7 Wonders Duel Review
7 Wonders Duel Review
7 Wonders is one of the classic board games that helped raise the hobby to new heights. He has consistently maintained a high spot on the “Must Play Lists” of many players and on our list of Best Cheap Board Games . It is also one of the first stops on the path of board game players to increasingly complex games.
It's a great transition game that presents so many wonderful concepts and mechanics to new players. No wonder it can be found on many shelves with board games and in tons of cafes with board games.
- For 3 to 7 players
- 30 minute playing time
- Great strategy game
The only real problem ...
It’s hard to find enough players with the same schedule to actually sit down and play.
Here comes 7 Wonders: Duel. This version takes on the theme and many familiar mechanics from the original and condenses it all into a fast and fun two-player card game .
- STRATEGIC GAME: Experience an intense battle for two players for ...
- TAKE YOUR CIVILIZATION: Decide to invest in science, ...
- CIVILIZATION IS BORN FROM EVOLUTION: one match 7 Wonders Duel ...
A brief overview of the duel of 7 wonders
7 Wonders: Duel is a 2-player card game version of 7 Wonders.
Each player controls the development of the rival city and must try to build and progress his city faster than his opponent.
In 7 Wonders: The duel will feature maps, prepared and placed in front of you, representing buildings, technology and military power. It is a very simplified civilization game that still gives players 4x (E x plore, E x pand, E x ploit and E x terminate) in a very compact package.
7 Wonders: The duel was awarded dozens of Awards , including many Golden Geek, Meeples' Choice, International Gamers and Swiss Gamers nominations, as well as awards. He was also awarded the "2016 Kennerspiel des Jahres Recommended" prize, a category of more complex games, which roughly translates as "Game of the Year connoisseur / enthusiast".
Variations and extensions
7 Wonders (original game)
You are the leader of one of the 7 great cities of the ancient world. Gather resources, develop commercial routes, and assert your military superiority. Build your city and set up an architectural marvel that will transcend future times.
This groundbreaking card-building city-building game has become a basic desktop game since 2010 and a great game for new players. With dozens of coveted prizes won for board games, 7 Wonders has become an instant classic that has continued its legacy with numerous expansions and splits.
7 Wonders is a tour de force in the universe of board games. From amazing artwork, tight mechanics and appealing themes to cheap price and the ability to play well with a high number of players , this game will continue to impress in the years to come.
- For 3 to 7 players
- 30 minute playing time
- Great strategy game
Duel of 7 Wonders: Pantheon (extension)
This extension adds to the complexity of 7 Wonders: Duel by adding the power of the gods to the mix. Ancient pantheons now help you with civilization goals and lend your abilities to each side.
But the gods do not work for free. In the first two age periods, you will have to court the gods: worship by collecting mythology and offering tokens before activating their powers at age III. Then you can also build temples to your deities and thus earn even more winning points for your civilization.
Choose from five ancient pantheons of gods:
- Greek gods will help develop your city.
- Roman gods will give their power to your armies.
- Egyptian gods will influence the building of miracles.
- Mesopotamian gods will help your scientific discoveries.
- Phoenician gods will help replenish the treasury of your city.
This extension also includes two new miracles you can build: a sanctuary (which further strengthens you and allows you to summon deities at a reduced price) and a divine theater (which gives points and access to additional gods).
How can you perish with the gods around you?
- THIS IS AN EXTENSION OF THE IMAGINARY GAME 7 WONDERS DUEL: You will need "7 ...
- STRATEGIC GAME: Experience an intense battle for two players for ...
- NEW COMPONENTS: This extension for 7 Wonders Duel adds new ...
Unpacking 7 Wonders: A Duel
I really like the box and the layout of 7 Wonders: Duel. There are a few gaming companies that will throw a few components into an oversized box due to retail, but Duel actually comes in a perfectly large box. The cards and boards fit the box very easily and everything looks really well done.
The card artwork and instruction booklet are wonderful. The board is small but functional, and the presence of the game on the table is improved by placing cards.
Overall, I can’t really blame anything on the production value. Mostly it’s a card game, so quality cards and artwork are a must, 7 Wonders: Duel brings.
