Does 7 Wonders Edifice Add Enough New Content?

7 Wonders is one of the most popular games on the planet right now. And it’s won a ton of awards as well. While many folks think about Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride when discussing the gateway in more serious and strategic board games, 7 Wonders should be on that list as well.

Not only is it easy to learn and teach, but it is accessible, and each game almost always feels different than the last. This week, Asmodee Canada sent over the latest expansion for 7 Wonders, 7 Wonders Edifice. Does this expansion add enough for you to add it into your next game? Let’s take a look.

How to Play

In 7 Wonders Edifice, players are working together to construct and Edifice and earn rewards for doing so. Those that do not help with the build, however, receive harsh penalties if the build itself is not completed within the given age! After setting up a game of 7 Wonders as you normally would, players select three Edifices from the box, one per age, and place them construction side up on the table. On each card, place age tokens equal to the number of players, minus 1. That’s all there is to the setup. New reference cards are included in the box to show off new card abilities and penalties.

On your turn, when you construct a wonder phase on your player board, you have the option of paying an additional cost to also help construct that age’s Edifice in the middle of the table.

If there are still age tokens on the card, you can pay the cost shown in the top left hand corner of the Edifice card and take one of the tokens, placing it on your player board. It is important to remember that you MUST be able to both pay the cost of upgrading your wonder, and pay the cost of Edifice in the middle of the table. Helping construct the Edifice is not something you can decide to do later.

If all of the age tokens are removed from a card during the current age – I, II, or III – the Edifice is considered built and each player with that age token received the benefits printed on the completed side of the card.

These bonuses range from coins to end game victory points. The lone player who did not help with the construction of the Edifice receives nothing, but since the construction was successful, they also do not receive any penalties.

If an Edifice is NOT completed within a given round, those who helped with the construction will not receive any bonus. However, they will not receive a penalty either.

Those who did NOT help with the construction each receive the penalty printed on the card. This could be negative points, or even the loss of cards from within your empire. Those who cannot suffer a penalty – because they might not have the card required to discard – instead take negative victory points that get increasingly bad depending on which age you are in.

Worth Adding In?

Ultimately, folding the 7 Wonders Edifice expansion into the main game is pretty seamless, and we enjoyed the added task in the middle of the table. After playing it a few times, the conclusion was that the expansion didn’t add a ton of strategy to the game, but it probably wasn’t something we would ever play without.

It’s so easy to get on the table and setup, and it does slightly alter how you approach the game. While this isn’t my favourite 7 Wonders expansions currently available, it’s still one I won’t leave out of future games. It’s just too simple not to add!

There are a few new symbols and phrases that will need to be learned in order to play, but thankfully brand new reference sheets are included in the box. Also added are two brand new wonders to complete – Ur and Carthage. The expansion obviously also works with all previously released wonders!

If you are asking me if 7 Wonders Edifice is breaking ground in the world of 7 Wonders, I would say no. However, the simplicity of the setup and the ease of teaching makes it a great little addition to the game. Even if not a ton is going to change strategically, there is enough new here to make players pause and think. That really is my favourite kind of game expansion!