7 WONDERS
7 Wonders is a sprawling multi-media franchise spanning award-winning tabletop board games, casual video games, action-adventure literature, and classic documentary cinema. Originating in film in 1956 and later popularized across tabletop and digital media, the IP is renowned for Antoine Bauza's Kennerspiel des Jahres-winning board game published by Repos Production alongside bestselling book series.
Cronologia
Overview
The 7 Wonders franchise encompasses a diverse set of pop-culture creations centered on the ancient and modern monuments of human history.
On the tabletop, the franchise was established by French game designer Antoine Bauza in 2010 with his card-drafting civilization board game, published by Repos Production (a subsidiary of Asmodee).
The tabletop ecosystem includes two major editions, six core expansions, spin-off titles like 7 Wonders: Duel and 7 Wonders: Architects, and digital adaptations on mobile, Board Game Arena, and Steam. Beyond tabletop gaming, the IP extends into casual video games with MumboJumbo's match-3 puzzle series originating in 2007 with five distinct titles. In literature, the franchise features Matthew Reilly's 2005 action thriller Seven Ancient Wonders and Peter Lerangis's five-part fantasy adventure pentalogy running from 2012 to 2016. The cinematic heritage of the name dates back to the 1956 Cinerama documentary feature Seven Wonders of the World.
Origins
The earliest media release bearing the franchise title was the 1956 historical Cinerama documentary film Seven Wonders of the World, hosted by adventurer Lowell Thomas and co-directed by Tay Garnett, Paul Mantz, Andrew Marton, Ted Tetzlaff, and Walter Thompson.
Decades later, the name was revived in literary fiction by Australian author Matthew Reilly with his 2005 action novel Seven Ancient Wonders (released in the US as Seven Deadly Wonders), following protagonist Jack West Jr on a race to find the capstone of the Great Pyramid.
In 2007, developer Hot Lava Games and publisher MumboJumbo brought 7 Wonders into video gaming with 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, a match-3 puzzle game for PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS. The franchise achieved its modern flagship status in 2010 when Antoine Bauza designed the 7 Wonders board game for Repos Production. Utilizing a card-drafting mechanic across three historical Ages, the board game earned the inaugural Kennerspiel des Jahres award in 2011, establishing the foundation for an extensive line of expansions and spin-offs.
Characters
I PEZZI DI 7 WONDERS
Collecting
For tabletop collectors, the 7 Wonders universe offers a rich matrix of expansions, limited promos, and standalone spin-offs produced by Repos Production and Asmodee. Crucial additions to the core game include mechanical expansions such as Leaders (2011), Cities (2012), Wonder Pack (2013), Babel (2014), Armada (2018), and Edifice (2023).
Highly prized among veteran collectors are the 2017 Leaders & Cities Anniversary Packs, which added rare historical leader cards, and the overhauled 7 Wonders (Second Edition) released in 2020 featuring redesigned card art and enlarged wonder boards. Collectors also seek out the standalone two-player adaptation 7 Wonders: Duel (co-designed by Antoine Bauza and Bruno Cathala) along with its expansions Pantheon (2016) and Agora (2021). Visual display collectors focus on 7 Wonders: Architects (2021) and its 2024 Medals expansion, which feature physical 3D wonder structures assembled during play, as well as the 2024 Tolkien-themed crossover release The Lord of the Rings: Duel for Middle-earth.
The 1956 feature documentary Seven Wonders of the World was filmed in Cinerama and co-directed by five different filmmakers.
