One Wonders

Has anybody ever won this game without playing The Palace?  It seems like the game could go either way until the players pick up their hands in the third round and the future winner builds The Palace. Simple as that. Job done. Game won.

Or is it? In their first game, using the A-sides, James beat Chris. Narrowly. By having the most coins having tied on points. So, what magnificent strategy did he employ? He crossed his fingers he’d get The Palace. He got it. He won.

James 49, Chris 49, Dirk 39. James won on coins.

 So in the second game, they did stuff. Stuff was done. A bit of stuff happened. Then came the third round. James fanned out his hand. There it was. The Palace. Victory.

Who lives in a palace like this?

But hang on. What was that guild card there? The Craftsmen’s Guild. 2 points for each grey card one’s neighbours have. Both having lumbered Dirk, (the ghostly third player) with lots of greys, that card scored 10 points. But what about The Palace? It only scored eight, but its totemic value was astronomic, surely. It’s the game winner, the kingmaker...

James winced, played the guild card and passed The Palace over to Chris. So then Chris had The Palace. And victory, surely. Or was this going to be the day? The day someone could win the game with another player having built The Palace? Could James let Chris build The Palace and still win? We’ll never know. Chris couldn’t afford it. He burnt it. He didn’t dare hand it back.

James won. But in this game, nobody built The Palace. So can you win 7 Wonders without The Palace?

One wonders. Still.

James 55, Chris 46, Dirk 26.