7 Wonders: Architects – Medals brings new elements to the table for the 7 Wonders: Architects base game, without adding anything to the game’s playing time.

First, this expansion includes two new wonders — Ur and Rome — to give players more choices for what to build.

Second, new science tokens exist that can be mixed with the original ones, tokens that give you the ability to, for example, keep military cards that you would normally discard or always have the cat ability available to you.

Finally, this expansion includes a new game element: medals. At the start of play, draw a random medal and place it face up between each pairing of players. (Each pairing already has a card rack between it, so now two items will be present.) When either of these players meets the conditions showing on a medal, they claim the medal and turn it face down, earning 4vp for this medal at game’s end.

No. of players: 2 to 7 players

Suitable For Ages 8 and Above

Game Duration: 25 mins

Game Contents:

50 Cards (deck of 25 for each Wonder)

Cardboard:

2 Wonders (5 pieces each): Rome (rust), Ur (teal)

4 Progress tokens

Plastic:

12 Medals (gold; 44x54x2mm)

2 Card holders (white; 59x85mm)

2 Wonder Component trays (black) with lids (clear); 7×28.5×2.6cm)

1 Medals Components tray (black) with lid (clear); 7×28.5×2.6cm

2 Stickers for Wonder tray lids

12 Stickers for Medals

How to play?:

The gameplay is straightforward and can be taught in a matter of minutes. Setup is also quick and easy with each player receiving a box containing a deck of cards and a wonder. The wonder decks are placed between each player and the player to the left, resulting in two face-up decks on both sides of every player. Also, a shared face-down deck is placed in the middle of the table. On their turn, players either select a card from the two face-up decks or draw blindly from the shared deck. Most turns trigger different effects and actions.

Wonders

Every Wonder has 5 stages, each outlining specific resource requirements. When a player meets the requirements for a stage, they must discard the necessary resource cards and construct it. Each stage rewards points and some stages provide additional actions.

The action triggered by the stages of each Wonder is unique, creating an asymmetric gameplay experience. Additionally, each Wonder deck offers a different combination of cards, resulting in diverse strategies in each play.

This game pleasantly surprised us. While we already enjoyed 7 Wonders, we weren’t sure about Architects. However, it quickly became a favourite that frequently hits our table, often for multiple consecutive plays. With its simple rules, easy setup, smooth turns, exciting gameplay, and a short playtime of around 10-15 minutes, Architects is one of the best filler games we have ever played.

Luck plays a significant role in this game. For example, your strategy may heavily rely on military power, yet red cards with horns fail to appear. Similarly, you may find yourself just one resource short of completing your wonder and ending the game but struggle to find it while your opponents keep drawing resources. Despite these unpredictable elements, the game remains enjoyable. Frustration from bad luck has been rare throughout our tens of plays. Regardless of the outcome, everyone at our table had a great time in almost every play.

Our games were consistently close, with differences of only 1 or 2 points, or even ties, being common. Rarely did we encounter games where the score difference was substantial. This added an extra layer of excitement to every play.

The game is designed for 2 to 7 players. While we’ve only played with 3 players (and found it perfect) I believe it would also work very well with four players. However, I have doubts about larger groups, as waiting times between turns could become an issue. Even though the turns are quick, waiting for your turn in a 7-player game might be too much, especially considering that players are only influenced by those adjacent to them most of the time.

One issue we identified with the game mechanics is the lack of compensation for players who start later in turn order at the beginning of the game. This could be easily resolved by introducing a start player marker and a rule where, after the endgame is triggered, all players before the start player would get an additional turn, so everyone has the same number of turns.

Overall, 7 Wonders: Architects is an excellent choice as a family or gateway game. The combination of simple rules, quick playtime, and easy setup makes it perfect for any occasion with all types of gamers. This game has earned its place in our collection and has become a top choice for quick fillers.