7 Wonders second edition announced, releasing this September
The difference is night and day.
7 Wonders is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a second edition out later this year, giving the civilisation-building card-drafting game a visual overhaul and rules refresh.
The new 7 Wonders appears to leave the gameplay of Antoine Bauza’s 2010 original untouched, focusing on making the game easier to learn and play with graphical improvements.
The game’s cards - players take turns to pick one from a starting hand of seven, before passing the remainder to their neighbour - have been redesigned to make the icons representing resources and abilities clearer. Chosen cards stay in front of players, enabling them to chain together icons to purchase future cards - including wonders - earn points and perform other actions to outpace their opponents’ civilisations.
The wonder cards in the second edition are larger than before to make them easier to read and identify, and feature alternative day and night sides. The different sides appear to have no gameplay effect, simply serving as a visual flourish.
While 7 Wonders’ rules remain unchanged, publisher Repos Productions said its rulebook has been rewritten for better clarity.
7 Wonders: Second Edition box is also larger than the original game - matching other Repos releases - and features updated cover art and a new logo.
Alongside the second edition of the base game releasing in September, three of 7 Wonders’ seven expansions - Armada, Cities and Leaders - will receive refreshed new editions to match the new visual style. No announcements have been made about new editions of the game’s remaining expansions.
7 Wonders received the Kennerspiel des Jahres - the German award for ‘Expert Game of the Year’ - in 2011, and has since gone on to sell more than a million copies, Repos announced. It was followed by a two-player spin-off co-designed by Bauza and Bruno Cathala, 7 Wonders Duel, in 2015, which has shifted over half a million copies. A digital version of the game was released for mobile in late 2017.
7 Wonders: Second Edition will cost $60 upon release, with Cities and Leaders each $35. Armada will cost $40.