7 Wonders

1 Game Overview

7 Wonders is a card drafting game for 2–7 players that takes about 30 minutes regardless of player count. Each player leads an ancient civilization — represented by one of the seven wonders of the ancient world — and builds it over three ages by drafting cards.

Drafting means everyone simultaneously picks a card, passes the hand, picks again. There's no waiting for other players. Everyone is always doing something, which is why 7 Wonders is one of the few games that genuinely plays in 30 minutes with 7 people.

It's won more awards than almost any game in history — the Spiel des Jahres, the Kennerspiel des Jahres, and numerous others — and remains a landmark of modern game design.

2 What's in the Box

• 7 Wonder boards (one per civilization)
• 7 Wonder cards (the stages of your wonder)
• 49 Age I cards, 49 Age II cards, 50 Age III cards
• 46 conflict tokens (victory/defeat markers)
• 24 value-3 coins, 46 value-1 coins
• 1 score pad

3 Setup

1. Give each player a random Wonder board and its corresponding Wonder card. Place the Wonder card face-up next to the board.
2. Each player starts with 3 coins.
3. Separate cards by age. For each age, deal a hand of 7 cards to each player (remove certain cards based on player count — check the card backs marked with player-count symbols).
4. Start with Age I hands.

4 Turn Structure & Card Drafting

Each age consists of 6 rounds of drafting:

1. Choose a card: Everyone simultaneously picks 1 card from their hand, places it face-down in front of them.
2. Reveal: All players flip their chosen card face-up and execute its effect.
3. Pass: Pass the remaining hand to the next player. In Ages I and III, pass left; in Age II, pass right.
4. Discard the last card: When only 1 card remains in a hand, discard it face-down (those cards are out of the game).

What to Do With Your Card

When you play a card, choose one of three options:

• Build it: Pay the resource cost (if any) and add it to your city.
• Build a Wonder stage: Pay the cost for your next wonder stage and place the card face-down under your wonder board. The card type doesn't matter — only the resources you pay.
• Discard for 3 coins: Any card can be discarded for 3 gold coins.

5 Card Types

• 🟤 Brown/Grey (Resource): Produce raw materials (wood, stone, ore, clay) or manufactured goods (glass, papyrus, textile). Resources are used to pay for other cards.
• 🟡 Yellow (Commerce): Modify trade rules, produce coins, or produce resources for trading.
• 🔵 Blue (Civic): Pure victory points — the bigger the city, the more VP.
• 🟢 Green (Science): Symbols (compass, gear, tablet) that score exponentially when matched. Getting 3 of the same or one of each is extremely valuable.
• 🔴 Red (Military): Shields that determine military strength for conflict resolution between ages.
• 🟣 Purple (Guild): Only appear in Age III. Powerful cards that score based on what you and your neighbors built.

6 End of Age & Scoring

Military Conflict (Between Each Age)

After Ages I, II, and III, each player compares their total military shields against each neighbor. Win = +1 VP (Age I), +3 VP (Age II), +5 VP (Age III). Lose = -1 VP. Tie = nothing.

Final Scoring

After Age III military, count:

• Military conflict tokens (accumulated across all three ages)
• Coins (every 3 coins = 1 VP)
• Wonder stages completed
• Blue civic card points
• Yellow commerce card points
• Green science points (calculated by sets and triples)
• Purple guild card points

Highest total wins. Ties broken by most coins remaining.