Game Rules — 7 Wonders Score Calculator

🏛️ Overview

7 Wonders is a card-drafting game for 2–7 players spanning three Ages of ancient history. Each player leads a great civilisation and its Wonder, simultaneously developing their city by choosing cards from a shared hand and passing the rest to their neighbour.

The game takes around 30 minutes regardless of player count, because all players act at the same time.

      Goal
      Build the most powerful civilisation by the end of Age III — earning Victory Points through military might, scientific discovery, trade, civil construction, and the stages of your Wonder.
    

⚙️ Setup

Give each player a Wonder board (chosen randomly or by preference) and place it Resource side up.
Each player takes 3 coins from the bank.
Separate the cards into three Age decks (I, II, III).
Remove cards from each Age deck according to player count, then add the appropriate Guild cards to the Age III deck and shuffle:
Deal 7 cards face-down to each player (plus the Gaïa hand — see below). Players look at their own hand privately.
The player who most recently visited a museum goes first (or choose randomly). They will be the starting player for card-passing direction.

⚡ 2-Player Special Rule — The Gaïa Hand

Deal a third 7-card hand face-down as the Gaïa (dummy player). At the start of each turn, before players choose their cards, flip the top card of the Gaïa hand face-up and place it in the discard pile. Then both players simultaneously choose and play their card as normal. The remaining Gaïa cards are passed along with the other hands.

Gaïa cards are never built — they are simply removed from the game each round. This keeps the draft balanced and unpredictable for two players.

🃏 Card Types

Every card belongs to one of seven colour-coded types. A card's colour tells you what it does and how it scores.

🪵

Brown — Raw Resources

Produce Wood, Stone, Ore, or Clay. Essential for building structures and Wonder stages.

⚗️

Grey — Manufactured Goods

Produce Glass, Loom, or Papyrus. Required for advanced buildings and Wonder stages.

Blue — Civilian Structures

Score flat Victory Points. No special effects — purely additive scoring.

Yellow — Commercial

Generate coins, reduce trade costs with neighbours, or score VP based on structures built.

Red — Military

Add Shield symbols. More shields than your neighbour in each Age means Victory Points.

Green — Scientific

Show Compass, Tablet, or Gear symbols. Scoring is exponential — sets are powerful.

🔮

Purple — Guilds

Score VP based on what you or your neighbours have built. Only in Age III.

🔄 Turn Structure

The game is played over 3 Ages. Each Age has 6 rounds. In every round, all players act simultaneously:

1

Choose a Card — Each player secretly selects one card from their hand and places it face-down in front of them.

2

Reveal — All players reveal their chosen cards simultaneously.

3

Apply the Card — Each player does one of three things with their card:

Build it — Pay costs (resources or coins) and add it to your city.
Build a Wonder Stage — Place the card face-down under your Wonder board and advance one stage.
Sell it — Discard the card and take 3 coins from the bank.

4

Pass the Hand — Each player passes their remaining cards to the next player. In Ages I & III pass left; in Age II pass right.

After 6 rounds, only 1 card remains in each hand — this card is discarded face-down.

Then Military Conflict is resolved before moving to the next Age.

      💡 Free Buildings
      Some cards have a free chain symbol. If you have previously built the listed card, you may build its successor for free, without paying any resources or coins.
    

      💡 Trading Resources
      If you lack a resource, you may buy it from a neighbouring city for 2 coins (default), or 1 coin if you have a commercial card that reduces the cost. You cannot buy from the bank directly — only from your left or right neighbour.
    

Military Conflicts

At the end of each Age, each player compares their total Shield count with each of their two neighbours (left and right) separately.

Age	Win vs. neighbour	Loss vs. neighbour
Age I	+1 VP	−1 VP
Age II	+3 VP	−1 VP
Age III	+5 VP	−1 VP

Military tokens are kept face-up in front of each player and count toward the final score. A player can earn a maximum of +18 VP and a minimum of −6 VP from military (two neighbours × three ages).

      ⚠️ Note
      Every player fights both neighbours each Age independently. You can win one conflict and lose the other in the same Age.
    

⚡ 2-Player Military

With 2 players each player has only one neighbour, so you compare shields with that single opponent. Maximum military VP becomes +9 VP and minimum is −3 VP.

Building Your Wonder

Each Wonder board has 3 stages (some expansions have 4). To build a stage, place any card face-down beneath your board and pay the listed resources — the card's own effect is ignored.

I

Usually grants VP or a special power.

II

Often provides a strong resource, coin bonus, or VP.

III

Typically the most powerful reward: high VP or a unique ability.

Wonder stages can be built in any Age and always in order (I → II → III). You are not required to complete your Wonder.

      Strategy
      Some Wonder stages give you extra turns, let you play discarded cards for free, or copy a Guild. These abilities are often game-changing — consider planning your Wonder build early.
    

🏆 Scoring

At the end of Age III, players tally all seven scoring categories. The player with the most Victory Points wins. Ties are broken by coins remaining.

Category	How to Score
Military	Sum all Military tokens (can be negative). Won conflicts: +1/+3/+5. Losses: −1 each.
Treasury	Every 3 coins you have at game end = 1 VP. Remainder coins are worth nothing.
Wonders	Add up the VP printed on each completed Wonder stage.
Civilian	Add up the VP printed on all blue cards in your city.
Commerce	Some yellow cards score VP based on the number of brown/grey cards in your city or neighbours' cities.
Guilds	Purple cards score VP based on conditions — e.g., structures you built, or structures your neighbours built. Read each Guild card carefully.
Science	See the Science formula below — the most complex (and rewarding) scoring system.

🔬 Science Scoring Formula

Science cards show one of three symbols: Compass Compass, Tablet Tablet, Gear Gear.

Science VP = Compass

² +

² +

² + (complete sets × 7)

A complete set is one of each symbol. Count the minimum across all three symbols to find your sets. Example: 3 Compasses, 2 Tablets, 2 Gears = 2 sets. Score = 3² + 2² + 2² + (2×7) = 9 + 4 + 4 + 14 = 31 VP.

      💡 Science Strategy
      Collecting sets is exponential. Two symbols of the same type scores 4 VP; three scores 9 VP. A single set of all three different types scores 3 + 7 = 10 VP. Mixed approaches can be very powerful — use the calculator to test scenarios!
    

📋 Quick Reference

Key numbers for 3 players:

Stat	Value
Cards dealt per Age	21
Cards per hand	7 (always)
Rounds per Age	6 (always)
Guild cards in play	5
Starting coins	3 (always)
Age I military win	+1 VP
Age II military win	+3 VP
Age III military win	+5 VP
Military loss (any Age)	−1 VP
Coins per VP (treasury)	3 coins = 1 VP
Sell a card for	3 coins
Default trade cost	2 coins / resource
Max military VP	+18 VP
Min military VP	−6 VP

Hand Pass Direction

Age I	Age II	Age III
⬅ Pass Left	➡ Pass Right	⬅ Pass Left

🥇 Winning & Tiebreakers

The player with the most Victory Points wins. If two or more players are tied:

The player with the most coins remaining wins.
If still tied, the players share the victory.

Ready to Score? Use the 7 Wonders Score Calculator to tally all seven categories automatically — including the complex science formula!