Should I Play 7 Wonders: Cities?

The Seven Wonders: Cities expansion adds a variety of new mechanics and player interactions to the base game. This expansion introduces black cards, which bring fresh abilities and strategies to each of the three eras. Players now have eight cards per turn instead of seven, adding more choices and complexity. The black cards focus on diplomacy, resource manipulation, and affecting other players by making them lose coins or take victory point penalties.

Gameplay Mechanics:

• Black Cards: These are added based on the number of players and introduce effects such as diplomacy (opting out of conflicts), resource bonuses, and forcing opponents to lose coins or victory points.
• Diplomacy Tokens: These allow players to avoid battles, neither winning nor losing points from military conflicts.
• More Player Interaction: Many cards affect opponents directly, such as reducing their coins or copying their technologies, leading to more strategic and interactive gameplay.
• New Guilds & Leaders: The expansion includes new guild cards and leaders that integrate with the previous Leaders expansion, offering synergy with black cards and additional strategies.
• New Civilizations: Two new civilizations, Byzantium and Petra, are introduced, each with unique abilities that affect gameplay.

Why It’s Fun: The Cities expansion ramps up the interaction between players, making every decision impactful, particularly when it comes to managing resources and coins. Players must balance building their wonders while also watching their opponents, as many cards directly impact others. This expansion is also relatively simple to integrate into the base game, making it accessible even to newer players.

Who Might Enjoy It:

• Fans of Seven Wonders looking for more player interaction.
• Players who enjoy expansions that add depth without overwhelming new rules.
• Groups who like a bit of “take that” in their strategy games, where they can hinder opponents’ progress.