History YMMV / SevenWonders

* EvenBetterSequel: The original game is well respected, ranked in the top 90 on [=BoardGameGeek=], having an average rating of 7.7, and winning many awards. 7 Wonders Duel is in the top 20 with an average rating of 8.1.

** The Wonder "The Pyramids" is an example of BoringButPractical gone wrong. All it does is give you 9 Victory Points at the end of a game, which has no immediate impact on the game and does nothing to help you towards reaching or stopping an InstantWinCondition (which will come up a lot). The mere 9 points it provides is not enough to make up for this large disadvantage. The expansions made it even worse - it has no synergy with Anubis, and it is a very tempting Sabotage target.

** The Curia Julia allows you to Conspire when you draft it. It's also an ExtraTurn wonder that lets you play an ''unprepared'' Conspiracy when you build it, and get 6 coins on top of that. There's a reason this thing is almost always drafted first if the ''Agora'' expansion is used and it shows up.

* TierInducedScrappy: Halikarnassos Night gets some flak for being too good, as it's a very high-performing wonder.

* TierInducedScrappy:
** High tier:
*** The Temple of Artemis gets some flack for being too good, as it has the powerful ExtraTurn ability and instantly gives you 12 coins when you build it. The ''Pantheon'' expansion made it better, as it pairs very well with Anubis's ability. Interestingly, ''Pantheon'' also introduced The Sanctuary, which is effectively a nerfed version of it.
*** The Curia Julia allows you to Conspire when you draft it. It's also an ExtraTurn wonder that lets you play an ''unprepared'' Conspiracy when you build it, and get 6 coins on top of that. There's a reason this thing is almost always drafted first if the ''Agora'' expansion is used and it shows up.
*** The Knossos allows you to place a cube in the Senate when you draft it, which lets you start with an active decree. If it's strong, this can quickly spiral out of control. If you're exceptionally lucky, you can even win ''before your opponent gets a turn''.
** Low tier:
*** The Wonder "The Pyramids" is an example of BoringButPractical gone wrong. All it does is give you 9 Victory Points at the end of a game, which has no immediate impact on the game and does nothing to help you towards reaching or stopping an InstantWinCondition (which will come up a lot). The mere 9 points it provides is not enough to make up for this large disadvantage. The expansions made it even worse - it has no synergy with Anubis, and it is a very tempting Sabotage target.
*** The Progress Token "Masonry" makes blue buildings easier to build, which is almost useless because you'll probably have a good resource base anyway if you're trying to win on points.
** Both: The power of The Great Library varies greatly depending on your luck and the available Progress Tokens. If you're playing the base game and the three GameBreaker tokens are not on the board, you are guaranteed to get at least one when you build it. However, if you want a specific token (such as if only one of the Game-Breakers is outside of the game), you have a 60% chance of getting it. This Wonder gets worse if the expansions are used, as their new Progress Tokens aren't that impressive.

* GameBreaker: Law, Strategy and Theology are by far the best Progress Tokens. Law and Strategy help you a lot with [[InstantWinCondition Instant-Win Conditions]], which can put a lot of pressure on your opponent. Even if you don't pull off the instant win, they can still give you a significant advantage because your opponent has to focus on blocking them. Theology, meanwhile, gives you {{Extra Turn}}s, which are great for securing access to cards you want and denying your opponent the cards they want. This is particularly useful when dealing with alternative win conditions. Tellingly, while the {{Expansion Pack}}s have introduced some PowerCreep to the Wonders, none of their new Progress Tokens are as good as these three.

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: The ExtraTurn Wonders in ''Duel'' are usually drafted first because they are so useful for getting access to cards you need, and for denying your opponent the cards they need. If there are few extra-turn Wonders in play, don't be surprised if the players start racing for the Theology token to gain the extra turn ability for their unbuilt Wonders. Among the extra-turn wonders, the Temple of Artemis and Piraeus are usually preferred thanks to the former's large coin bonus and the latter's ability to produce rare resources. If the ''Agora'' expansion is used, Curia Julia takes over as the most popular first pick because it lets you start the game with a Conspiracy, allows you to trigger a Conspiracy (not necessarily the one it granted you) without spending a turn preparing it first, and gives you a few coins on top of that.
* GameBreaker: In ''Duel'', Law, Strategy and Theology are by far the best Progress Tokens. Law and Strategy help you a lot with [[InstantWinCondition Instant-Win Conditions]], which can put a lot of pressure on your opponent. Even if you don't pull off the instant win, they can still give you a significant advantage because your opponent has to focus on blocking them. Theology, meanwhile, gives you {{Extra Turn}}s, which are great for securing access to cards you want and denying your opponent the cards they want. This is particularly useful when dealing with alternative win conditions. Tellingly, while the {{Expansion Pack}}s have introduced some PowerCreep to the Wonders, none of their new Progress Tokens are as good as these three.

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: The ExtraTurn Wonders in ''Duel'' are usually drafted first because they are so useful for getting access to cards you need, and for denying your opponent the cards they need. If there are few extra-turn Wonders in play, don't be surprised if the players start racing for the Theology token to gain the extra turn ability for their unbuilt Wonders. Among the extra-turn wonders, the Temple of Artemis and Piraeus are usually preferred thanks to the former's large coin bonus and the latter's ability to produce rare resources. If the ''Agora'' expansion is used, Curia Julia is also a popular first pick because it lets you start the game with a Conspiracy, allows you to trigger a Conspiracy (not necessarily the one it granted you) without spending a turn preparing it first, and gives you a few coins on top of that.
* GameBreaker: In ''Duel'', Law, Strategy and Theology are by far the best Progress Tokens. Law and Strategy help you a lot with [[InstantWinCondition Instant-Win Conditions]], which can put a lot of pressure on your opponent. Even if you don't pull off the instant win, they can still give you a significant advantage because your opponent has to focus on blocking them. Theology, meanwhile, gives you {{Extra Turn}}s, which are great for securing access to cards you want and denying your opponent the cards they want. This is particularly useful when dealing with alternative win conditions.

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: The ExtraTurn Wonders in ''Duel'' are usually drafted first because they are so useful for getting access to cards you need, and for denying your opponent the cards they need. If there are few extra turn Wonders in play, don't be surprised if the players start racing for the Theology token to gain the extra turn ability for their unbuilt Wonders.

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: The ExtraTurn Wonders are usually drafted first because they are so useful for getting access to cards you need, and for denying your opponent the cards they need. If there are few extra turn Wonders in play, don't be surprised if the players start racing for the Theology token to gain the extra turn ability for their unbuilt Wonders.