When comparing 7 Wonders vs Captain Sonar, 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 Captain Sonar is ranked 6th. 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 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.
Pro A great teamwork experience
All player roles have great synergy with one another, so by performing your role to the best of your abilities, it allows your teammates to work more efficiently. Regardless of which role you choose (captain, first mate, engineer, or radio operator), each and every one is important and vital to the success of your team.
For example, each time the submarine is moved, the captain decides the direction, the engineer ensures no systems are overloaded, the radio operator will be determining the position of the enemy sub, and the first mate can start getting the weapons charged and ready to deploy.
It's a lot of fun when your team becomes a well oiled machine, communicating and working together to bring down your opponent's submarine as a group effort.
Pro Pace can be as relaxed or frantic as you want
The game has rules for both real time and turn-based play. With real time, everyone on both teams is able to perform their roles simultaneously which usually results in a bunch of people shouting over each other in excitement and panic. On the other hand, turn based play is much more relaxed. Teams are able to take their time when making decisions and forming strategies.
Pro Versatile thanks to its many different roles
Each team controls their own submarine with four different crew member roles to choose from. For one game you might opt to the be the captain and plot the course of the submarine, and the next you may choose to be the first mate who prepares and deploys weapons. Depending on which role you play, your game experience will be vastly different as each role has very different responsibilities.
Pro Tense gameplay
Communicating with your team and trying to coordinate your submarine's movements, track the enemy sub, and keep all your systems running can be tense in all the right ways. Relying on your teammates to perform their crew member roles effectively while you scramble to perform your own results in an atmosphere where everyone is frantically working towards outplaying the other team. This is all compounded by the fact that a team of real human opponents is doing the same thing to you in a suspenseful game of cat and mouse.
Pro Scales to groups of various sizes
Captain Sonar scales well to groups of anywhere between two and eight players. While ideally, you'd want 4 players on each team to ensure all four roles are filled, it's entirely possible for you to take on multiple roles if needed. This means, even with 2 players, it's fully playable.
Pro Extremely easy to set up and start playing
The game consists of a game board for each player depending on their chosen role, clear plastic sheets, and a black marker. Setting up is as easy as taking the game boards out and placing a clear plastic sheet over each one. There's no tokens, dice, or other pieces to keep track of.
Cons
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.
Con One bad player can ruin your team effort
The game is highly dependent on your team working together to track and damage the opposing team's submarine. Since each role is vital to success, if a teammate is playing their chosen role badly, it will negatively impact the entire team.
