How to Play 7 Wonders Board Game (Beginner Guide)

7 Wonders is a card drafting board game where victory goes to the player with the most points at the end of the game.

Getting Started

1. Players choose their Wonder board side, with the A-side being recommended for beginners.
2. At the commencement of each age (3 ages in total), players are dealt 7 cards.

Step 1: Drafting Cards

1. Choose a card from your hand and place it face down.
2. When choosing pay attention to the card’s benefits (A) and construction cost (B) before making your selection (Note: In the online BGA version of the game, the construction cost is paid when drafting the card).
3. Pass the remaining cards to the next player.*

*Age I pass cards clockwise, Age II anti-clockwise and Age III clockwise

Step 2: Actions

Once all players have selected a card, they reveal their choices and take one of the following actions:

• Build the structure
  Pay the construction cost of the card to receive its benefits, such as gaining a resource or victory points.
• Build a Wonder Stage
  Pay the construction cost of the Wonder Stage (your chosen card is essentially discarded). Use the card to mark your progress on your wonder.
• Discard the card for 3 gold
  As a last resort, you can discard a card to gain 3 gold. It’s generally preferable to have drafted a card you can build, or if not, focus on building your wonder.

Step 3: Paying For Construction

In 7 Wonders, players don’t give up resources outright when constructing, except when there’s a coin cost involved.

Instead, they cover the cost with resources obtained from previously built cards (brown/grey cards) and their starting civilization resource.

This resource management aspect adds depth to gameplay, requiring players to strategically acquire and utilize resources to advance their civilizations efficiently.

Additionally, players can opt to trade with their neighbors to acquire missing resources. By paying 2 coins (or 1 gold with the relevant yellow card) for each lacking resource, players can supplement their resource pool and facilitate construction.

Steps 1 – 3 are repeated until all players have picked 6 cards (the last card is discarded).

Step 4: End of Age Military Conflict

After the 6th turn of each age, the last card is discarded, and players resolve Military Conflicts, comparing the number of shields they have with their two neighboring players:

• Each loss results in a deduction of 1 VP, with a maximum loss of 6 VP if all conflicts are lost.
• Each victory earns 1 VP in Age I, 3 VP in Age II, and 5 VP in Age III, with a potential maximum gain of +18 VP for winning all conflicts.

Now we move onto the next age. We all draw 7 cards and begin Steps 1-3 again.

End of Game

Whoever has the most VP at the end of Age III wins the game.

Points will come from the following:

• Blue Victory Point Cards
• Green Science Cards
  Number of identical symbols squared = VP (eg 3 of the same symbols = 9VP)
  plus Each set of 3 different types of symbols = 7VP
• Wonder Stages Constructed
• Military Conflict Results
• 3 Coins = 1VP
• Yellow and Purple Cards*

*Look for the fern on Yellow and Purple cards to get an idea of how many VP they give. They reward VP depending on your and or your neighbors cards and wonder stages.

Check out our 10 Tips to Help You Win More at 7 Wonders.