February is 7 Wonders Month – Find out what makes this such a classic series!

With the excitement of Christmas long behind us and the chilly darkness of Winter still in full swing, February can feel something of a dower month at times. That said, as we look for the positives — like the fact that spring is just around the corner — there’s still plenty of long, dark nights on which to play your favourite board games. One such game — and in particular one that rewards repeat plays — is 7 Wonders, and this February, we’ve partnered with Asmodee UK to celebrate 7 Wonders throughout the whole month of February.

Personally, I love 7 Wonders and I own all three variants of it, but I’ve never yet experienced any of the many expansions available for both 7 Wonders and the two-player specific variant, 7 Wonders Duel. Over the course of February, I’ll be getting to grips with some of these expansions and I can’t wait to add new leaders, Gods, armadas and much more to my game.

Perhaps even more excitingly, Repos Productions will be releasing a brand new expansion for 7 Wonders in the first week of February — and this one will be entirely unique. In 7 Wonders Edifice players will set aside their differences to build unique edifice structures during each of the three ages of the game. Anyone contributing to an edifice will be rewarded, but those who don’t will suffer a penalty. The twist here is that an edifice needs to be erected by the number of players in the game minus one, which means someone will always miss out… To say that I am excited about the brutal simplicity of 7 Wonders Edifice is perhaps the understatement of the century!

Whether you are an experienced gamer or not, there’s a product in the 7 Wonders line for everyone, and we’re reliably informed that you’ll be able to pick up games and expansions in the range during February at heavily discounted rates. Local game stores will be free to offer various bundles and incentives, so there’s never been a better time to jump into this legendary series than now… But what if you’ve never heard of 7 Wonders? Don’t fear, we’re going to walk you through each of the products now, and we will be adding links to content for each expansion as we add them.

For the experienced hobby gamer — 7 Wonders (now in its Second Edition guise): 

7 Wonders is the quintessential drafting game, in which three to seven players take turns to choose cards and then play them to either advance their city, construct their wonder, or receive gold. Games take around an hour regardless of player count, and with four expansions either available or upcoming, there’s a lot of lasting content here.

We wrote “Every game of 7 Wonders gives players enough scope and decision making power to make them feel clever, whilst injecting just enough luck (based on the cards you’re dealt) to disrupt any “go to” strategies. ” in our review of 7 Wonders Second Edition.

For those who play head-to-head often — 7 Wonders Duel: 

For all its strengths, 7 Wonders is not playable with fewer than three players — at least not without a fan-made ruleset. Thankfully, 7 Wonders Duel exists specifically to fill the extremely important two-player void. 7 Wonders Duel is very similar in terms of gameplay and victory conditions as the original game, but the draft is replaced by an unusual and thematic mechanism that has players drawing cards from a predefined pattern on the table. Some cards will be visible at all times whilst others may be covered, and only revealed when those on top are taken — so there’s tension about taking a card you really need when it might reveal a new card that your opponent really wants. 

We concluded “If you’re likely to have the option to play with just one other person on even an infrequent basis and you have an interest in the classical setting, you just need to buy 7 Wonders Duel —there’s nothing else to say!” in our 7 Wonders Duel review back in 2020.

For the younger players, or those starting their board game journey — 7 Wonders Architects:

7 Wonders Architects uses some of the same themes and ideas as the original 7 Wonders (including the building of wonders, war and peace and collaboration between players) but it replaces the drafting mechanic with a simpler decision between three available cards each turn. Tableau building is simpler and less prominent, and the focus is very much on the wonders themselves — which are more tactile in this version. A cartoonish (rather than classic) art style is the icing on the cake for younger players, and 7 Wonders Architects is a true gateway game for the whole family.

We reflected ” I think 7 Wonders: Architects is likely to be the gateway game to play this Christmas, and there is a chance it will edge the original game off the table in some situations around my house. I know for sure that it has two massive fans in my children, and I’m expecting a lot of people that I play with regularly to want to see it on the table as a warm up or cool down game.” back in our 7 Wonders Architects review.

Hopefully, you now have all the insight you need into which version of 7 Wonders is right for you and your group, but don’t forget that in most cases, your friendly local game store will be more than happy to show you a few turns of any of these games. You can find your nearest store by using the Asmodee Store Locator. 
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