7 Wonders: Duel

You build a civilisation across three ages while your opponent does the same, and there are three ways to win. Push the military marker into their capital and you win at once. Collect six different science symbols and you win at once. Otherwise the higher score at the end of the third age takes it. Each age lays the cards out in a fixed overlapping pattern, some face up and some face down. You may only take a card that nothing covers, so every pick uncovers something for your opponent. A card you take is built, sold for coins, or slid under one of your four wonders. Resources you own make the same resources dearer for the other player. This is the two-player game we recommend more than any other. It teaches in ten minutes, finishes in thirty, and the sudden-death wins mean you can never coast. Couples who have worn out Jaipur should try this next.