I heard a lot of people say that the Duel variant is the better game.
There is also 7 Wonders or Agricola with full games and duel version. Which one do you prefer?
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Not personally a fan of 7 Wonders, while I enjoy drafting as a mechanic I don’t feel like it has enough heft to make an entire game out of it.
I LOVE 7 Wonders duel! The gameplay and decision trees get really interesting, and especially playing against the same opponent repeatedly whole metas and strategies develop and get beat and repeat. Never tried the xpacs, as I feel the base game is so tight and interesting and I worry about adding extra bloat into such a lean system
I’m in the same boat as you. 7 Wonders is okay, but I adored 7 Wonders Duel and find myself going back to it again and again with my spouse.
I like both but duel is much stronger. And I agree that, at least for the one we have, expansions are not worth adding
As usual, it depends:
Splendor pros:
- Plays 2-4 (vs strictly 2 for Duel)
- Simpler rules, easier to teach
- Larger chips, better tactility
- Expansion available
Splendor Duel pros:
- Rules and components optimized for 2p
- Nicer card art (subjective)
- More decisions, more interesting draft, multiple win conditions
- Much smaller box, reasonably sized for the game (unlike the original)
If you plan on playing with more than 2 then original Splendor is the obvious choice. It’s still a decent choice even if you will only ever play at 2 but value the simplicity and purity of the original design.
Duel is a more interesting game thanks to the new draft and multiple win conditions. “More” and “more interesting” is not automatically better under all circumstances though.
Personally I am keeping both even though we almost always play at 2. We play Duel more but sometimes I just want to play regular Splendor and Duel is not a 1-1 replacement.
The Duel box conveniently fits inside the original’s box (insert tossed). I am no longer planning to get the Cities of Splendor expansion thoguh, Duel is filling the “Splendor with more stuff” space nicely.
For 7 Wonders it’s more clear cut, Duel is a much better option for 2p.
For Agricola the two games are almost too different to compare. All Creatures (big box) is great in its own way but doesn’t feel like a replacement for the original.
Splendor and Agricola I’ve played the base games only so I can’t say, but between 7 wonders and duel I prefer clearly the duel version, even if probably the base is the better game objectively.
I really like both 7 wonders. The big game is easy to teach and can be played with 7 people which is rare for a non-party game. But we played a lot of duel too. Even got an expansion but were not that impressed. I think it was called pantheon.
7 wonders duel is such a good basegame. The focus on the limitted ways to victory is its main strength, and the toght card pool. It is difficult to add something equally strong, without adding too many side focusses, or inbalances. We play mainly the base game due to this.
I completely agree, it works really well. I also find that its very possible to pull of a military victory even if far behind on most other metrics.
7 Wonders and the Duel version have similar feel and vibe, but the mechanics aren’t quite the same. The Fuel version feels more intense for some reason.
One big difference between 7 Wonders and Splendor is that the versions are mutually exclusive; 7 Wonders needs a minimum of 3 players.
Really? That’s interesting, because I do think 7 Wonders has enough interesting decisions throughout the game to keep it going. I don’t think it’s a particularly heavy game but it’s still pretty fun, and being able to do 7 players is bonus when you have that many people over.
Duel is definitely the stronger game though, so I agree on that. BBG’s ratings line up with that view,.
Splendor Duel is hands down better if you’re playing at 2 players.
Having played all 6 versions quite a few times, my preferred order for 2 players:
Agricola
7 Wonders Duel
Splendor Duel
Agricola All Creatures Big and Small
Splendor
Not applicable: 7 Wonders
Agricola and 7 Wonders also top for best solo variants
