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7 Wonders: Duel
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Given its title, 7 Wonders: Duel will come as no surprise to you being a two-player game. This is not an expansion or variant of its popular parent game 7 Wonders (also published by Repos Production), but instead a separate card game all on its own, specifically designed for just you and one other opponent to battle it out to construct man-made wonders of the world.
7 Wonders: Duel does not rely on all players drafting a card and then passing their hand over to their neighbour. Instead, Antoine Bauza has teamed up with fellow French designer Bruno Cathala to create a different way of gaining cards for set collection that’s equally enthralling, if not more so.
Again, 7 Wonders: Duel is played over three rounds. Cards are pre-arranged into a communal pyramid-like display, partially covering each other. The majority of them are face-down, while the lowest level ones are face-up. The categories will be familiar to those who have played 7 Wonders (green science cards, brown/grey resources, red military, and so on). Players may take any card they like from the pyramid to add to their own tableau – but only if it is completely uncovered.
As cards are removed, more cards’ identities are revealed. Therefore, it becomes a case of timing your moves to perfection, trying to force your opponent into removing cards that then allow you to grab the exact card you want!
Unlike regular 7 Wonders, in Duel players can win before the third round has ended. A player could earn a military victory by getting the military pawn to the end of the conflict track (kind of similar to the swing in power that you find in games like Twilight Struggle). Alternatively, they could earn a science victory by collecting each of the six different science symbols. Therefore you’ll have to keep a close eye on what your opponent is taking – you can’t afford to let them get too far ahead! If neither of these victory conditions is met by the end of the third round, then sets are scored to determine a winner.
For some board gamers, player counts can really make or break a game. If you love 7 Wonders but you’re in a position where you play a lot of games with just you and a partner, then 7 Wonders Duel is going to be a great choice for you. With rounds lasting approximately 10 minutes each, games can last about 30 minutes in total. And, considering its high replayability factor, it fits beautifully into that category of ‘go on then, one more game…’
Player Count: 2 players
Time: 10 minutes
Age Rating: 10+
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Description
Given its title, 7 Wonders: Duel will come as no surprise to you being a two-player game. This is not an expansion or variant of its popular parent game 7 Wonders (also published by Repos Production), but instead a separate card game all on its own, specifically designed for just you and one other opponent to battle it out to construct man-made wonders of the world.
7 Wonders: Duel does not rely on all players drafting a card and then passing their hand over to their neighbour. Instead, Antoine Bauza has teamed up with fellow French designer Bruno Cathala to create a different way of gaining cards for set collection that’s equally enthralling, if not more so.
Again, 7 Wonders: Duel is played over three rounds. Cards are pre-arranged into a communal pyramid-like display, partially covering each other. The majority of them are face-down, while the lowest level ones are face-up. The categories will be familiar to those who have played 7 Wonders (green science cards, brown/grey resources, red military, and so on). Players may take any card they like from the pyramid to add to their own tableau – but only if it is completely uncovered.
As cards are removed, more cards’ identities are revealed. Therefore, it becomes a case of timing your moves to perfection, trying to force your opponent into removing cards that then allow you to grab the exact card you want!
Unlike regular 7 Wonders, in Duel players can win before the third round has ended. A player could earn a military victory by getting the military pawn to the end of the conflict track (kind of similar to the swing in power that you find in games like Twilight Struggle). Alternatively, they could earn a science victory by collecting each of the six different science symbols. Therefore you’ll have to keep a close eye on what your opponent is taking – you can’t afford to let them get too far ahead! If neither of these victory conditions is met by the end of the third round, then sets are scored to determine a winner.
For some board gamers, player counts can really make or break a game. If you love 7 Wonders but you’re in a position where you play a lot of games with just you and a partner, then 7 Wonders Duel is going to be a great choice for you. With rounds lasting approximately 10 minutes each, games can last about 30 minutes in total. And, considering its high replayability factor, it fits beautifully into that category of ‘go on then, one more game…’
Player Count: 2
Time: 10 minutes
Age Rating: 10+
7 Wonders Duel takes you back 3,000 odd years or so, to once again rule over an empire in this tricky, thought-provoking, and ultimately brilliant riff on its big brother; 7 Wonders. If you have never played 7 Wonders don’t panic, as these games are very different. Just clearly related.
