7 Wonders Duel is a two-player only version of 7 Wonders
Time ticks forward and society moves ahead. In 7 Wonders Duel, you get to decide HOW society moves forward. Choose to focus on science, culture, or military strength to make sure that your civilization stands the test of time. Don’t forget to build Wonders. It’s up to you!
It only takes about 30 minutes and setup is very easy.
Each player starts with four unbuilt wonders, randomly selected or snake drafted. The conflict marker starts in the middle of the conflict board. Then, the age cards are separated and shuffled. Place the cards in the shown pattern of alternating, overlapping face up, and face down cards. Then you are ready to start.
Take turns paying the cost and building cards and wonders until the final card for age one is used.
There are science cards, culture cards, bank cards, production cards, and military cards. Green science cards have symbols on them. Match two of a kind, and you get a progress token that gives either one-time or long-term bonuses. Acquire 6 unique science symbols and immediately win the game. Blue culture cards tend to give victory points at the game’s end, and yellow bank cards give you increasing amounts of money. Brown and grey production cards produce materials for building cards and wonders. To build a wonder, simply pay the cost and take any card available to you to put face down under the wonder. Wonders provide powerful bonuses.
Finally, red military cards move the conflict pawn forward towards your opponent. At certain points, it will take money from your opponent and if allowed to reach the end, you win immediately. If neither the military nor scientific victories happen before the end of the third age, the player with the most victory points is the champion.
7 Wonders Duel is widely regarded as one of the best two-player games around. With many avenues to victory, intense interactions, and ever-changing setups, 7 Wonders Duel provides endless replay-ability. If you ever do want to spice it up, there are expansions. This is my current favorite two-player game, and I highly recommend it.
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