7 Wonders

Some friends of ours were visiting from Philadelphia this weekend, and they gave us a belated Christmas present in the form of a new game: 7 Wonders.  First published in 2010, 7 Wonders is a strategy card game, where two to seven players work through three decks of cards (for three "ages") and accumulate played cards in a tableaux which provide some benefits during the game, and victory points at the conclusion.  Each player may build an assigned world wonder, which will give either additional victory points or some sort of mechanical bonus, such as resources or free building.

We played four games, two with three players, and two with four, depending on the needs for childcare, and had a great time.  The game plays fairly quickly, with our games taking around 45 minutes to complete (including the scoring round, which can be complicated!)  Players are dealt seven cards, select one to play per turn, and then pass the rest of the cards to the left or right depending on the round. Cards may be paid for with resources, or placed for free depending on their cost section, and then either provide victory points directly, or provide some sort of benefit.  As is common in Euro styled games, none of the cards are played "against" the other players, but you do have to keep track of their various bonus schemes and resources as the game progresses.  Military cards merely provide military points, and then once per "age" your score is compared to your neighbors and you get victory points if you have a higher score than they do.

The game was fun, and fairly fast, and I recommend it. As an added bonus I see that there are currently two expansions (leaders and cities), and another is coming out soon, so should we get tired of the basic set, there are more options out there to keep it fresh.