If you’ve played 7 Wonders, whether love it or hate it, this game is worth investigating. With a relatively small footprint and gameplay of under an hour, it is great for couples, lunch breaks, or just as a cracking head-to-head game.
7 Wonders Duel – The Game
After selecting four of the available wonders each (yes that does mean there will be eight of them in total, but only seven can be built) and your starting coins, you will select one of the available cards from the pyramid style display. Add it to your civilisation, paying any costs associated, and gain its benefits/resources.
There are three ages to the game, wherein each subsequent Age the range of resources changes and evolves, advancing your civilisation forward. The game will come to a natural close at the end of the Third Age, where all points are calculated and a winner is declared.
Alternatively, victory can be achieved through a ‘Scientific’ channel – collecting six of the seven possible scientific icons, or via the ‘Military’ route, whereby you crush your opponent beneath sandal shod foot. These latter two are much harder to achieve – but believe me, it feels really, really good when you do.
In-Play
A central feature of 7 Wonders Duel, and one that makes the game look very different from many, is the table layout of the cards for each of the Ages.
Not only does it look cool, and it is also pretty thematic, but it provides great assimilation of the drafting mechanic used in 7 Wonders. This time for two players. It is far, far better than the two-player mode that exists in that game.
From this very simple set-up, each player is beset by an array of choices and consequences. With about 50% open information, since roughly half of the cards are placed face down, the questions of what to take and what to leave behind, what to open, or leave for your opponent to open form your basic, yet difficult choices that must be made each turn.
When playing 7 Wonders Duel there is a definite sense of flow, with the game’s pace charging ahead as the Ages fall, as your civilisation becomes more coherent and more structured, choices become more clear, but never simpler. Ways and means of blocking your opponent become more recognisable, but ultimately more costly if they don’t also benefit you.
If you fall into the category of a “Classic Gamer,” one who likes strategically planning ahead, second-guessing your opponent and basically planning your victory from four or five moves away, 7 Wonders Duel will be right up your street. With a nice flourish – in that every now and then a revealed card scuppers even your best-laid plan. On the flip side of this though, if you are prone to Analysis Paralysis, this game can feel a little daunting at times.
Players already familiar with 7 Wonders will feel right at home playing this game, coming armed to the table with an understanding of how the tableau and resource building works. There is a significant change in the way Commerce, Science and Military are handled, but not so much so to create a barrier.
New players to this canon will quickly be able to make sense of the rule book, which provides plenty of example plays for the more ‘complex’ rules. The rule book isn’t the most concise, and looking for rule clarity and reminders isn’t always as straightforward as one would like – I always forget how many coins you start with during set up, and I also forget I have to go to page six to find out.
Of particular note is the iconography. Particularly on some of the Science tokens, Guides and Wonders. Once you know what they mean, the symbols do “make sense.” But that meaning doesn’t spring forth, so early games can become slowed while you look them up.
With an almost perfect and useful box insert, quality components including the nifty military tracker, Repos Productions have done exactly what you would expect of a major game distributor.
There are no ‘Take That’ actions you can make in this game, and no way you can directly stop or hamper your opponent other than removing or limiting their options (a couple of the Wonders do allow you to destroy one of your opponent’s resources). Military actions do provide a little back and forth, but never enough that you ever feel like you are focusing solely on that aspect of the game. And certainly not enough to spoil anyone’s enjoyment.
All the player interaction happens above the table; one player out-smarting, out-manoeuvring and out-playing the other. The tit-for-tat of selecting the card you know your opponent needs soon becomes too costly, and so as the game progresses so too must a player’s ability to plan and strategise.
Final Thoughts
After a game of 7 Wonders Duel, I feel compelled to play it again, and again. Throughout each game, there is a palpable competition and conflict far more than one would expect from such a small and compact box. Some iconography feels obtuse, and the cards are a little too small for me to be able to comfortably shuffle, but really these are the only bad points about the game… in fact, I wish I could play more multiplayer versions of Duel.
