7 Wonders Track: Coins, Trading, and Yellow Cards

This is the 7 Wonders track lesson for Level 2. Duel’s own economy has a lesson of its own in the next one, through its Progress tokens.

Coins in 7 Wonders look small. Three of them make one point, and nobody wins on their treasury. But coins are how you build the cards you cannot make yourself, and every coin you spend on trading goes to a player you are scoring against. This lesson puts numbers on that.

All rules here come from the second edition rulebook.

What a coin is worth

At the end of the game, 3 coins score 1 point. So the floor value of a coin is a third of a point.

During the game, a coin is worth more, because it turns into resources. Two coins buy a resource from a neighbor. If that resource lets you build a blue card worth 5, those 2 coins became most of 5 points. That is why coins matter most early, and why a pile of unspent coins at the end of Age III is a small failure, not a small win.

The trade swing

Here is the key idea. When you buy a resource from your neighbor, you pay them 2 coins. You are 2 coins poorer and they are 2 coins richer. Between the two of you, that is a 4 coin swing.

Four coins is about one and a third points of difference against that neighbor at the end. Buy from the same neighbor five times in a game and you have handed them a 20 coin swing. That does not mean never buy. It means:

• Build the resource yourself when you will need it again and again.
• Split your buying between neighbors when both sell what you need. Spread the gift.
• Buy freely from a neighbor who is far behind. Your coins matter less in their hands than in a rival’s.

The same math works the other way. A resource you make that both neighbors lack can bring in 2 coins a turn from each side. The rulebook lets both neighbors buy the same resource from you, and you cannot refuse. That income arrives without costing you a card each turn.

One limit to remember: coins a neighbor pays you this turn cannot be spent until your next turn.

Yellow cards that cut costs

Some yellow cards change the price of trading to 1 coin instead of 2, for certain resources and certain neighbors. Read the icons on the card, or check the Description of Effects sheet: they say which neighbor and which resources.

A cost cut pays back in two ways. You save 1 coin per purchase, and your neighbor gains 1 coin less. Against that neighbor, each purchase is now a 2 coin swing instead of 4.

Count your likely purchases before you take one. If you will buy that kind of resource from that neighbor only once or twice, the card does little. If you are short of something your neighbor makes and your next several cards all need it, the card pays back quickly, especially in Age II, when costs climb.

Yellow cards that pay

Other yellow cards give coins outright, or coins based on what is in your city or your neighbors’ cities. Some Age III yellow cards also score points at the end. The Description of Effects sheets in the box explain each icon.

A payout card is best when you can spend the coins well. Coins in Age I buy resources for two more Ages. The same coins in late Age III mostly sit on the score pad at a third of a point each.

Selling a card

Selling gives 3 coins: one point at the end, or one and a half purchases during the game. Compare that with the alternatives:

• Building a cheap blue card worth 3 or more usually beats selling.
• Building a Wonder stage usually beats selling, if you can pay for it.
• Selling wins when you cannot afford anything useful, and when the card would help the neighbor you pass to. You deny them the card and fund your next turn.

In Age I, a sale is often fine. In Age III, a sale is close to a 1 point move. Look hard for a stage or a cheap card first.

Spending down at the end

Since only full sets of 3 coins score, coins left over in a set of 1 or 2 are worth nothing. In Age III, if you hold 8 coins, you can spend 2 on a purchase and lose no points at all. The scoring lesson covers this endgame habit, along with the tiebreak: most coins wins a tied game.

A coin checklist

Before each purchase, ask:

1. Could I build this resource instead, since I will need it again?
2. Which neighbor am I paying, and how is that neighbor doing?
3. Is there a cost-cutting card I should have taken already?

Our explainer on card drafting shows how other drafting games handle money, if you want a wider view.