7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon Expansion Game Review – What Are The Top 3 Most Useful Divinities?
This is my game review or expansion review of 7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon.
What’s Added In The Pantheons Expansion For 7 Wonders Duel?
I’ll start with the biggest addition to the game which comes from the “Divinities” themselves. 5 different specific groups of god cards will change huge aspects of the game. With the power of divinities, it adds the power to accelerate your strategies and add obstacles for your opponents.
Also added are divine tokens that are placed on the card structure for ages 1 and 2. This will allow you to place a divine god somewhere that is more useful for you. Place your favorite divinities closer to you for an easy grab. Even place a worse divinity closer to your opponent to waste their time and resources.
Along with the divinities, they’ve also added plenty of different ease of access ways to gain these divinities. Coin discounts and your ability to effect positioning help gain those more desirable gods.
| General Information |
|---|
| Play Time: 30 Minutes |
| Designer: Antoine Bauza & Bruno Cathala |
| Recommended Age Group: 10+ |
| Player Count: 2 |
| Difficulty 1-10: 4 |
When It Comes To Gameplay, What Does The Expansion Do To Change It?
Overall it adds to almost every aspect of the game and even adds a board piece that has its own mechanic. I will touch on some of my favorite changes that both my wife and I liked.
First, I think the power they gave to the god cards is awesome. Being able to steal cards and even wonders from your opponent is great. It adds a new layer of combat to the already strategic game.
Second, I like the extra board extension that was brought with the new content. Getting to choice placements on where particular divinity cards go, adds yet another level of back and forth. Being able to sabotage your opponent by placing a counterintuitive god card closest to their side of the board. While placing the more promising divinity cards on your side, making them cheaper and harder for your opponent to obtain.
Would You Recommend Buying This For Someone Who Only Has The Base Game?
Yes, I would. Now whenever my wife and I play 7 Wonders Duel, we always play with the Pantheon expansion. The things I like the most are the divinities you get to play with. Getting to use the different powers of the divine gods, helps to open up all kinds of new strategies. No matter what plan of victory you have in mind, you’ll have multiple avenues to consider.
How Does The Gate Work For The Pantheon Expansion?
- When there is only one slot left for divinity cards on the board, place the gate in that remaining slot. Be strategic about placing your god cards, the closer the gate is to you the better. (It will always be the last card to be placed on the new Pantheon side of the board.)
- The amount of coins you will need to buy the gate is doubled. This is why I suggest getting it placed as close to your side as possible. For example, if it’s closer to your side and is in the “Cost 4 coins” slot, it will now be double at 8 coins total. If it’s on the other side, it could cost you 12 or 14 coins to purchase the gate.
- When you do buy the gate you’ll be able to pick the top card from each of the divinity groups and choose one to play immediately. This could change the entire course of how a game plays out. Weigh the advantages carefully, make a plan, and do it.
What Do You Think About The Artwork And Board Additions?
My original game review of the base game was similar to how I felt about the artwork for the Pantheon expansion. I felt that it stuck to the vibe of the game. I enjoyed getting to see all the artwork for the Pantheon cards. It was interesting to see all the different gods and how they’re portrayed through 7 Wonders Duel. Most of the artwork is shown on the divinity cards, which all look awesome.
Who Are Your Top 3 Divinities?
- RA – Steal an opponent’s Wonder that has not yet been constructed; it is added to your Wonders.
- I love Ra for his ability to take a really good Wonder away from your opponent. Sometimes they will be banking on keeping that wonder so if you can get Ra early you can sometimes catch them by surprise.
- TANIT – Take 12 coins from the bank.
- 12 coins are such an insane amount, I’ve had a couple of times now where I will play Tanit close to my side of the board just so I can buy here and gain 8 coins extra. The lower the cost you can’t get her the better. Sometimes you can get her positioned in your 4-coin cost slot and have some coin discounts and her value goes up even more.
- NISABA – Place the Snake token on an opponent’s green card. Nisaba is worth the scientific symbol shown on the card.
