And again we build wonders...

REVIEW OF THE GAME 7 WONDER: ARCHITECTS

7 Wonders: Architects is the last game in the 7 Wonders universe. The game is based on the inexhaustible imagination of Antoine Bose, where the architects build his 2010 epic "7 Wonders". Despite the 2015 two-player edition, 7 Wonders: Duel , and the recent re-release of the original, Bosa went back to the drawing board to create yet another version of the ancient world.

LET'S DIVE INTO THE WORLD OF 7 WONDER

 7 Wonders: Architects is very simple. The box contains seven individually sealed containers, one for each of the available Wonders. Each container contains a deck of cards with a convenient plastic holder and a set of five double-sided wonder of the world cardboard pieces. One side depicts the Miracle under construction, the other the finished masterpiece. Each player receives one such miracle and places their deck of vodka cards between themselves and the player to their left and lays out the miracle on their unfinished side.

 Common elements of the game are placed in the center of the table. A deck of cards is shuffled. The stack of Scientific Progress reward tokens is shuffled and three tokens are laid face down. According to the number of players, several double-sided Conflict tokens are placed on their peaceful side. Finally, a stack of military advantage tokens completes the general area.

 All the cards in the game have the same symbols and colors as in the original 7 Wonders , only with a more playful style of illustrations. Each turn, players choose a card from either the two face decks on either side, or the face decks from the deck in the center. The card is placed face up in front of you. If a particular set is completed, players must exchange cards for that set's reward.

 A miracle is built from scratch by assembling sets of the same or different building materials. As each part of the miracle is flipped, the completed structure takes shape, revealing its unique features and abilities. The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus lets you draw an extra card from the center deck twice, while the Lighthouse at Alexandria lets you pick a card from any deck on the table. Sections of the Pyramid of Giza simply bring more victory points, the Colossus of Rhodes has additional military power. Abilities are varied and can be used in different ways to achieve victory.

 Yellow cards bring gold, which is a universal building material.

 Green science cards are collected in pairs or sets of three unique symbols to collect progress tokens from the center. These tokens either give extra points at the end of the game or provide unique abilities during the game. One symbol will allow you to take an additional card, the other allows the player to ignore the conditions of the building material when building a miracle.

 Blue cards bring victory points and can bring the blessing of the Cat. A player with a Cat chip can look at the center card face down at the start of their turn before deciding which card to take - a major advantage! Combine this advantage with the two-point bonus at the end of the game, which also comes with the Cat token, and this little feline will remain a popular commodity throughout the game.

 Finally, red cards indicate military power. Each war card contains a shield and the number of shields determines the advantage when the war starts. Some military maps also have one or two horns. For each horn collected, players transfer one Conflict token from the peaceful side to the less friendly combatant side. When each token shows its combat side, a war begins and players receive tokens based on their military strength difference. After a battle, any card with a horn is discarded, and shields without horns are saved for future battles.

 When one player finishes their miracle, the game is over. Points are accumulated from miracles, blue cards, science tokens, military rewards and that damn Cat.

A REAL WONDERS

 7 Wonders: Architects is a simplified cousin of the original. Instead of playing cards from their hands, players choose cards from several adjacent stacks of cards. Instead of a constant fee, cards are continuously bought, opened and exchanged for rewards. Instead of a temporary military conflict, players repeatedly push each other to the brink of war. And because of all this, mysterious miracles come to life before everyone's eyes.

 To be honest, we really love the original 7 Wonders . This is one of those rare games that can entertain seven as easily as three, as long as the table can support the weight of an endless horde of cards. We like 7 Wonders: Duel and its simplistic head-to-head combat mechanics. We tend to enjoy this title and believe that this series will bring more than one game for us. Architects is a game that can easily be played multiple games back-to-back faster than the original.

 But speeding up the gameplay does not reduce the number of interesting decisions in the game. Instead, each decision is interesting and purposeful. Progress tokens and miraculous powers decorate the game and serve as harbingers of the end. Constantly flipping conflict tokens create incredible tension as players prepare for war. And while the player can't often win the original 7 Wonders, having a purely military bent, Architects lets loose the hooligans who want to make good money from conflicts.

 The illustrations for Architects are obviously more playful and pleasant and will definitely appeal to children).

 It's difficult for us to rate the various 7 Wonders series , but the willingness to do so is a testament to the relevance of these games. Antoine Bosa has created a whole world of several titles that do not make each other obsolete. They are talking about ranking, not replacement (again, apart from the whole reprint thing). For players who love the 7 Wonders universe, this is a game for any social environment that captures a unique aspect of the experience.

USEFUL LINKS

Game 7 Wonders: Architects on the portal BGG

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/346703/7-wonders-architects

Game 7 Wonders: Architects on the Game Theory portal

https://tg.in.ua/boardgames/114129/7-wonders-architects 

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