We had sealed the three gates that had appeared by the end of the eighth turn and someone was ready to dive into the fourth gate if we had continued.

Our first gate opened…and on the second turned we surged…which piled all the monsters at the one gate. And it took people at least two turns to get there to fight them. We hit the monster limit fast…and went over the outskirts limit on the next turn…Then…we brought everything down to a manageable level… and nothing flared up too bad.

I was forced to kill a lot of monsters to get into the gate that I eventually sealed… but got delayed two extra turns while I was in there. So no one could benefit from my monster trophies…not even me.I spent 5 of eight turns in the other world….coming out just in time for the game to end.

The other players fought monsters, but no one fought enough toughness worth of monsters to make them worth anyone’s while. I was the only one with five toughness worth.

I can see that getting used to cards makes it easier to read them… the problem is, rewarding experienced players doesn’t get new players to keep coming back. At least, I wouldn’t think it did.

Anyway…there’s my ten cents on it all. Glad you like it man. I just wish I did… cause I know a lot of people who do…and it’s just not something I want to play again.

The thing about not too many gates opening… did you guys try to shut them down right away? Presumably you had trouble getting more gates because new ones kept “opening” in places where gates already were. If you shut them down without worrying about sealing them, you can collect a lot more gate trophies.

Even when a gate opens where another gate already is, that adds a lot of monsters to the board, which is more opportunity to kill those monsters. Collecting monster trophies is extremely invaluable towards obtaining more supplies, skills, and allies to boost your characters abilities and survive the game.

Of course last time I played, we added an expansion that totally broke things down. It added a ton of mythos cards that added 2 markers to the doom track without opening any gates. No gates to close and no monsters to fight and collect – that was kind of a lame experience

A final note – for the people this game is targeted towards, the flavor text isn’t bothersome at all. It adds some excitement and flavor to the first few plays, but as you get more experience you learn to skim cards to quickly see the check you need to make and the possible results. And if the results really are literally nothing happening vs. nothing happening because of the current player’s situation, just don’t bother rolling. There’s no law.

/endscene

I’ve been satisfied with the feeling that it is much more choice than luck, but that a random shuffle must be used to get the cards in play. Like baseball. Where you hit the ball isn’t as important as hitting the ball. (kind of.)

7 Wonders hasn’t gotten onto my buy list yet more due to limited funds than my opinion on the game. I really enjoy it, especially as something between heavier games.

The thing I can’t reconcile in my own mind is, to what extent is card luck a factor, if you only get to play one card from the hand you’re dealt, and you decide what cards to pass to the next player? Does that effectively nullify card luck for the most part?

But the bottom line is that it’s fun, it’s quick, and it requires planning. Good stuff.

I think in general, the parental ‘disapproval’ exists for both forms of creation. My family seems to think that writing will lead me nowhere.

To get nitty gritty, I think that not only are the hobbies not mutually exclusive, but they are both things that are, dare I say, critical to development in the modern world. The ability to play, and learn through play, are evolutionary advantages. So a well designed game can absolutely encourage all the right sorts of development. Books, specifically good books, do the same thing, as we also have the ability to learn from others’ experiences.

Combined, this is what set human beings apart, from an evolutionary perspective. So giving up one or the other just seems folly.