Components:
• 1 playing board
• 23 cards I age
• Cards for age II
• Cards 20 age III
• 7 guild cards
• 12 beautiful cards
• 4 military tokens
• 10 tokens of progress
• 1 Conflict Pawn Stars
• 31 coins (14 value 1, 10 value 3) and 7 value 6)
• 1 book of results
• 1 Rules
• 1 assistant
How to play 7 Wonders Duel
7 wonders: the duel is played over a period of 3 years. These are basically three rounds of play. As players move through the ages, the level of scientific technology, available buildings, and resources increases.
It is similar in style to the original 7 wonders, so if you know the original, many concepts will be easy to pick up.
Setting: Card samples
Each age is set on the table in a different pattern. The cards are shuffled and placed in a pyramidal or diamond pattern. The first two periods will be the pyramids (right side up or head down), and the third period will be the diamond. Everything is described in detail in the instruction booklet.
Some lines of cards start face up and others face down. You will only be able to buy / select those at the lower ends of the card layout. This adds a bit of planning and randomness to the game by looking at the available maps.
At the beginning of the game, each player draws four (4) beautiful cards that they can draw during the game. There are a total of ten (10) wonders, with eight (8) wonders used in the game, but as the game title suggests, only seven (7) wonders will be built during any game.
Historian Kendra's note: The original 7 wonders of the ancient world are: (1) The Great Pyramid of Giza, (2) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, (3) The Lighthouse of Alexandria, (4) The Colossus of Rhodes, (5) The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, (6) ) The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus and (7) The Statue of Zeus at Olympia.]
Color coded cards
Now that we have the layout of the maps, let’s take a look at the maps and see what they actually do.
There are 7 different color cards available.
All cards are color-coded to represent different types of enhancements built in your city. They start basic and as your technology evolves over the centuries, your city will gain access to more advanced buildings.
Brown: These are your basic sources. They will give you things like wood or stone that you can use to build more structures in your city. For example, you’ll find many low-tech facilities, such as woodsheds or quarries, that literally become building blocks for future expansions in your city. Everyone has to start somewhere, right?
Gray: All gray cards are industrial goods. It can be a glassworks that produces bottles. Treat manufactured goods as a second-class source. Basic things from brown maps (basic resources) will allow you to build the essentials in your city, and gray maps will allow you to buy specialized buildings.
Blue: These are civilian buildings. It's nice to see them. They may be a bit expensive, but they are worth winning points. If you have the resources, grabbing some of these cards is never a bad idea.
Green: Green represents your science / technology. When you buy a green card, you will receive a corresponding scientific token on the card. This is one way to win the game, with the added bonus that green cards are also worth winning points. Watch your opponent's technical level, because if they go too far ahead, you will lose.
yellow: Yellow cards are considered office buildings and just as the economy is diverse, so are yellow cards. They do everything little by little. Some tickets can be cheap, allocate funds, give money, and may even be worth winning points. There are many different strategic elements that each card can add to your game, so make sure you pick the ones that matter to you, or focus on giving your opponent a particularly good advantage if you watch out for yellow cards. .
Red: Not surprisingly, red cards are buildings that increase your military strength. Your military power represents your place on the military committee. It’s a tug-of-war battle as players increase their military power to push a conflicting farmer on board toward an opponent’s place. One of the three ways to win the game is to eradicate your opponent’s city by pushing the conflicting farmer across the board and into your opponent’s city. Red military cards are something you can’t ignore. At ages I and II, you will need to take some military IDs or risk exceeding it.
Purple: The final type of card you will encounter is guilds. They are worth winning points, but they could be worth quite a lot of winning points, depending on the player. Each guild card has a certain set of criteria. Age III is the only place where you will find guild maps. When you reach Age III, you will also notice that all the brown and gray cards are missing. They were replaced by guilds that will prepare you for scoring at the end.
Rotate the sequence
For each move, you will select a card in a pyramid / diamond pile and must use it. How you use it is up to you.
The game can be played by paying the cost of resources on the card. Some cards cost nothing, so you can easily pick them up and play in your city.
Players can discard the card and receive 2 coins plus 1 extra coin for each yellow card built in their place.
The last option is to use it to work a miracle. Players will place a card under the Wonder they want to build and pay the cost of the Wonder. The selected map has no effect on Wonder. It is only used to record turns and prove that Wonder is built.
Players take turns choosing cards and actions until all the cards of the current era have disappeared. The player with the weakest army can choose who will be first in the next era.
He wins and the game is over
The game can end in three ways: including a regular final game and two special situations.
Special Military Victory: If a player ever manages to push his army to the end, he will actually destroy his competing position to win.
