Author Topic: 7 Wonders: Duel  (Read 4908 times)

Offline danisthirty

  • (not thirSty!)
  • Owner
  • Chatelain Grand-Croix
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 6940
  • Merit: 293
  • "First to 4 points wins?"
    • View Profile
7 Wonders: Duel
« on: January 08, 2016, 06:15:58 AM »
I finally got to play one of my most eagerly-anticipated Christmas presents yesterday evening. The game was 7 Wonders: Duel and I'd been looking forward to playing it since I accidentally discovered it hidden away in a random drawer at home about a month ago. :@

My initial thought was that it seemed very well thought-out although I wasn't convinced by the two alternative ways to win the game (by military or scientific supremacy rather than totalling up victory points at the end of the game). I felt like I could have got a quick win by establishing a big enough army but didn't want to end the game early as it was the first time we'd played it. A scientific win however seemed unlikely at best as you need to build 6 different science symbols in order to win and there are only 7 symbols in total (1 pair of each).

There was a lot that I liked about the game:
  • You don't have a city board like with traditional 7 Wonders. The Wonders you can build are more dynamic since they're chosen at the start of the game and can be selected based on what you think is going to be most useful.
  • You always remove a couple of the cards from each age (and a couple of the guilds in the 3rd age) so that you never know exactly what's going to be available to build during any particular age.
  • Cards are arranged according to a specific pattern that varies with each age. Some cards are face up, others are face down, and you can't construct anything that is still partially covered by another card.
  • The cost of buying resources from the bank increases depending on how many items of that resource your opponent has available to them.
  • Buildings that can be built for free if you've already built a different building in a previous age are much more obviously marked which makes them easy to spot and take advantage of.
Another thing I liked was that you randomly draw 5 of 7 or 8 special scientific tokens which can be claimed whenever a player successfully builds a matching pair of science buildings (the others are discarded). Some of these tokens are more useful than others, but I liked how it was randomised in this way as it was another good example of how they've tried to vary the gameplay and make it as replayable as possible.

If there's one thing I prefer about the original game it's that there's no turn-taking in traditional 7 Wonders. It's always "your" turn just as much as it's everybody else's turn at the same time, and the game can move quite quickly when you're playing with people who have played a few times before. I idled away a fair bit of time during this game while Becky deliberated over what she was going to do with her next turn. I actually got a bit bored at one point as she managed to generate two bonus turns, one after the other, which left me twiddling my thumbs for 5 – 10 minutes. :-\

Overall i really enjoyed the game and I'm looking forward to playing it again, even though things didn't go as well as I would have liked for "Dan-ton Abbey" ::)

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2325.0

Offline mas9dj

  • Nobleman
  • ******
  • Posts: 136
  • Merit: 7
  • I haven't updated my profile yet!
    • View Profile
Re: 7 Wonders: Duel
« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2016, 10:44:28 AM »
I also got it as Christmas present! I have the original which I still like the best but this is a very nice alternative for 2 players with the essence of 7 wonders. It's a decent game and for me it has a worthy place in 2 player games.
Gotta catch 'em all

Offline danisthirty

  • (not thirSty!)
  • Owner
  • Chatelain Grand-Croix
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 6940
  • Merit: 293
  • "First to 4 points wins?"
    • View Profile
Re: 7 Wonders: Duel
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2016, 02:18:06 AM »
A scientific win however seemed unlikely at best as you need to build 6 different science symbols in order to win and there are only 7 symbols in total (1 pair of each).

We played this again last night and, you've guessed it, I won via Scientific Supremacy. It was a good job too as Becky's army was only just outside my capital city! We continued the game until the end of the 3rd age anyway and I won on VP too which made a nice change... 8) :(y)

Offline danisthirty

  • (not thirSty!)
  • Owner
  • Chatelain Grand-Croix
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 6940
  • Merit: 293
  • "First to 4 points wins?"
    • View Profile
Re: 7 Wonders: Duel
« Reply #3 on: January 13, 2016, 02:08:40 PM »
I promise I'll stop going on about this game sometime soon. But Becky and I played again today and I actually remembered to take some photos:


(the end of the game, just after we'd totaled up our points - I narrowly avoided Becky winning via Military Supremacy again :o)


(the final score breakdown - I was supposed to be "New Danshire" but Becky was writing the scores... >:()

It's 2 - 2 in the series now; I think we're going to be needing a new book of scoresheets before the month's out if we keep playing at this rate!
« Last Edit: October 24, 2017, 02:24:28 PM by danisthirty »

Offline Decar

  • Owner
  • Chatelain Grand Officier
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 6719
  • Merit: 317
  • Shut up and take my money!
    • View Profile
    • tehill.net
Re: 7 Wonders: Duel
« Reply #4 on: January 13, 2016, 02:43:45 PM »
Looks like you're breaking into the lead Dan!

Offline Decar

  • Owner
  • Chatelain Grand Officier
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 6719
  • Merit: 317
  • Shut up and take my money!
    • View Profile
    • tehill.net
Re: 7 Wonders: Duel
« Reply #5 on: March 23, 2016, 03:58:48 PM »
We got 7WD to the table/floor this evening.

I was quite nervous, I'd heard good things, watched good videos and was hoping it would live up to expectations.

I started off well, with a glass of wine.  This is an actual glass of wine, nothing to do with the game.

