After a number of these parties, despite them being agreeably pleasant, I started thinking about a game that would fully function with seven players to match that small aspect of our lives.

Some time later, I came by chance onto an article in National Geographic about the selection of seven new wonders of the world. Seven wonders for a game that's playable by seven players, I immediately thought. I had my theme – a good, original topic, although certainly not revolutionary. That said, antiquity is a subject I have always appreciated and one in which I have not previously operated. Building a civilization is always exhilirating! The players would therefore each be responsible for the construction of one of the famous wonders of the ancient world.

At that time, I hadn't realized that the mechanisms of the game would be bound by two contrasting constraints: the need to fit seven players at the table and the desire for a short playing time (with my goal being to stay under 45 minutes and ideally hit 30). To satisfy this double constraint, there were two possibilities, either extremely fast rounds (a solution seen in Shadow Hunters, for example) or simultaneous action during a round. This second option was my clear preference as it is more interesting in terms of rhythm and much less exploited in existing designs.

This decision led me on a practical basis to my first attempt at game play: Players would have a set of characters, each associated with an action (for resources, trading, building). They would need to use them in the best way possible to build their respective wonder step by step. The first player to complete his building would win the game. The main interaction would be located at the two neighbors for each player. In fact, the quality of the action taken – that is, the amount of a resource obtained – depends directly on the characters chosen by the players sitting to one's left and right. Thus, the Craftsman would provide two resources, with the quantity of the first determined by the left-hand neighbor's character, and the second determined by the right-hand neighbor's character. Thus, by analyzing the strategies of their neighbors, the player can minimize the number of their own actions needed to get ahead of all the competitors. This interaction "delta" fascinated me, and it is now central to the mechanisms of the final game.

Each round of the game was basic: Choose a character secretly, reveal them, and take actions simultaneously. Everything should be possible in the desired time. After using pieces of colored wood for the resources (six different types, along with gold for trade) and cards for the characters and different stages of the wonders, I had all that I needed for the first prototype...

First published in French on Antoine Bauza's blog. Translated by W.Eric Martin and republished with permission of the author. You can see it in complete on Boardgamesnews. Graphic is for the example of the devellopment and is not translate.

7 Wonders will be available in October.