Special technological victory: The second condition for immediate victory is with the help of science / technology. If a player manages to capture 6 of the 7 different tokens of progress, he is considered to have surpassed the technological competitor to an unattainable point.
Regular final game: The most common end of the game is after the third age. After playing Age III, the game ends automatically. The players then add up their points and the player with the most winning points wins. Earn points by building buildings, marvels, military points, and maps you place in your city.
From there, only a quick sum of points follows and the winner can boast of his superiority. After all, it’s a duel.
Your first game of duel 7 wonders
You need to set up the game first.
It may seem like a logical move to set all three eras before the game, but that gives a lot of key information about the upcoming Ages before you even get there. It made more sense to me to make all the pyramids / diamonds in advance, but if you do, you run the risk of trying to expand with certain cards. It’s a little hard to stop playing between rounds to set up new pyramids / diamonds, but once you get used to the layout, it goes pretty fast. This is just my weird pet.
The actual board in 7 Wonders: The duel only works as a tracker of military power and keeps coins for science / technology. Note that each time you gain military power, you immediately move the dispute token on the board towards the opponent's place. This is not done at the end of the round, it happens right away. I messed this up the first time I played and it got a little weird when it came time for the final scoring.
Usually, the game ends at the end of the 1st period, but that doesn’t mean you can neglect military or technological paths. If nothing else, you will need to maintain a similar military strength to constantly push back so that your city is not overrun. If you see that your opponent only needs one more technological token to win, you will know that you cannot allow him to get the last one. Your priority should be to block yourself as much as possible.
Advantages disadvantages
Advantages:
- Beautiful works of art and theme
- Specially designed for 2 players
- It plays quickly
Very rarely do we find solids A five-player game that seems like a big game. Sometimes you just can’t wait for the game night to gather a large group and you really want something to play. The fact that there are 7 wonders: A duel specifically designed for two players is a big win in my book. Sometimes you can only play your favorite games with two players, but the game and experience are at stake. You need to change the rules or look online for fan-created versions so you can only play the game with two players.
Another one of my favorites is when the games are advertised as two players, only to open the box and find that the two player version is the shell of the original. 2 wonders: a duel fills that gap on my game shelf.
Weaknesses:
- Setup complete
The only thing that really irritates me is the card pyramid. It’s not really such a big deal, but it seems to me that setting it up always slows down the game. It seems to me that I have to go back to the setup three times throughout the game. I’m not sure how to fix this other than installing the cards all at once in the beginning. The whole set-up initially gives players a little bit of knowledge they shouldn’t, but I do it anyway because it’s just faster.
7 Wonders: A Review of Duels (TL; DR)
7 Wonders: The duel is not 7 Wonders.
They both use similar terms and themes, but are generally very different games. 7 Wonders: The duel was designed specifically for 2 players but somehow it still feels like a great experience.
It can be played in about 30-45 minutes, but setting up map pyramids can be a little tricky to set up.
Players will put together cards representing the two places of rivals. The goal of the game is to defeat the opponent technologically, militarily and with the most winning points throughout the game.
7 Wonders: A duel is played in three rounds called Ages. As we age, the technologies available and the complexity of the maps increase.
Conclusion: a verdict?
7 Wonders: A duel is no substitute for 7 Wonders.
Mechanics and basic games are different, despite many similarities. They have a common theme and aesthetics in common ... but that's it.
That's not a bad thing. The original 7 Wonders has a version that is played with only two players, but that's just it: the version. Many rules need to be thoroughly changed in order to play the game.
7 Wonders: The duel is not exactly the same as the original, but like the Five Player Game , it is much better. If you ever find yourself in a position with only two players (which I often do), this is a better overall gaming experience. It is designed and balanced specifically for that two-player experience that is commonly conceived in many board games.
There are many games that claim to bring a two-player board game , only to discard half the rules. It’s one of my favorites about the usual board game design, so I’m very excited to see a completely separate game that focuses on a two-player experience that still brings a sense of great epic play.
- STRATEGIC GAME: Experience an intense battle for two players for ...
- TAKE YOUR CIVILIZATION: Decide to invest in science, ...
- CIVILIZATION IS BORN FROM EVOLUTION: one match 7 Wonders Duel ...
We hope you enjoyed our review of 7 Wonders: Duel! Have you ever played 7 Wonders: Duel or Original? We want to hear what you think. Drop a comment below and let us know!
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