I won't repeat Dan's description of the game, but we both really liked the 3 different Ages.  The first Age is about building your resources, the second your economy and the final your society.  If you've manipulated the cards well during each Age, you'll be able to target cards much easier.

We also really liked, being able to buy trade goods, but if your opponent owns one you have to pay more.  This is a great way of controlling resources in the game.  I also liked how you could use Commercial Building to undercut each other.

I really liked the 2 other win conditions (Military and Science) - This forces you to enter into both camps to prevent your opponent from stomping all over you.  My wife got off to a good lead with Science and twice during the end game, I had to carefully pick cards so she couldn't get her hands of a double science to win the Law Token for 6 types to win the game.  Even down to the last card!

My economy tanked during the start of the game, but picked up mid-2nd Age right up until Jen destroyed my Press.  That late into the game, in the 3rd Age there are no resource generating cards, so I was severely hampered.

Game Length was awesome, it really did only take 30 minutes to play.  I could have probably spent more time carefully picking actions, but the glass of wine was in full effect.  I also think it may be better to draft all 3 ages up front, so you can plan ahead into the future a little more.

Once again, my wife kicked me solid - my track record hasn't been good since I lost Tsuro of the Sea.

My only complaint is that some of the iconography is a little cryptic at times, but I suspect we'll learn this more solidly in a few games.  The handy rulesheet explains most of the iconography clearly, unless you're me and keep failing to read the Japanese one.

So did it live up to expectations? I think so, We're definitely looking forward to our next game; I'm hoping to develop strategies based on what cards are visible, rather than blinding looking 1 or 2 transactions ahead.  Some of the Wonders and some of the Progress counters don't appear that powerful, but I think with a bit more inspection these will be quite well balanced.

Here's our end game:


A question for Dan:  What was the combo for a double free turn?  I thought the Progress 'Architecture' couldn't be used to a Wonder with the game power for an additional Bonus Turn.

Answer:  Ahh if you have a turn, and build a wonder with an extra turn, you could build another wonder with another extra turn and get 3 turns on the trot!?! Amazing!
« Last Edit: March 23, 2016, 04:02:43 PM by Decar »

Offline Decar

  • Owner
  • Chatelain Grand Officier
  • *
  • *
  • Posts: 6719
  • Merit: 317
  • Shut up and take my money!
    • View Profile
    • tehill.net
Re: 7 Wonders: Duel
« Reply #6 on: March 25, 2016, 11:43:35 AM »
I introduced 7WD to my Dad yesterday.  I'm starting to like this game quite a lot.  I've managed to play 5 games with him yesterday and today.  We can't quite decide if it's too random.

During the first game, my Dad went all in on Military, but I was able to beat him back at the end and Win 73 vs 37 points.  He missed a lot of Age 1 resources, which shattered his economy.

The second game, He won a military victory in the 3rd Age, our Age 1 was fairly equal, I was unlucky, because I had a 50:50 chance to discard a tile and reveal another and it was a military, I needed.  I had already successfully avoided defeat using an extra turn.

The third game, was much more balanced and came down to me winning a Civil victory by 4points.

Our Fourth game, I won with a military victory and almost did it at the end of the 2nd Age!  Entering the 3rd age with 1 point left on the military track is not good news at all!  Near the start of the 2nd Age, I received Strategy, which gave me +1 to every Red Card played.  This is a very dangerous card!

Our Fifth game was the closest yet.  By the 3rd Age: I had invested quite well into Science and my Dad: military and the round began with 2 science cards.  I decided to discard one for money - my economy was weak and my father discarded the last.  There was still hope that I could use the Wonder to receive a discarded card for the science I required, but I had to juggle spending or discarding military cards to acquire more gold.  Unfortunately, I was 1 gold short of winning the last science card i needed, avoided the military defeat, but the civil win went to my Dad ~63 to 39.

Juggling unknown cards is very important in this game, in the last game, I had a 50:50 discard at the start of round 3 and I got a military card my Dad could win the game with.  You could argue that I had not invested enough in Military earlier, but that was mainly because my economy was weak from the 1st age.  Sometimes, it's hard to get any resources and it's very difficult to buy, discard or build anything later in the game.

The game teeters on a knife's edge, and after 6 games it's very difficult to judge  if you need to counter your opponent's strategy or strive forward with your own plans or perhaps it is just random and impossible to mitigate.

The games are over pretty quickly though, so it's always tempting to deal out another game and try again.  :(y)


Share via delicious Share via digg Share via facebook Share via furl Share via linkedin Share via myspace Share via reddit Share via stumble Share via technorati Share via twitter

  Subject / Started by Replies / Views Last post
xx
Wonders of Humanity new mini expansion announced

Started by Willem

21 Replies
3726 Views
Last post September 24, 2023, 02:31:09 PM
by Willem
xx
Wonders of Humanity - Clarification by Cundco - 08 03 2024

Started by Meepledrone

4 Replies
267 Views
Last post March 08, 2024, 10:14:04 AM
by Meepledrone
xx
7 Wonders app released today for Android and iPhones

Started by Rich_The_Fish

3 Replies
2387 Views
Last post December 20, 2017, 07:31:19 AM
by glh510
xx
First game involving Wonders of Humanity

Started by BBG

3 Replies
832 Views
Last post November 03, 2023, 07:17:14 AM
by SailingMeeple
xx
7 Wonders

Started by meepleater

52 Replies
19973 Views
Last post July 10, 2017, 12:40:58 AM
by Whaleyland