7 Wonders: Architects

The rules are so easy that even six-year-olds can learn to play within two rounds. The game plays in 30 mins maximum making it a quick game.

7 Wonders & 7 Wonders duel are a bit complex than 7 Wonders: Architects. This fills the gap left behind by the other two by being light on strategy and complexity, making it easy to teach kids.

The artwork of the game is excellent. The cards even contain colorblind-friendly symbols.

You can play 7 Wonders: Architects with up to 7 players making it a great choice when your gaming group is big.

Luck plays a more significant role in the gameplay. Players who don't prefer luck-based games will not like 7 Wonders: Architects.

If one is looking for a more strategic game with less randomness, one can consider buying 7 Wonders or 7 Wonders duel.

Each wonder in the game has a set number of cards in each type. Knowing this beforehand prepares you for what to expect in the deck as the game progresses. The below table taken from a BGG thread has data about the card distribution in the main deck as well as the wonders deck.

It's better to get ahead in red cards early in the game. This can give you six victory points whenever a battle is triggered. Taking red cards with only shields is preferred, as the ones with horns are discarded after a battle.

Also, once ahead in red cards, stop taking more red or red cards with horns to trigger a battle. You can save your turn for other better cards. Anyway, other players may start a battle from which you can benefit.

It can be tempting to go after progress tokens. But constructing the wonders will give you the most victory points at the end game. Also, resource cards can get scarce as other players may also compete for those. So, when there's a chance of taking a resource card that will be helpful to you, take that.

The only exception is during the end game; if you cannot complete your wonder before an opponent, you can try taking other cards that will maximize your victory points.

Green cards can give you progress tokens. To acquire a progress token, you must spend two cards of the same symbol or three cards of different symbols. The progress token will let you take more cards or earn extra points at the end game.

It's advisable not to go after scientific symbols in the early game. Because to get any benefit out of the green cards, you must first collect at least two cards, two turns that could have been used to acquire other valuable cards.

After that, if you take a progress token that lets you take extra cards, you must wait for that specific type of card to come, and you may have to use the effect at least twice to break even with the cards you spent to get that progress token.

Let's say you have six military tokens and two blue cards with cats. Assume you won't complete your wonder before an opponent. When it's your turn to take a progress token with face-up options: Decor, Politics and Strategy. You can take Strategy, which gives you the maximum points of six for your military tokens.

The Cat pawn is powerful as it lets you look at the top card of the main deck before taking it. Also, it gives two victory points if you have it at the end game. However, over 11% of the cards in the game let you take control of the cat pawn. Hence, you may not even use its effect once before someone takes it away.