When comparing Dominion vs 7 Wonders, the Slant community recommends 7 Wonders for most people. In the question“What are the best strategy board games?” 7 Wonders is ranked 3rd while Dominion is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose 7 Wonders is:
No matter the player's skill level, 7 Wonders makes for an easy to learn and play game.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Focus is more on having fun, and less on scoring
The victory point cards are part of your deck itself, so you won't really know exactly how many points you or your opponents have until the game ends and all the points are tallied up. This lets you focus on the game and have a great experience playing your cards, rather than doing math equations and constantly comparing your points to everyone around you. It allows the fun and thrill of the deck building aspect to take front and center.
Pro Games are fairly quick
A standard game can be played in about 30 minutes, even with 4 players.
Pro Starts very simple and grows in complexity over time
At the start of the game, each player is given 10 identical cards to begin their deck. Within these starter cards are some properties which are worth victory points (the player with the most of these at the end of the game wins) and some currency cards (used to buy new cards).
Your options will be pretty limited at first, however, as the game progresses you'll be spending your currency cards every turn to buy new cards and add to your deck. These new cards can include more property cards, action cards that let you earn additional currency, curses to slow down your opponents, and more.
As your deck slowly starts to become more expansive, the trick is juggling your limited currency and trying to buy cards that have synergy with the ones in your hand. Deciding whether to buy properties worth victory points or action cards that give you the opportunity to earn more currency leaves a ton of room open for strategy and deck management.
Pro Easy to learn
No matter the player's skill level, 7 Wonders makes for an easy to learn and play game.
Pro Player scalable
7 Wonders easily adjusts to support anywhere from 2-7 players, making it great for both small and large groups.
Pro All players play until the end
Points aren't added up until the end of the game, so even if you are losing badly, you won't be ejected from the game or forced to sit out. Everyone can participate for the full duration.
Pro Requires planning and strategy
When choosing your card for play that round, you may pick a card that will benefit you directly (such as one that will give you a building upgrade or money), or you can simply pick a card that you know your opponent wants to prevent them from bringing it into play.
Additionally, if you want to play a card that requires resources you don't have, you can "borrow" resources from your opponent. In exchange for using their resources to play your card, you give them valuable currency to use later. You'll have to weigh whether it's worth giving them currency to use their resources knowing it could come back to hurt you later.
This constant trade off of helping and hindering creates some interesting situations among players where you have to determine what the best possible long term move will be while also considering the moves of those around you.
Pro Stays exciting thanks to 3 different card decks
Each of the three ages has its own unique deck of cards. Each time you pass into a new age, a brand new set of cards come into play. These new cards build on the progress you made in the previous age. For example, resources earned in the first age can be used to build new buildings in the other ages. This helps gameplay feel exciting and fresh as the game progresses, with lots of new options becoming available for expanding your city.
Pro Highly replayable
There's always an opportunity to try something new every game
Each player has their own game board which represents one of the Seven Wonders of the World. These boards clearly lay out the production resource and benefits of each Wonder. You can also choose to play the game using the board's A side or B side. Whichever side you choose drastically changes how that particular Wonder can play certain cards.
Additionally, since this a card game with resources and other variables, no two play sessions will ever be alike. Cards will always be dealt and played in a random order, and how you play these cards will vary based on your Wonder and your personal resources/currency situation.
Pro Super quick gaming sessions
This is an excellent choice for a quick gaming session, as most games only take around 30 minutes. This remains true even if there are seven players.
Cons
Con Expansion overload for newcomers
Since the game's release, it has put out over 12 expansion packs. This might be intimidating to some players who feel like they are getting into the game too late, or overwhelming for collectors who feel like they need to buy every single expansion.
Con Takes a while to setup
In the base game alone and not including any expansions you might be playing with, there are 500 cards that need to be organized into specific piles and arranged by card type. This includes currency cards, estates, provinces, curses, and more.
Con Player interaction is very limited
While you are in direct competition with your opponents to gather the most properties (victory points), you'll most likely be more concerned with managing your own deck rather than what your opponents are doing. There are a few attack cards that allow you to force opponents to discard or unable to draw new cards, but other than those rare exceptions, there is very little actual interaction.
Con Most player interaction is limited
Most player interactions can only be conducted with the people directly sitting next to you. This can include passing cards, borrowing resources from your neighbors, etc. These kinds of actions can only be taken with the person to your immediate right or left. As a result, it sometimes feels like some of the players (especially those across the table) have no direct impact on each other, especially in larger games.
Con Iconography can be tough to learn
There are many different symbols to learn and keep track of, and this is the source of most learning woes for newer players.
Con Mistakes compound over time
In 7 Wonders you can really hurt yourself in the early game. Mistakes tend to be overly punishing and may be difficult to fully recover from. A long term strategy is necessary from turn one onward if you want to succeed.