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7 Wonders: Architects is a lighter, more family-friendly version of the stone-cold classics that are 7 Wonders and 7 Wonders: Duel. Although we love the challenge and weight of 7 Wonders and the rapid cut and thrust of 7 Wonders Duel, you can't beat seeing your physical wonder grow before your eyes – and it’s here that Architects excels. You assemble your Wonder, piece by piece, scoring the building blocks and thematic bonuses as you go. It's that rare beast, a game we can all play from little miss (8) through to the boss (who does not play games, as a rule – shocking, but true). It is in many ways the most thematic of the 7 Wonders games, and the fact that it can genuinely be played by all ages – and up to 7 players – means it is, in all honesty, our favourite iteration. So how on earth could it be improved? With Medals. As Muttley will tell you, it’s all about the Medals 🏅
NEW WONDERS, REASONABLY PRICED
Medals adds two distinct elements: new Wonders and a new mechanic. In terms of new Wonders, you can now build the Ziggurat of Ur and the iconic Colosseum of Rome. The Colosseum is another quite straightforward build, much like the Pyramid of Giza, with a bit more military in its deck (so still feels Roman); Ur, on the other hand, gives you the opportunity to domesticate cats! Now as anyone knows, Fluffy (yes, the designers named the cat) is the key to success - the cat, as the peak of civilisation, allows you to peek at the top the card decks. Not only that, but domestication is now a Scientific Progress upgrade! Mao indeed.
GOING FOR, GOING FOR GOLD
The other addition is of course the Medals themselves. Medals are placed between the players (much like the card decks) with bonus points available for achieving the printed objective - for example, being the first to have a science, cultural and military progress card out. These common objectives add an extra twist to the game – as well as greatly improving player interaction – as you try to balance grabbing the objectives with your construction efforts; not only that, but the game also introduces Expert mode, where you add a further 2 Medals centrally that anyone can grab. I mean, I say Expert – Advanced is perhaps more accurate, and it’s still totally accessible for all ages, just dialling up the difficulty a smidge. Overall, it's an absolute hoot, and a worthy addition to your collection!
