When comparing 7 Wonders vs Balderdash, the Slant community recommends 7 Wonders for most people. In the question“What are the best board games?” 7 Wonders is ranked 13th while Balderdash is ranked 29th. 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 party game
Balderdash has been around since 1984 and has proven itself to be perfect for all kinds of gettogethers. The game is simple and filled with plenty of socialization, bluffing, ridiculous answers, and laughter.
Players receive points from other players, so it’s entirely possible to move forward on the gameboard only because of others applauding what you’ve written. Players can often get some laughs and points out of everyone by making their answers little throwbacks to previous answers.
When everyone has chosen an answer, the correct one is revealed. This can lead to plenty of hilarious discussions about how another answer appeared more probable.
Pro Easy
The game is very easy to teach and accessible because there really isn’t much to it. The basics are straightforward – you take a card, roll dice, and choose the category on the card that matches the rolled number (if a player rolls 6, they can choose the category). Then you say whatever is written under the category to the other players – a word that requires a definition, a movie that needs its plot, etc. While the players are writing their answers, you write down the real one. Once everyone has handed in the answers, you read them aloud. Then the players vote, and you write down which player voted for who. After that points are distributed.
If nobody managed to guess the correct answer, then the “dasher” (the person reading the answers) receives three points which translates to three moves on the gameboard. If a player’s written answer was correct or very close, they receive three points and their answer is not read aloud with the others. Otherwise players receive a point for every other player voting for their answer. Two points are given to whoever guesses the correct one. The first person to reach the finish space on the gameboard wins.
Pro Decent replayability
You will never play the same game of Balderdash twice. The box of the game includes 280 cards with 5 categories on each. Even if you manage to draw the same card in a different game, chances are the dice roll will make you read out a different category anyway.
Pro Allows one to be creative
When writing down answers the player gets to be as creative as they like and the game tends to encourage silly as well as ridiculous answers.
Pro Good with larger groups
The description says 2-6 players but it's really fun with a group of 4+, if more than 6 just pair up the players and it will still be a hilarious time.
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 Highly group dependent
The game requires people to understand it, socialize, be engaged, and have fun with it. If a person isn’t really invested into making creative answers, or just isn’t particularly good at Balderdash, then it can be very easy to spot which answers are incorrect right off the bat, which kind of ruins the experience.
Similarly, if a player is just unfamiliar with the game or maybe just learned it, then their experience also won’t be as fun and pleasant as that of an experienced player who knows the ins and outs of the game. For example, the way the correct answers are formulated, common tendencies, etc.
Con Not suitable for younger children
Balderdash might not be the best fit for children under the recommended age of 12. It’s a smart game that requires some higher language comprehension and general knowledge of many things, for example, movie plots and laws, to be able to effectively bluff as you write and formulate your answers.
Con Not fun with two people
The game devolves into a pure guessing game when played by two people. The gameplay consists of one player writing down the false answer and the true answer and making the other person guess which one is correct. While it keeps some of the bluffing elements, it really takes a lot of the laughter and light-heartedness out of Balderdash.
Con Components included are very sparse
Balderdash, for its price should include more in the box as not even including pencils means the game can not be played without outside equipment.
