The wonders of the ancient world have long held a strong grip on the gaming imagination, from the lightweight card drafting of 7 Wonders to the intense strategy board game spreadsheet that is Through the Ages. Trying to crack the more accessible end of the spectrum while still leaving a game about ancient civilization building feeling like a game about ancient civilization building is a tough ask, however. Many games have tried and failed. The latest contender is World Wonders, and it has a surprising secret weappn: super cute wooden meeples representing a range of ancient edifices.
World Wonders might not look much from the outside, what with its gray box — but in play, it’s a visual wonder in and of itself. Its key flair is the inclusion of those 21 tiny wooden figures that depict different ancient monuments. These are, at once, both cute and astonishing, from the board-dominating heights of the giant, green Machu Picchu monument to the three modest but characterful Moai of Easter Island.
What’s in the Box
World Wonders might not look much from the outside, but in play, it’s a visual wonder in and of itself. Its key flair is the inclusion of those 21 tiny wooden figures that depict different ancient moments. These are, at once, both cute and astonishing, from the board-dominating heights of the giant, green Machu Picchu monument to the three modest but characterful Moai of Easter Island.
Players also get another board with tracks representing their progress, one for each color, which matches a stylized wooden piece. These sit on a main board which holds some of the tile stacks and are used to track player orders. At game end, this flips over into a handy score track to tally up the points. There are also some reference cards, some additional boards to hold extra pieces for higher player counts, and tiny wooden markers for the resource tracks, which are neat but very easy to lose.
Rules and How It Plays
Every player gets their own gridded city mat — featuring either a lake or a river, and dotted with natural resource squares — and a set of tracks to record their population and other resources. They also get a free 4-square road tile to start off their city. Anything else they want to build, they have to pay for from the seven gold they get each round. There are generally 10 such rounds, although it can occasionally end earlier.
Buildings also add resources to your tracks, depending on the size and type of district that you purchased. There are three of these plus a fourth, population, with only advances at specific intervals marked on the other tracks. Their only in-game function is to score you points.
For starters, there’s a huge pressure from competing priorities in World Wonders. Roads and the smaller, cheaper district tiles are incredibly hot properties and if you don’t nab one on your first action each round, you may find it’s gone for good. But while these things are both cheap and essential, neither may help you expand your city the way you want. In particular, they may not dovetail with the placement rules for the wonders currently on display, so any districts that do will similarly be hot property.
Despite all the nearly interlocking mechanics, a sense of repetition does begin to set in toward the end of the game. But it remains an engaging strategic challenge, nevertheless. It’s easy to lose sight of one or more of the strategic ideas you’re trying to juggle and fall behind. This is especially true when you’re using the end game goal cards, which throw even more points into the mix, and competing priorities along with them. Another strategy factor is the availability of loans, which net you an additional two gold to spend on a turn at the cost of repaying three later, or some victory points if you fail to do so.