7 Wonders Duel is a 2015 game designed by Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala, and published by Repos Production
7 Wonders Duel is a head-to-head two player game where players compete at collecting cards to build their ancient civilization. Victory can be claimed through three avenues: dominating your rival with your superior military, eclipsing their society with your advanced scientific achievements, or having more points than they do.
Is it fun?
Yes. Is it as fun as playing 7 Wonders with a full table? Let’s not be hasty. Duel is fun on its own terms. We’ll leave it there perhaps.
The back-and-forth tug-of-war, trying to maneuver your opponent into picks they don’t need so hand while I have a few complaints, overall it scratches the 7 Wonders itch for 2 players, and I had fun.
Do the components/aesthetics improve the experience?
The components here have the same overall quality and production value as any other 7 Wonders game or expansion. If you’ve played those, you can gauge this for yourself. If you haven’t, well, the cards are solid, and the cardboard coin tokens are thick enough to last.
The art is enjoyable, sometimes even beautiful, and the component quality is fine. I do wish the cards were a little bit bigger, but more for ease-of-handling/shuffling; they aren’t too crowded to be legible.
Does playing the game create an immersive experience?
Okay, I’ll give him this: the game doesn’t strictly feel like a “Duel,” except on the military track. There are so many different ways to win that 7 Wonders Duel feels more like a scramble to get whatever you can before your opponent does.
This is probably the game’s strongest area. You do feel like you are building up an ancient civilization, trying to assert supremacy over your neighboring rival. The military mechanic in particular highlights this–I develop my cavalry, so you build up archers and we’re back to a stalemate (or you aren’t paying attention and my troops march all over you). The price increase for resources your opponent has that you don’t also plays into this, as you imagine having to reluctantly buy resources up from your rival.
How often does a player make meaningful choices?
The game starts with a narrow set of options and then expands from there, but the board state and your opponent’s choices will dictate the most viable directions. This isn’t so much a game about “playing your way to win” so much as it is seizing the opportunities that present themselves before your opponents can. You can’t force any one kind of victory — you have to wheedle your way in and earn it one card at a time.
Ugh; here’s where my complaints start. While I appreciate the attempt to create a board state where you have to think several moves ahead to try and outwit your opponent, in reality I found myself far too often having no real choice. Limited options meant that I rarely had more than 2 choices after the first age, and the military and science victories mean that you sometimes have zero practical choices, as you have to snipe a science or victory card that would otherwise spell your defeat. The flipside of this, too, is trying to get a science or military victory and, simply by the way the cards were dealt out, finding it impossible to achieve (or at very least thwarted completely by a single hate-pick by your rival, who, if they are paying even the tiniest attention to the game, will do so without fail).
Does the level of player interaction encourage continual engagement?
There’s a lot to keep track of here: several victory conditions, a varying economy mechanic, and more. It’d be easy to lose focus or miss information along the way. You might make the meaningful choice to look away from the board right as your opponent plays an econ card that makes your prices go up. But it’s engaging.
Yes, as a head-to-head game it is too fast-paced to give you the opportunity to stop paying attention; and the mechanics require that you maintain some awareness of your opponents’ tableau.
Is the game balanced such that it feels like a fair experience?
It’s random and very egalitarian with regards to the “drafting” ethos that made the original 7 Wonders so much fun. I can’t decide if I like or dislike being able to see what’s coming, though. I want to plan and out-play my opponent, but I also like the mystery of not knowing what’s in the hand that’s coming to me. Duel tries to strike a balance, and I’m still — a dozen or more plays in — not sure how I feel about HOW it tries to balance, even if it feels fair.
Both players are operating with the same set of cards, and wonders are selected fairly. The deal of the cards determines a lot, though, especially in the second and third age, and you can pretty easily become railroaded into or out of a particular strategy.
How often would you want to play this game?
Not as often as Jaipur, which is a favorite at my house. It takes the right second player on the right night to make me want to bust this one open. I may not suggest it, but I’ll gladly play it if asked.
The occasional throw-down would not be objectionable, but there are many other 2-player games I would much rather play. And if I craved a civilization-building game, there are countless better options there too (like real 7 Wonders. Yeah, I went there).
Is the game accessible?
As in any 7 Wonders style game, there’s a lot of iconography in an attempt to reduce rules text on the cards themselves. Keep a reference guide handy.
For the most part, with one huge problem in my mind. The cards are easy to read, the rules simple enough, and it’s easy to teach and learn. BUT, the rule where the resources your opponent produces that you do not are more expensive makes determining the cost of a card too cumbersome, in my opinion. This is a game for me that falls in the category of ‘really only playable digitally,’ as the computer takes that calculation off your plate. It’s not that it’s too hard to calculate, but if you are looking at all the cards available plus your wonders, and have to figure out the cost of each while trying to figure out what will move you forward best–it’s just too many balls in the air.
Is the game good value?
It is, to be honest, even at the lower level I play it compared to some of the other games I like more and also paid more money for. What good is owning TI3 if I can never get it to the table, I ask? Especially if you’re really looking for that 7 Wonders vibe and there are only two of you.
At $28, 2 players only, limited replayability, and ultimately pretty slim components this game feels a bit overpriced to me. If you and your player 2 of choice really enjoy it, I’d say you’ll definitely get a lot of value out of it. If, however, like me you see this as a maybe-once-in-a-great-while game, consider holding off.
Je ne sais quoi?
It does have some of that original 7 Wonders groove. It almost recreates a two-player drafting experience. If you’re looking for a two player experience that captures that essence, this one is absolutely worth a look.
The real 7 Wonders game (not this imaginary nonsense) is one of my all-time favorite games, and this has much of the same 4X charm. I especially like how they handle military as an alternative victory condition to points (while also still giving you points), and I think the Science objective could have also been excellent, if the supply of Science cards weren’t so limited and it so easy to prevent someone’s science win. All-in-all a mixed bag for me, and a bit of a disappointment.
Final Thoughts
If you have that 7 Wonders itch but can only find two players, Duel can scratch that hard-to-reach spot (you know, the one on your back just above the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus and to the right of the Pyramids of Giza). It is definitely a good game, but we agree that it is an inferior 7 Wonders experience to the original.
Final Scores