 Wonders has been successful enough to churn out a handful of expansions that really add interesting twists and depth to the game as a whole. The "Leaders" expansion added a fourth element to the game: historical leaders to help aid your conquest for glory. Whether it is Alexander the Great's military prowess or Plato's calculating mind, the Leaders expansion adds even more fun to the mix. A second expansion called "Cities" was released early last year, and tosses in more backstabbing fun with the diplomat and thieves card types.

All in all, if you enjoy deck builders, are familiar with games like Magic: the Gathering, or just like a new and interesting board game, give 7 Wonders a shot. I guarantee it will have you (and your gaming friends) playing multiple games into the night!