7 Wonders Duel: A Worthy Rival to a Classic

Welcome to this week’s review! This week I’m taking a look at one of the most popular two-player only games. So without further ado, let’s jump into it.

7 Wonders Duel was one of the first games to join the trend of developing a two-player only version of a very popular game. Its parent game, 7 Wonders, has been a staple in my collection for many years and was recently among my top 20 games of all time. Even though the first edition of 7 Wonders had a two-player variant, I generally only played the game with three or more players. I suspect most 7 Wonders players would agree, and even the second edition of the game removed the two-player variant. Although 7 Wonders Duel was released ten years ago, enough time for it to have its own reimplementation, I only recently tried the game and thought I’d share my thoughts.

While 7 Wonders Duel shares a lot of similarities to its older brother, I’m happy to report that it’s very much its own game (in a good way). For anyone that has played 7 Wonders, players still build up a tableau of cards, while also constructing ancient wonders. However, instead of drafting cards from a hand of cards, the age cards are drafted from a display of cards. Depending on how the cards are arranged, some cards will overlap with others, and only some cards can be chosen, until the overlapping cards are removed. In addition, some cards will be displayed face up, while others will be face down until the overlapping cards are drafted. This can create a very tense exchange between players, as you’ll want to be wary of revealing cards for your opponent.

As in 7 Wonders, there are three ages each with their own deck, and after the end of the third age, the player with the most points wins. However, the game can also end through either a military or scientific supremacy. Instead of comparing military symbols at the end of each age, whenever a player drafts a military card, they advance a token along a track towards their opponent in a tug-of-war system. If the marker ever reaches the end of the track of your opponent, then you immediately win. The player can also win by collecting six different scientific symbols. Overall, I really enjoy these different paths to victory.

A couple of other changes that I especially enjoyed were the addition of progress tokens and some of the changes to the commercial buildings. Whenever a player collects two of the same scientific symbols, they get to pick a progress token from a display that is randomized during setup. These tokens can range from additional victory points, an additional scientific symbol, or permanent bonuses like making all future wonders cost two fewer resources. I found collecting these tokens to be really satisfying, and they open additional strategies and combos. For example, in one game, my wife collected both the token that made wonders cheaper and the token that granted an extra turn whenever you construct a wonder. The commercial cards also received a boost compared to 7 Wonders, which makes a heavy commercial building strategy feel more viable.

7 Wonders Duel is also not a multi-player solitaire game. I alluded to it a bit earlier, but you constantly have to pay attention to what the other player is building. As my wife and I became more familiar with the game, there was certainly an element of “hate drafting” going on. One game, we each kept discarding cards, just so the other player couldn’t use them.

This creates a bit of a double-edged sword. I enjoy the amount of player interaction, but while there are elements of positive interaction in the original 7 Wonders, like purchasing resources from your neighbors, in the Duel version even that has been replaced through an interesting mechanism where the cost resources varies based on how many of that type your opponent has. In addition, instead of paying the other player, that gold just goes back to the supply. Again, I found that I really had to play against the other player, instead of doing my own thing. Some of that is to be expected in a duel game, but I would be aware that the game can create moments that can feel punishing to the other player. Luckily, the game only lasts about 30 minutes, so you can always have a rematch.

Another slight issue with the game is sometimes you’ll reach a point in the game where you know you’re going to lose and you’re helpless to stop it. It’s like when you play Chess and you know your opponent has already won, and you just have to sit there and watch it unfold. In 7 Wonders Duel, there is an element of luck of the draw, and based on how the cards are randomly set up, you know that you’re unable to stop your opponent from winning. For example, one game I played, even though I had the means to build military cards to prevent my opponent from winning, they happened to be spaced out in a certain order that meant that my opponent would always be the first to act on them. And while you can try to avoid taking the card that will reveal the next set of cards, sometimes you’re forced to, and it doesn’t feel great when the perfect card for your opponent is revealed. I understand that 7 Wonders also has a degree of card luck, but I find it more noticeable in the Duel version.

Even with these slight blemishes, I still really enjoy 7 Wonders Duel. While there are a lot of similarities to its parent game, there are enough changes that feel like it can stand on its own. If you’re looking for a light to medium weight, two-player game that’s fairly quick, and you’re like me and somehow missed out on trying this one until now, I’d certainly recommend giving this one a look.

With that, I’ll wrap up this week’s review! I’d love to hear your thoughts on 7 Wonders Duel and how do you think it compares to 7 Wonders? And what are your favorite two-player only games? I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the games I’ve mentioned or future content suggestions in the comments below. Happy gaming!

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