Learn the rules of 7 wonders and build your city and its great wonder. The most beautiful and advanced city shall win!
Contents
The game box contains:
-7 wonder boards
-7 wonder cards
-49 cards from age I
-49 cards from age II
-50 cards from age III
-a notepad for the score
-46 conflict tokens of victories and defeats
-70 silver and gold coins
-the rulebook of the game
Goal of the Game
During three successive ages, develop your city and build your wonder. At the end of the third age, your military victories, your scientific advances and the splendor of your civilization will allow you to triumph over your adversaries.
Setup
- Shuffle the 7 wonder cards face down.
- Deal a wonder card to each player.
- The wonder card tells you which wonder board you’re going to place in front of you and on which side (A or B) you’re going to use it.
Note: For a first time player, it is preferable to use side A.
- Give each player 3 coins of value 1.
- The rest of the coins form the bank.
- Form a reserve with the conflict tokens in the center of the table.
- In the center of the table, place 3 decks of cards corresponding to each of the 3 ages after having previously removed a certain number of cards according to the number of players.
- At the bottom of each card is a number indicating the minimum number of players.
Example: for a game with 4 players, keep only the cards indicating 3+ and 4+.
- Separate the 10 guild cards (the purple cards) from the other Age III cards.
- Shuffle them face down, but only add a certain number depending on the number of players.
- Add as many guild cards as the number of players plus 2
3-player game: add 5 guild cards.
4-player game: add 6 guild cards.
5-player game: add 7 guild cards.
6-player game: add 8 guild cards.
7-player game: add 9 guild cards.
- Shuffle these guild cards with the other Age III cards to form the deck of corresponding cards.
Characteristics of the Wonders
Characteristics of a Card
There are 7 types of cards divided into 7 colors
Gameplay
7 Wonders is a drafting game, which means that you choose a single card from your deck and use it before passing the deck to the player on your left.
- Distribute all the cards of the current age.
- Each player thus receives 7 cards in hand.
- Each age has 6 turns during which each player puts one and only one card into play at the same time.
- Secretly choose a card, then place it in front of yourself face down.
- The remaining cards will be placed between you and the player on your left.
- In Age I, play goes in a clockwise direction.
- In Age II, play goes in a counterclockwise direction.
- In Age III, play goes in a clockwise direction once again.
- When players are ready, everyone plays at the same time.
There are 3 ways to use the card you want to play: build its city, develop its wonder or even discard the card to get money (coins).
Building Your City
- You can add a building card that you wish to play to your city, only if you have the necessary resources indicated at the top and on the left corner of the card.
- Place the card in front of you, that way its effects apply to you.
Attention! It is forbidden to have the same building twice in your city.
Note: If you lack resources to add a building to your city, you can mine those owned by the players who are immediately to your right and to your left.
- To mine the resources of a player that is next to you, pay two coins to that player.
- This price can be reduced to one coin depending on the yellow cards in your possession.
Note: Mining a resource from one of your neighbors does not deprive them from mining them themselves.
The Chaining Principe
This principle allows you to construct certain buildings without paying the construction cost.
An icon next to the resource corner tells you which card must already be in your city to benefit from this effect.
If you have a workshop in your city, you can build a laboratory without paying the construction cost.
If you have built the laboratory , you can later build an observatory or siege workshop without paying the resource cost.
The Stages of Building Your Wonder
If you have the necessary resources or if you can mine those of your right or left neighbors, you can start a stage of your wonder.
- Discard the chosen card face down under your wonder board.
- This allows you to continue building it step by step.
- As a result, you will generally benefit from an effect which can be immediate or which can bring you points at the end of the game.
Note:
- Don’t forget to construct the stages of your wonder starting with the leftmost stage and ending with the rightmost stage.
- You can construct your entire wonder during the same age or during the first age.
Earning Money
- Place a card face down in the discard pile in the center of the table and take 3 coins from the bank.
Note: If a player makes a mistake, the chosen card must be discarded in exchange for 3 coins.
Example:
-If a player adds a building or a wonder card to their city without being able to afford it.
-If a player adds a card to their city, but they already have a card of the same name.
The Different Types of Cards
- The raw materials and manufactured goods cards (brown and gray cards, respectively).
These cards permanently grant you one or more resources necessary for the various constructions of your city. These are also the cards that your right and left neighbors can use by paying you for the service rendered.
- The civilian structure cards (blue cards)
These cards earn you victory points at the end of the game.
- The commercial structure cards (yellow cards)
These cards allow you to facilitate your trade and bring you money.
- The scientific structure cards (green cards)
These cards display 3 different symbols: the cog, the gear, and the compass. Collecting these symbols earns you victory points at the end of the game.
- The military structure cards (red cards)
These cards offer the player, at the end of each age, victory points according to the power of the player’s army.
- The guild cards (purple cards)
These cards only appear at age III. They grant you victory points at the end of the game depending on the cards that make up your city and/or those of your neighbors.
End of Age
- During the sixth round, players only have two cards left in hand.
- Only one card will be played and the other will be discarded without obtaining 3 coins from the bank.
- This is when an age ends.
- At the end of each of the 3 ages, the players count the number of shields present on the red cards and on their wonder board.
- Each player compares their military power with their neighbor that’s on the left and on the right.
- Whoever has the highest military power wins.
Each battle won, immediately gives you victory points:
1 point per battle won at the end of age I.
3 points per battle won at the end of age II.
5 points per battle won at the end of age III.
1 point per battle lost at the end of any age.
End of the Game
- At the end of the third age and after having made a final count of the military conflicts, each player will calculate their final score.
- By counting their buildings, wonders, military victories and fortunes, the players will be able to determine the winner.
- The score will be noted in the score pad as follows:
Military Conflict: add up the points awarded by your military victories and defeats.
Content of the treasury: score one point for every 3 coins in your city’s treasury (3 coins = 1 point)
Wonder: accumulate the points of the finished stages of your wonder.
Civilian structures: add up the points of the blue cards of your city.
Commercial structures: add up the points of the yellow cards of your city.
Guilds: each guild brings in a number of victory points depending on the configuration of the player and/or that of the two neighboring cities.
For this image, score a victory point for each finished stage of your wonder and for each finished stage of your neighbors’ (both left and right) wonder.
Scientific structures: add up the points of your green cards by family of identical symbols and by family of 3 different symbols:
1 symbol: 1 victory point
2 identical symbols: 4 victory points
3 identical symbols: 9 victory points
4 identical symbols: 16 victory points
5 identical symbols: 25 victory points
6 identical symbols: 36 victory points
Note: Obtaining 5 or 6 identical scientific symbols is only possible using your wonder or guild cards.
Each group of 3 different scientific symbols earns you 7 victory points.
After counting the points of all these scoring categories, the player with the highest total is the winner of the game.
In the event of a tie, the player who is the wealthiest wins (the player with more total coins).
Official rules in PDF
Explore the official rule of 7 Wonders in PDF.
