A new game to the table for me, though not a new game, 7 Wonders Duel offers a new experience from playing regular 7 Wonders at two. Regular 7 Wonders at two player, not that great an experience. So is 7 Wonders Duel close enough to 7 Wonders to keep that name, but separate enough to give a good gaming experience. The game is highly rated on Board Game Geek, but does that mean that it’s good?

How to Play 7 Wonders Duel

7 Wonders Duel is still a drafting game where you are collecting resources in order to be able to build all of your wonders and buy buildings that will give you points or chain into other buildings that you can play.

For drafting, though, the process is different than your 7 Wonders or Sushi Go style of drafting. The cards are laid out in a pattern, which varies through the 3 ages of 7 Wonders Duel. And depending on how players are doing with their military, that determines who picks first. So as you remove cards that are open, no cards overlapping, you might open up new options for your opponent, and you will need to throughout the game.

The game, ends at the end of three ages, three drafts. Points are tallied at that point, and the player with most points wins. But there are alternate win conditions. If I push the military all the way over to your side, I win by military victory. Or if you collect seven different science symbols you get the victory. So it creates some strategy with drafting because you need to plan for how free up cards.

Two Player Drafting

I like this way of two player drafting that it does. I’ve seen it in other games, mainly Truffle Shuffle. While that game messed around with creating poker hands, this one still keeps what works in 7 Wonders. And the strategy is present in the game. What might you want, and will I potentially open it up for you is a question.

And there is risk as you open up new cards. About half the cards each time are face up. So you know that information before you draft. And you can try and manipulate when cards become available. The other half, though, being face down until uncovered create a new tension in the game. If I flip a card, what is that going to give you?

7 Wonders Duel vs 7 Wonders

So one thing I said at the beginning is that it needs to feel like 7 Wonders as well. The two player of 7 Wonders is not good, so is this going to fix that itch or is 7 Wonders a 3+ player game and this a game with the same name but different?

I think that 7 Wonders Duel, while offering new things, is a solid 7 Wonders game. You get the experience of building up your civilization. It is different, though with military and science. For both, I think it is a good change, especially for two player. The multiplier for science in the regular game could go insane in a two player game. So to change it to an alternate win condition is smart.

But I do want to say, the game is not clunky because of any of the changes. The game play is still fast and smooth which is important. A good drafting game, like 7 Wonders, should move quickly. And while 7 Wonders Duel is only ever going to do that at two players, it does it well.

Who Is It For?

Now, this is interesting to think about. Mainly because, by being a two player only game, it is a bit more niche. Some people don’t play with only two. If they play a game, it is them, and a group of friends. So 7 Wonders is going to cover that area. But for others, like myself, I play with a mix of player counts. And that makes 7 Wonders Duel way more appealing to have along with 7 Wonders.

So I think the game is for people who like the original but want to play with two. And they want to have that better experience with two. I also think it’s a game for people who just enjoy drafting in general and want to play at two. I think most drafting games are decent to poor at two. While I can think of exceptions, Ohanami and Floriferous for example, they benefit from more. 7 Wonders Duel clearly wants to work at two.

Final Thoughts

I like this game, it’s a good two player drafting game and it’s a good 7 Wonders family of games. I think it’s strength really is that you still get to build your civilization and chain cards off of each other for building them more efficiently.

And it works well with how it offers the other two winning conditions. If it were just the same scoring as in 7 Wonders, I think it would work better but not be great. But because it is different and can just end the game, it forces players not to ignore any element. Regular game, get behind on military, just eat those points and make it up in other areas. Here, you get behind and you need to pick some up as you fight for the game.

My Grade: A-
Gamer Grade: A-
Casual Grade: B

Send an Email
Message me on Twitter at @TheScando
Visit us on Facebook here
Support us on Patreon here