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7 Wonders
Draft cards, build a civilization, and somehow seat seven people without anyone waiting.
Designed by Antoine Bauza · 2010
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The rare game that fits seven people into half an hour with nobody staring at the ceiling.
Best for: Bigger groups who can't stand waiting for their turn
What it is
7 Wonders solves the thing that kills most big-group games, which is waiting. Everyone drafts a card from their hand at the same time and passes the rest along, so a seven-player game wraps in about half an hour and nobody spends it on their phone. Once that clicks, it's hard to go back.
The catch
Be ready for a rough first game. The cards speak in little symbols, and you'll be squinting at the reference card the whole way through. Push past it. By the second game the language clicks, and you start seeing the three or four civilizations you could build toward, leaning into military or science or trade or a wonder of your own.
Who it's for
It genuinely wants a crowd. The two-player mode is a clever bolt-on, not the main event. But when game night swells to six or seven people and you've got thirty minutes, very little handles that squeeze as gracefully.
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