Tabletop gaming has witnessed fantastic growth in the past few years. In 2023, there are a plethora of games in the world of tabletop vying for players’ attention, but one notable game that has taken over the market by storm is 7 Wonders.
Powered by clever card-drafting gameplay and intrinsic and motivated simultaneous player turns, The 7 Wonders has captured the hearts of many around the world.
Many claim it to be a modern classic already, so, with its popularity not going down at all, if you are a tabletop enthusiast, you should at least give it a chance today.
Don’t know, How to? Don’t we got you covered! In this blog, we will go over everything you need to master the game to equip you with the basic info about rules, aims, and tricks you can utilize to get winning every time.
Things we will guide you through in this guide are core aspects of the game to better understand, like lore, categories and groups, the setup for a perfect duel and nuances of scoring, and how to achieve it so you can have a sweeping victory.
Sounds Good? Let’s start with the beginning!
1. Significance of 7 Wonders in the Tabletop Gaming World
The significance of 7 Wonders comes from what it was able to achieve in the world of tabletop games and entertainment.
It has inspired numerous other tabletop games. This includes Sushi Go and Gloomhaven; its never-ending influence on the gaming landscape has made it a must-know title for everyone.
Fundamentally, the core gameplay of 7 Wonders revolves around setting up strategies with continuous player interaction in a relatively short time frame.
A typical game playtime is around 30 minutes, offering an immersive experience without taking too much time. If we talk about the genre, the 7 Wonder tabletop game falls under the card-drafting and civilization building and maintaining category type of tabletop.
Like most games of this nature, It is a game where the main goal is to collect victory points through various means.
2. The Step-Up Before The Fun
Before even the game begins, there are some setup steps you have to take to complete.
2.1 Preparing Age Cards:
First of all, let’s begin with preparing age cards. These cards are divided into three separate types, all of them based on specific ages. To signify, behind every card, you will find a convenient mark of Roman Numerals. It goes from (I, II, III).
2.2 Customizing and Shuffling:
Next comes dividing the cards; the game is highly adaptable, catering to different player counts, But to ensure balance, it is essential to customize the card stacks based on the number of players.
Once the stacks are set up properly, with age stacks, The next step is to do shuffling. Then, the shuffled cards should be placed in the center of the table, hopefully within the reach of everyone.
2.3 Distribution of Wonder Boards and Coins:
Now, every player receives a random wonder board. All of them should be representing one of the seven wonders.
On top of that, each player will start with three coins placed on the respective wonder boards.
3. Gameplay Rules
3.1 Three Ages and Simultaneous Turns
The 7 Wonders tabletop game is divided into three ages, each consisting of six turns in total.
What makes this tabletop game genuinely unique, compared to games of this nature, is each player takes their turns simultaneously.
The feature of simultaneous turns adds a layer of excitement and the need to improve one’s strategy to ensure a victory continuously. One must plan proper action without knowing what one’s opponents might do.
3.2 Three Stages of Each Turn
There are three stages in each turn.
3.2.1 Choose a Card:
At the start of each age, each player starts with seven cards from the relevant age stalk. From this, a player must select one to keep and place it in a face-down position.
The remaining six cards are then passed to the player on your left.
3.2.2 Play the Card:
Once all the players have chosen their particular card to play the round with and have placed them at the table.
Everybody reveals their particular selection card simultaneously. Now, there are 3 ways it can go down, depending on your choice: one, constructing the building; second, a stage of your wonder. Or third, selling that card for a coin.
3.2.3 Pass Your Cards:
After playing your card in your turn, the next step is to pass the remaining six cards. You do that to your left during Ages I and III or to your right during the age II.
This particular passing mechanism ensures that your decisions affect not only your current strategy but also your opponents.
4. End of the Game and Scoring
The final scoring comes after Age III. After finishing all the turns, this is the point all the players tally their scores together using the provided scoring pad.
How scoring works in 7 Wonder is multifaceted, with points awarded in victory categories:
4.1 Wonder Stages
Each wonder stage completion grants the main victory points.
4.2 Treasury (Coin Sets)
If you have three coins set, it is worth one victory point.
4.3 Military Conflicts (Victory and Defeat Tokens)
Military victories get you points, but they get deducted when you face defeats.
4.4 Blue Cards (Civilian Points)
Players also accumulate victory points from blue civilian cards.
4.5 Yellow Cards (Commercial Points)
Depending on specific criteria, you can also score points from yellow commercial cards.
4.6 Green Cards (Science Points)
Green science cards scoring with identical symbols and sets of different characters.
4.7 Purple Cards (Guild Points)
You need to sum up the victory points from purple guild cards in your city.
5. Determining the Winner and Tie-Breakers
Ultimately, the player with the highest total emerges as the game’s victor. In a tie, the player with the most collected coins takes the victory.
Closing Thoughts
Tabletop gaming is a realm of endless fun and unforgettable quirky moments.
If you are ready to take on the world of 7 wonders, where the path of victory is as varied as the civilization you build, then it is time you join this incredible fun tabletop classic today.
Last Updated on September 27, 2023 by soubhik