- Nisaba is great for when you need to get that scientific victory. Quite often your opponent will take one of two of the symbols that you might need so Nisaba’s snake will help to make that easier.
What Do You Think Of The 2 New Wonders Added?
- The Divine Theater – Reveal all of the cards from a Mythology deck of your choice. Choose one of the Divinities revealed and activate it for free. Then stack the unused cards, in the order of their choice. This Wonder is worth 2 victory points
- I think the ability is great for this wonder. Sometimes depending on your plan or strategy for the game, you might need a specific Pantheon card. This Wonder’s effect will help to bring your plans together, I think it’s good but you need to know what you’re looking for.
- The Sanctuary – Pantheons are reduced by 2 coins for you. Immediately play a second turn.
- The Sanctuary is also good but it ends up on my back burner most of the time. If I already have the resources to pick it up without spending any extra coins then I will get this Wonder early. This Wonder will help a ton to collect as many Patheon cards as possible.
What Do You Think Of The 3 New Progress Tokens Added?
My favorite of the new progress tokens is the “Poliorcetics” token. If you’re going back and forth in a military battle and are slowly draining your opponent’s coins then I think that puts you in a great position.
- Engineering – For the cost of 1 coin you may purchase any card that has the chain symbol below its cost. Even if you don’t own the building or token that has that symbol.
- This can work well with getting a lot of victory points through blue cards.
- Poliorcetics – Each time you move the “Conflict Token” forward on the war track, your opponent loses a coin for each space moved.
- I love this progress token for any pursuit of a military victory, it can crash your opponent’s coin purse and give you more of an advantage toward your military victory.
- Mysticism – At the end of the game, you score 2 victory points for each Mythology token, and each offering token still in your possession.
- Depending on how well you did in the early game picking up the Mythology tokens and offering tokens, this could mean a boost in victory points that could lead you to victory.
What Are The New Guild Cards Like?
Picking up those early Mythology tokens in Age 1 can really play a big part in the late game for your guild cards. Simply grabbing 2 guild cards gives you 12 victory points, and picking up 3 can be a game-breaker. In the last game my wife and I played, I was so focused on getting my scientific victory that I didn’t realize that she had picked up all three of the guilds she needed by the end of the game. Let us just say I didn’t get my 6th scientific symbol and she won the game in a landslide.
How Do You Buy Divinities From The Pantheon?
There is a total of 6 slots on the Pantheon board. Around the edges are coin symbols, arrows, and amounts that you or your opponent can pay for whatever is in that slot of the Pantheon. So the cards that are closer to your side will be less expensive and the cards on the other side will be more expensive.
The “Gate” is the only card that changes the value of the coin cost by doubling whatever the players have to pay in that slot.
Are There More Expansions To Choose From?
Yes! 7 Wonders Duel: Pantheons is the second expansion to be released. The first was an expansion called “Agora”. I haven’t had a chance to play it yet but I will leave a link to Amazon if you’re interested.
Would My Kids Be Able To Understand The New Content Added?
Yes! I think that a child who understands and comprehensive the base game will do fine with this expansion. They keep to simple mechanics, which helps to understand the game fully.
How Much Time Does It Take To Play With The Expansion?
On average a game of 7 Wonders Duel with the Pantheon expansion last about 30 minutes. That’s been our experience playing the expansion as well. Some of our faster games lasted about 20 minutes.
My Wife’s 2 Cents
What Did You Think About The Game?
This expansion adds a good element to the game. I like that it has some extra cards to put in the stacks and has Greek Gods that you can pick from and they each have special effects. It adds another layer of competitiveness, which I love. Also, this is another game of 7 Wonders that they package really well.
3 Games We Recommend
| Game | Price | My Review |
| CATAN | Check On Amazon | My Review |
| FIRE TOWER | Check On Amazon | My Review |
| SPLENDOR | Check On Amazon | My Review |
Thanks for taking the time to look over my review. I hope that it brought you some value. God Bless.