7 Wonders Duel plays in under an hour and is a great two-player game with enough depth, strategy and variation to ensure each game will feel and play differently. It also looks both interesting and beautiful on the table.
7 Wonders Duel really does feel like it pits you head-to-head, in an all-out rivalry against your opponent. In a way that many larger games just don’t seem to capture. I strongly believe everybody needs a solid two-player game in their collection, and you can’t go wrong with this game at all.
If you like 7 Wonders Duel, there is also the expansion 7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon. You can see a separate review of the expansion here.
Editors note: This blog was originally published on August 11th, 2017. Updated on October 7th, 2021 to improve the information available.
In 7 Wonders Duel, two rival civilizations will battle to build the best and most magnificent city over the course of three ages. Each player will have to muster enough resources and wealth in order to increase their military power, achieve scientific improvements, and build Wonders. Wonders come with special rewards that may change the course of a game.
This is a strategic ancient city building game with card drafting and set collection as the basic mechanics. Different from its bigger brother and predecessor 7 Wonders, here rivals will be drawing cards from a pool of face-up and face-down arrangements for every one of the three different Ages.
Components
7 Wonders Duel comes with a small board, which you’ll use to track your military power and house progress tokens. You’ll be using a conflict pawn to keep track of that and military tokens to mark how far have you’ve gone in case you are eventually pushed back.
There are two sets of cards. The bigger set of cards is composed of Wonders. The smaller set has all the other buildings you can construct. The decks are divided by eras (I, II, and III) and there is also a deck for guild cards. Buildings are divided by colours so you can easily spot them while you augment your city: raw materials buildings (brown), manufactured goods (grey), civilian (blue), scientific (green), commercial (yellow), military (red), and guilds (purple). Last but not least, you have coins to buy resources and pay building costs.
How To Win In 7 Wonders Duel
There are three ways of winning the game: military, science, or civilian victories. The first two options will grant you an instantaneous victory stopping the game on spot. In case duelling players don’t manage to do that, you’ll be counting victory points (VPs) collected throughout the game. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
- Military Victory – The player that manages to push the conflict pawn on the board all the way into its adversary’s capital wins. To do this you build military structures. Every red card comes with one to three shields, and when you play these cards you advance your pawn toward the enemy capital.
- Science Victory – To achieve a science victory a player should collect six different scientific symbols out of the seven available. Each green card comes with a single scientific symbol.
- Civilian Victory – A civilian victory is a points victory when all the cards have been drafted. There are seven ways you can gather points. Blue and green cards will win you VPs, and some yellow and Wonder cards, as well as progress tokens, will do the same. All guilds have conditional VPs. You will also get points for your position on the military power board, and finally by exchanging every set of three coins for one VP once the game is over.
Set-Up
Place the board between the two players. Make room for your wonders and building cards you will be drafting. Place the four military tokens on top of the five and 10 VP spaces and put the pawn right in the middle of the board. You should also randomly choose five progress tokens and place them on the board.
Next, place the first set of four Wonders in front of you. The first player chooses one Wonder, followed by a choice of two Wonders by the second player. Whatever is left goes to the first player. Do this a second time changing who picks first. Once you’re done, place Wonders next to your capital on the board.
If this is your first game, forget about that rule and make sure one player will get: Pyramids, Great Lighthouse, Temple of Artemis, and Statue of Zeus, whilst the other should get Circus Maximus, Piraeus, Appian Way, and Colossus.
To organise your cards, get the Age I deck. There are iconographic depictions of how you should set up the pool of cards for each age. Always discard three cards before starting to build your pool. This will add an element of chance and enhance the game’s replayability.
As you advance through the ages (when cards run out) you will repeat this by following the different settings for the pool of cards, depicted on the manual and quick reference guides. On Age III, add three guild cards to your deck after discarding and before assembling your pool.
Game Turns
In each turn you’ll be able to perform one out of three actions: constructing buildings, discarding cards to obtain coins, and constructing wonders:
- Constructing Buildings -Some cards have no cost and you will be able to place them for free. Those are resource cards. Some cards will have resource costs that can be paid through buildings that grant you resources. Alternatively, you may buy resources from the bank. Some cards will have cost in coins or a cost in both coins and resources. You may also build for free through chains (more on this below).
