Architects – Medals Recreation Assessment — Meeple Mountain

Bob’s pockets flew open when Repos introduced an enlargement for a household favourite. Try his overview of seven Wonders: Architects – Medals.

Almost two years in the past, I sang the praises of 7 Wonders: Architects as worthy of a spot within the Surprise-verse alongside its extra mature colleagues, 7 Wonders and 7 Wonders: Duel. I spoke of velocity and attraction as if it had been destined to be a staple household recreation. 

I nonetheless consider all of these issues. In actual fact, 7 Wonders: Architects has remained a gentle play in our household and is one among our most-played titles total. The youthful kiddos nonetheless adore it (now six and eleven years outdated), and the youngsters nonetheless be part of us for the expertise. 

After demonstrating entire weeks of endurance following the discharge, we grabbed a replica of 7 Wonders: Architects – Medals, the primary enlargement, from an out-of-town FLGS and introduced it to the holiday desk. What an excellent determination. 

Surprise me this…

Medals brings two new Wonders to the desk—the Roman Colosseum and the traditional metropolis of Ur. The Colosseum twice permits for the theft of a single card from one other participant—as tribute—solely to then present a free card from the middle as benevolent compensation. Ur brings the sport’s beloved Kitty house to roost together with a free card. These mid-game triggers match the sport like a glove with out feeling contrived.

Extra considerably, the titular Medals are a stack of stickered plastic targets for gamers to chase. One four-point medal sits close to each deck of playing cards, goading the gamers to the left and proper of it to have interaction the pursuit: first participant to 3 blue playing cards, first participant to seven whole playing cards, first participant to 2 Surprise sections plus the Kitty. These mini-races are incredible. The “superior” module rightly recommends including two medals to the middle of the desk as communal bait. 

Toss in a couple of extra Progress tokens—together with a 3rd copy of the cherished 4pt/12pt token to boost the realm of scientific exploration—and this skinny field is a clean execution of “extra of what I really like.”

If I had been to conjure a grievance in opposition to this extra providing, it might be that there is no such thing as a answer at current to mix the bits into one field with out ditching the sport’s best comfort: these participant storage trays. If you happen to’re not against field carry, you possibly can mix the brand new with the outdated; however Medals has a low profile in the event you can’t bear the thought. 

If Medals modifications the bottom recreation, it’s by opening a door to victory that doesn’t require profitable the race to complete the Surprise. The Surprise can’t be ignored, however there are sixteen potential factors lingering within the medals, plus a handful of Progress tokens that beef up the scoreboard in different attention-grabbing methods. General, the brand new aspect tracks are fruitful, and so they additionally entice gamers to have interaction each avenue of play. If you happen to’re a participant who sometimes ignores Navy, for instance, the Navy medal in your proper and the Acquire-all-five-card-types Medal in your left may require a little bit of diversification. Higher but, the Progress token that means that you can hold on to your horned protect playing cards after battle simply may make a fighter of a lover. Expansions are greatest once they improve and encourage with out rewriting the script. 

All in all, Medals gently and compellingly sticks its grubby paws into each cranny of 7 Wonders: Architects. The result’s a extra complicated expertise—not complicated like Vinhos, however complicated like cup of espresso. The flavour profile is a bit of richer, providing that additional notice to the participant who needs only a bit extra to speak about. If you happen to love 7 Wonders: Architects, you received’t remorse instantly including Medals to the desk.