Pinman

The beauty of the 7 Wonders – Leaders expansion is how easily it fits into the original game, and how little time it requires to pick it up and play. The Leaders expansion adds just the smallest dimension to the game by taking what was once dead time in the game (in between ages where age cards are being passed out) and makes it active (i.e. deciding which of your leaders to put into play). If you have played 7 Wonders before and like it, there is absolutely no reason not to get this expansion as it adds another layer of depth and cuts down on dead time where players are waiting for cards to be passed out.

I will start this review by saying that if you are not a fan of board games that require strategic thinking or having a typical game run longer than 30 minutes, this game is probably not for you.

That being said, let me tell you about all the wonderful things this game brings to the table and why it has become my absolute favorite board game. First of all, I grew up a role-playing game nerd (i.e. Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, etc.). This game has a very RPG feel to it, which combines elements of Final Fantasy (characters), Diablo (dungeon crawling) and Fallout (battle system). This game is built for 2-6 players (1-5 heroes and 1 dark consul)and based on the number of heroes you play with or the game style you select, can range from from 40 minutes per play to 3 hours. I warn people trying this game for the first time, the first four games you play will take you twice as long as a seasoned player. Why is that you ask? Well, while the rules are not overly complex, there are quite a few! Unfortunately as well (as this is why I gave it three stars above), they are not overly specific or thorough in certain situations. This will lead you to look up several of these rules online (for addendums made by the publisher after the game was initially released). After you get the hang of it though, get ready to play a game that is more addicting than any board game I’ve ever played.

Now, the objective of this game is to a) destroy the dungeon mini-boss/boss if you’re the heroes or b)destroy all the heroes if you’re the dark consul. The heroes camp has 8 heroes to choose from with the standard set, but with the expansions and special heroes that exist, this can be expanded to 16 (soon to be upwards of 30 when the Forgotten King and associated warband expansions come out in December of 2014). The Dark Consul has about has 12 ‘spawning options’ to choose from (each of which contain 4-5 sets of unique monsters). This amount of variability is what really draws me to the game because dungeon crawls never get stale. You could play every single day, and feasibly never play the same exact game due to hero/consul combos. The battles are decided by using each of your unique characters special abilities and through a dice rolling system that is simple, yet much more strategic than any other typical dungeon crawling board game.

I could literally go on forever about this game, but as I only have 1000 words, I’m going to stop short and give a pros/cons summary:
Pros: Extreme variability, deep-strategic game, incredibly sculpted high quality minis, oportunity to customize and paint your characters, ability to involve up to six people per game
Cons: Rules not overly clear, minis do require assembly (only for the main game — not expos), play cards are a little thin for my liking.