- Buying Resources – Resources can be bought for two coins, plus one coin for each of the same resource your opponent has from brown or grey cards. Resources produced by the opponent’s yellow and Wonder cards will not count for costing purposes.
- Chain – Some buildings come with chain symbols like masks, books, and suns. Once you have a building with one of those symbols you may have the option of building a structure for free instead of paying its resource/coin cost.
- Discarding – If you’re out of coins you may choose to draw a card and discard it for two coins, plus one coin for every yellow building you possess.
- Wonders – To construct a Wonder you will have to draw any card out of the pool and put it face down under your Wonder, on top of paying its cost. Remember, although each player has four wonder cards, this game is called 7 Wonders for a reason. Only seven Wonders can be built throughout the course of the game, so you’ll be in a race to build that fourth Wonder before your opponent does it in front of you.
On Science and Progress
Instead of collecting six green cards with different icons to achieve a science victory, you can also collect two green cards with the same icon to get one progress token out of the five available on the board. They come with a variety of benefits such as earning coins, VPs, altering costs of future builds, or even changing some features in specific cards.
Tips And Tricks
7 Wonders Duel is a fast-paced strategy game with very little downtime. You’ll be constantly monitoring your foe’s science and military while making sure he won’t grab a hold of resources needed to build his wonders. All of this whilst counting the VPs and not losing track of your own strategy.
As much as you may like to play the game in a specific way, most times being flexible will pay off. Over the course of a game, you will have to change your plans quite a few times according to the pool you’ve been dealt and how your opponent will lay down his game plan. Here are a few things to keep in mind while you strategise:
The Eras
As you change Eras, cards will come with better benefits and higher costs. Considering Age III has no resource cards, you should focus on acquiring resources during Age I and II in order to build your wonders and other structures. The majority and most valuable blue cards are on Ages II and III and those are a good source of VPs. Age III is when you can access guild cards which will mostly give you coins and victory points.
As you can see Age III is all about collecting VPs, so be sure to get there in a position to fight for them. Don’t pay attention too much to the military during Age I. Try to keep it balanced through Age II, unless you’re going for a military victory, and be very watchful of Age III when military buildings easily turn the course of a game and force you to abandon your strategy.
Wonders
Be smart when choosing your Wonders. A nice selection of Wonders should grant you a decent amount of victory points. Try getting two Wonders that grant you extra turns. That’s the single most powerful feature of any Wonder. Also, try getting a Wonder that grants you a choice of resources. Some special powers are very interesting to have but, whatever you do, don’t focus on military power at this point.
Chains
One strategy is going for buildings with chain symbols instead of resources. By doing so you’d be free to pursue a science or military strategy, adding pressure on your adversary. This is great, especially against adversaries that are not really good out of their comfort zones, and helps you be in charge of the game. This may also help you with guilds that reward VPs for the majority of cards of a specific colour. More than half of games will be decided by VPs.
Yellow Cards
Don’t forget to build a couple of yellow buildings as soon as you can. This way, if you ever need to discard a card for coins, you will get a lot more out of your action.
Discarding
Try not to waste a turn just to get some coins unless you’re really desperate. It’s better to do it when you want to keep your opponent from getting a specific card. You can also do this when building your Wonder, by choosing a card your adversary may find interesting to have in their city.
Card Picking
Try not to pick a card that, when removed, will reveal other cards on the pool. This gives more options to your opponent. Since you have no idea what’s coming up, this may be a really bad move for you.
Don’t forget to read our review of 7 Wonders: Duel… and check out the Pantheon Expansion!
Editors note: This blog was originally published on April 19th, 2018. Updated on April 13th, 2022 to improve the information available.
Zatu Score
You might like
- Compelling gameplay.
- Great pacing.
- Strong competition.
- Thought provoking.
- Multiple paths to victory.
Might not like
- Cards are quite small.
- Icons can be very confusing.
- Rule book is a little on the naff side.
- Can only be played two-player!