"7 Wonders" is a civilization game by Antoine Bauza which will be released for Essen by the Belgian-Mexicans of Repos Production. Its strengths, for a civ' game, is to be a card game, to be played in about half an hour and to be perfectly playable by 3 to 7 players. As for the illustrations by Miguel Coimbra, they are far from being a negative point.
The game is based on the draft principle. Each player has seven cards. He chooses one and passes the others to his neighbour. He therefore collects six, takes a second and passes the package, etc. An essential point is that each time, the chosen card is played before looking at the new deck of cards that arrives.
Players will collect six cards and discard a final one. Then we start again with new cards by changing direction with seven new cards then a third time and the game is over. Simple. Depending on the number of players around the table, it is possible for the same pack of cards to pass through the hands of a player several times.
The principle of the draft allows you to develop strategies based on the cards you receive and the cards chosen by your neighbors.
To constantly adapt. If a player embarks on the military, he will probably have to get some too to avoid heavy defeats. It will not be necessary to pass too many Science cards On the other hand, it will be seen to pass good cards which require resources that the other player does not have and which he will have to pay at a high price. Anyway, each "pick" (the choice of a card) will often be the subject of a dilemma.
"7 Wonders" is played in three periods which therefore correspond to the three drafts. At each, players have cards that are more expensive and more powerful. These famous cards are of several types.
There are military maps, resources, monuments, science, trade, and in the third period, powerful guilds. All of these cards have their own benefits. Resources bring in resources (!), the soldier allows you to gain (or lose) points compared to his direct neighbours, monuments are a direct source of victory points, sciences are also a source of victory points but he It takes quite a bit for them to take on their full power, trade allows you to have discounts on resources and guilds are a source of variable victory points.
Most cards have a cost in resources (wood, brick, stone, glass, fabric...) which can range from nothing (in the first period) up to five or six resources. Each civilization initially produces one type of resource and can acquire others during the first two periods. However, this is rarely enough, but it is also possible to buy resources from its two direct neighbors but from them alone. Impossible to go and take it from a player located further away.
It is therefore not necessarily useful to place a resource card if the neighbor already produces what is necessary. This is also where trade cards take on their full value since they allow, among other things, to obtain discounts to the great dismay of one's neighbours. Some cards give freebies for other cards in the next period. This forms a veritable tree of knowledge, as in any good self-respecting civilization game.
A card can therefore be "built" by paying its construction cost. It can also be used to erect its wonder by paying a specific cost. The wonder is also an important source of victory points and special bonuses. Finally, a useless card (or one that you don't want to leave with an opponent) can also be exchanged for gold.
At the end of each period, the players go to war and this can earn or lose victory points. The war, as for the trade, is done only with its two direct neighbors. The other sources of victory points are counted at the end of the game.
The fact of having to directly manage only its neighbors allows the game to keep its fluidity when there are six or seven players. Of course, with experience, you will have to take a look at the cards played by others, if only to see what has come out and what can still reach you.
