7 Wonders

My friend Mike is a big fan of board games, or more specifically, board games that involve strategy. He's introduced me to games like Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, and Agricola. Even more recently, he introduced me to 7 Wonders.

Photo from http://www.gateplay.com/

As with most other strategy games, the objective of 7 Wonders is to end up with the most points. Points can be earned through a variety of ways, from building the different sections of your wonder or from the points provided in the cards you have. Earning points differs per card type, as some cards provide automatic points while others are based on other factors, such as the cards that adjacent players have or how many sections of their wonder they build or even from military tactics. It sounds slightly complicated but it's actually easy enough to understand.

Playing it well, though, takes some effort, and it took me a while to get the hang of things. One really important thing is to pay attention to what other people are doing and building to make sure you are employing the right strategy to maximize your points. The great thing about this game though is that unlike other strategy board games which usually take a couple of hours to complete, it takes about 20-30 minutes to complete one full game of 7 Wonders. As such, I got to play around 5-6 rounds of it before we called it a night.

*****

While we are on the topic of 7 Wonders, I am happy that the Underground River in Puerto Princesa, Palawan is now possibly among the new 7 Wonders of the Natural World. The initial announcement was made back in November, and while the Swiss foundation has warned that this is still provisional and changes may still be made before announcements are finalized early this year, I am hoping that this strengthens tourism in the country.