7 Wonders Duel, with Pantheon expansion

7 Wonders Duel

In many ways 7 Wonders Duel resembles its parent game 7 Wonders. Over three ages, players acquire cards that provide resources or advance their military or scientific development in order to develop a civilization and complete wonders. What's different about 7 Wonders Duel is that, as the title suggests, the game is solely for two players.

Players do not draft cards simultaneously from decks of cards, but from a display of face-down and face-up cards arranged at the start of a round. A player can take a card only if it's not covered by any others, so timing comes into play, as it can with bonus moves that allow the player to take a second card immediately. As in the original game, each acquired card can be built, discarded for coins, or used to construct a wonder. Each player also starts with four wonder cards, and the construction of a wonder provides its owner with a special ability. Only seven wonders can be built, though, so one player will end up short.

Players can purchase resources at any time from the bank, or they can gain cards during the game that provide them with resources for future building; as they are acquired, the cost for those resources increases for the opponent, representing the owner's dominance in this area.

You can win 7 Wonders Duel in one of three ways: each time you acquire a military card, you advance the military marker toward your opponent's capital (also giving you a bonus at certain positions). If you reach the opponent's capital, you win the game immediately. Or if you acquire six of seven different scientific symbols, you achieve scientific dominance and win immediately. If none of these situations occurs, then the player with the most points at the end of the game wins.

7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon

A pantheon from several civilizations — including Greek, Egyptian, and Middle-Eastern — gets added to 7 Wonders Duel in 7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon, with each god having its own power to help you or hinder your opponent.

During Age I you collect mythology tokens — which allow you to choose which deities have a place in the Pantheon — and during Age II you collect offering tokens, which help you court those deities. Then, during Ages II and III, you can activate a god or goddess in the Pantheon instead of taking a card from the pyramid. To do so, you pay whatever that god or goddess demands from you in offerings, then place it next to your city.

With Isis on your side, you can use a card from the discard pile to construct one of your Wonders for free. Zeus, whose nod determines what happens and what does not, enables you to discard any single card from the card structure that you want, as well as any mythology or offering token that may be on it. The Phoenician goddess Tanit, whose people were renowned for trade, fills your coffers with twelve pieces of gold. Enki, the Sumerian god of crafts, technology, and creation, lets you choose one of two progress tokens. Minerva's ability to stop the conflict pawn from moving toward you can assist with a military victory or save you from military defeat.

What's more, instead of adding three guild cards to the deck for Age III, you add three of five Grand Temples. Each Grand Temple belongs to a different Mediterranean culture, and if you possess a mythology token from that culture, you can build the temple for free. These temples are worth a total of 5, 12, or 21 points, depending on how many you build.

7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon also includes two new Wonders: the Sanctuary (which gives you an additional turn and allows you to invoke deities at a reduced price) and the Divine Theater (which grants points and access to additional gods).