When I think of the board game 7 Wonders, the first word that comes to mind is 'strategy'. This iconic drafting game is often the middle ground between gateway games and heavier tabletop titles, offering approachable rules with enough crunch to keep veterans really invested. What I don't think of is overly random mechanics - which will play a big role in the game's next spinoff, 7 Wonders Dice.
Repos Production first announced 7 Wonders Dice on May 8. It's apparently "a game played over a series of turns, during which you will use your dice to construct your city". "At the end of the game, count up all of your points to see who has the highest score."
So far, so board games - there aren't many mechanics to speculate about. The announcement does mention some of the staples of a 7 Wonders game - scientific advances, managing resources, and developing commerce - but little else is said. One early product page does suggest that this will be a roll-and-write, but the publisher has not confirmed these details.
All I know is that dice equals randomness. Randomness is the enemy of strategy, as the best-laid plans can always be fumbled by a bad roll. 7 Wonders involved drafting shuffled cards, so it was never as airtight as a heavy eurogame, but it had enough certainties for you to build a strategy around. You could draft with a degree of confidence that your choices would harm another player's plans or that a certain card was not in play.
That decision-making is where the joy of 7 Wonders lies. Roll and writes (if that's what 7 Wonders Dice turns out to be) offer their own form of decision-making, but they're more about reacting to setbacks than carefully crafting chains. They're on the lighter side of strategy, something that will make the series even more approachable for newbies but feels less like the 7 Wonders I know and love.
It's obviously too early to cast a complete judgment on this new board game. Plus, 7 Wonders has proven before, in the form of 7 Wonders Duel, that the original formula can be successfully adapted. I just find myself wary of a version of this civilization builder where the dice have more control than the players do.
For more on the best board games, here are the couples' board games we'd recommend. Or, if you'd like to share your thoughts on 7 Wonders Dice, we're all ears over in the Wargamer Discord.