Summary
đĽ a game for 1 to 5 players
âł Play time is 50 – 70 minutes
đ˘ Publisher is Arcane Wonders
Introduction
The great leaders of the ancient world are willing to spend all their gold in order to build the most glorious city ever seen. It is your duty to wisely choose which strategic buildings and wonders best fit the plans for your settlement. Doing so will increase its production of key resources, which in turn increases its population by attracting more residents. Pay attention to your rivals’ plans; they may be eyeing the same building as you are.
Whoever has the most victory points at the end of the game will be declared the winner and creator of the greatest city in all antiquity!
Setting up the game
Place the Main Board in the middle of the table and add the necessary Player Expansion Boards and Building Tiles according to the number of players.
Shuffle the Building Tiles by shape and place each stack face down in the position indicated on its board. Reveal the top tile of each stack and place it on the table directly below.
Place the 1st and 2nd Player Turn Order Pedestals onto their respective spaces on the Main Board.
Then, each player chooses their color. Draw their Player Markers randomly and position them in that order on the Turn Order track on the Main Board.
Place Long Road Tiles and Sets of Short Road Tiles below the revealed Building Tiles, according to the number of players. Set the remaining Road Tiles aside for future rounds.
Place 1 Tower alongside the starting Road Tiles. Set the rest of the Towers aside for future rounds.
Shuffle the Monument Cards. Reveal 3 and put their respective Monuments onto each one. Leave the rest of the deck face down nearby with the remaining Monuments.
Place the Loan Tiles in a pile face up next to the Main Board. Each player takes a Map Board and chooses which side, A or B, will be used for this game.
Give each player 1 Long Road Tile. This tile must be placed on the playerâs map during their first turn of the game.
Give each player the Resource Board of their color to place next to their Map Board, along with Resource Markers to place onto the starting position (0) of each track on their Resource Board.
Now everybody is set and ready to start World Wonders!
Let’s get in on the table
Each player is represented by a marker on the Turn Order track, matching the color of their Resource Board. Although turn order is determined randomly, itâs recommended to place less-experienced players at the front to begin the game. It is important to keep each marker in its position from the previous round until its new position has been determined. At the start of a new round, follow these rules to update the player turn order:
- Players who purchased 1st and 2nd Player Turn Order Pedestals now occupy these positions on the Turn Order track.
- Remaining players are arranged according to their population, from lowest to highest.
Players begin each round with 7 gold to spend on constructing their city. Each player performs one action per turn, purchasing an item to place on their map in an attempt to obtain the most victory points at the end of the game.
On their turn, players must use their action to purchase one of the following items:
â1 Long Road Tile, paying 1 Gold;
â 1 Set of Short Road Tiles, paying 1 Gold;
â 1 Building Tile, paying the cost in Gold indicated on its stack;
â The Tower, paying 2 Gold;
â The 1st Player or 2nd Player Turn Order Pedestal, paying 1 Gold; or
â 1 Monument, spending all their remaining Gold!
In addition to their required action, players have the option to take out or pay off a loan during their turn.
When purchasing pieces that go on the Map Board, they must be placed immediately onto unoccupied spaces and adhere to the following rules:
â A Road Tile must always be adjacent to another Road Tile, the Sidewalk running along the base of the map, or a Tower.
â Short Road Tiles placed on the same turn can be separate from one another if they observe these rules.
â A Tower must always be adjacent to something the player has already placed on their map and must always be placed on top of a land space.
â A Building Tile must always be adjacent to a Road Tile or to a Building Tile of the same type. They can be rotated as desired but must always be placed on top of land spaces.
â A Monument. When a player buys a Monument, they acquire both the card and its piece(s). Immediately reveal a new Monument Card from the deck and place the corresponding Monument on top of it. To purchase a Monument, a player indicated on its card, and they must spend all their remaining Gold!
When a player purchases a building or monument, they must immediately increase their cityâs production by advancing the markers of the resources pictured on its tile or card one space to the right for each symbol. Whenever any of a playerâs three Resource MarkersâFood, Ceramics, and Gearsâlands on or passes over a Population symbol on its track, their Population Marker moves one space to the right: as a cityâs production increases, so does its population! If any playerâs City reaches the final space of the Population track, the game ends at the conclusion of the current round!
Or a loan⌠which grants you this round of extra golden coins. However, if you donât pay off this loan before the end of the game, you will be penalized 2 Victory Points for each loan a player has. But luckily, players can repay these loans, as always, with interest.
Once all players have spent their Gold, the current round ends, and a new round begins. Follow these steps to update the table for a new round:
1. Discard all Building Tiles from the previous round that were not purchased.
2. Reveal a new Building Tile from each stack onto the table directly below and replace all Road Tiles that were purchased.
3. Replace the Tower if it was purchased.
4. Rearrange the Player Markers according to the Turn Order rules.
5. Return all playersâ Gold Markers to the (0) position on their Resource Boards.
The Game Ends
As indicated earlier, if a playerâs Marker reaches the final space of their population track, the game ends at the end of the current round. Otherwise, the game ends after completing ten rounds, as there will be no Building Tiles left on the board to reveal. In either case, flip the Main Board to its reverse side and use each playerâs Marker to tally the final scores:
1. Population: Players earn 1 Victory Point for each Ring their Marker reached or passed on the Population track.
2. Least Produced Resource: Players earn Victory Points for the lowest value on their three Resource tracks.
3. Monuments: Players earn 1 Victory Point for each Ring on their Monument Cards.
4. Natural Resources: Players earn 1 Victory Point for every visible Natural Resource that is adjacent to at least one piece placed on their map.
5. City Districts: Players earn 1 Victory Point for each Building Tile that is surrounded on all sides by any feature other than green spaces. All its sides must be adjacent to other Building Tiles, Road Tiles, Monuments, Towers, Natural Resource spaces, Water spaces, the Sidewalk, or an edge of the map.
6. Loans: Lose 2 Victory Points for each loan that has not been repaid.
The player with the most Victory Points is the winner of World Wonders!
Conclusie & eindscore
Difficulty: 2.25/ 5
Re-playability: 8
Our score: 7 out of 10 dice
Normally, when tile placing is the main game mechanic, I personally do not get very excited. However, Mark, on the other hand, is more of a die-hard fan of these types of games and encourages me to play along. Yes, this is how it went the first time we played World Wonders.
Finally, a game with monuments that look awesome!
Mostly, the monuments caught my eye when we unpacked the box, which already gives a nice quality look to this game. Luckily, not only were these parts good, but also the standard components, like the building and road tiles, which are mostly used in each game. Therefore, these need to be of good quality.
The player board could have been double-layered, but it is still fine. There are some nice small game mechanics that make this game more enjoyable to replay.
The way to earn points and achieve these monuments is nicely done. Players canât buy as many monuments as they would like, but only when they decide to end their turn.
Others can still proceed as they wish and are not pushed to follow this progress.
The standard monuments in the base game already provide a lot of gameplay, while the expansion Mundo Wonders Pack extends this enjoyment. There is also enough diversity in the types of monuments, which can engage more experienced board gamers.
World of Wonders did open my eyes a bit more to these types of games. Itâs easy but fun to puzzle with the buildings, monuments, and their requirements.
Overall, itâs a fine and balanced game for a nice evening with the family.
Thanks to Arcane Wonders for this review copy and the opportunity to write about this game.
