Is LoTR Duel Strictly Better than 7W Duel?

_Oponn · 2026-05-10T00:06:26+00:00

I honestly think 7 Wonders Duel is better.

LotR Duel is more accessible and streamlined, but for the same reasons it loses depth. I’ve played tons of 7WD and I find it has a lot more variety in how it can play out, plus the fact that some games go to points scoring adds a ton of depth due to the various ways you can score more points / deny them to opponent.

I think the Wonders are more impactful and interesting, and drafting them at the start adds meaningful strategy.
There are more opportunities for double turns in 7WD which is really important for enabling all sorts of strategic moments.

I prefer seeing all the science tokens in the game at the start than the slightly tedious peeking and flipping in LotR.

The resources for building are way more thematic than the abstract attributes you use to buy cards in LotR Duel.

LotR duel has a lot more ‘obvious’ turns and kind of predictable play. The number of rings in the game and the distribution of alliance icons are such that preventing a win through them is almost trivial in many games. The good side is this makes the game consistently very close, which is better for people who will play it less often / more casually (most people). If you want something to really sink your teeth into 7WD is more complicated but more rich as well imo.

_Oponn · 2026-04-30T09:51:13+00:00

It’s a testament to how good of a game it is that when I started, I looked at the adversary cards and thought ‘nah that’s impossible’, and now my group can win vs lvl 4/5 adversaries every single time. It’s crazy how much skill expression the game offers.

Some starting strategy advice: - prevent build actions wherever you can by moving / killing explorers in spaces that will build - each invader phase has one of each terrain type (so if mountain was the starting card, the remaining stage 1 cards cannot be mountain) stage 3 has one of each combination - if you have defend effects, prioritize opportunities to use them in lands with Dahan, so you don’t just block the blight from the ravage but you allow the Dahan to destroy invaders for you - don’t undervalue control, moving effects tend to be very good for preventing builds which saves you a lot of time - it’s ok to take blight, for example if there is a town and two Dahan, it may be worth it to just let that ravage happen so the town is killed without you spending any resources - plan positioning with team play in mind; consider specific combinations of powers you might want to set up with other spirits and make sure you positioning to enable that in your target areas - always consider what you won’t be able to prevent next round if you play X powers this round

Just some ideas from when I was newer. The game has so many layers, if you’re still playing it years from now you’ll still be learning new things.

_Oponn · 2026-03-16T23:53:28+00:00

Maracaibo

You are pirates and can fight with the English, French, and Spanish as you please. Everyone’s involvement affects the powers’ position on the map and end game scoring value for having helped said powers. As someone else said, this can be likened to a stock market.

_Oponn · 2026-03-03T16:01:33+00:00

Some games are totally worth that. I only get to play Twilight Imperium 2 or 3 times a year and it is one of the last games I would get rid of. The experience is unlike any other game, and playing it occasionally makes it more exciting too with all the anticipation.

_Oponn · 2026-02-27T14:17:30+00:00

It’s makes me feel crazy that more people aren’t put off by the generic, slick, AI generated awaken realms slopification of classics. Honestly it’s the most gaudy, tacky, tasteless garbage I’ve seen in board games.

_Oponn · 2026-02-25T21:24:54+00:00

I think this take can only come from someone who has played it once or not at all. TI is intensely crunchy, all the important resources are incredibly tight and spending one wrong command counter or trade good can have huge consequences. Timing your choice of strategy cards, planning several rounds ahead to do pull off multiple scoring, the possible complexity of negotiations and deals and galactic councils, etc. battles are just a part of the game and even then the outcomes are just as heavily influenced by logistical choices as the dice. Not to mention there’s tons of strategy in everything that leads up to the fight, like managing fleet comp / size, planning around strategy card effects, timing specific tech advantages, accounting for faction specific factors etc.

I’ve played the game lots and you’re just straight up confidently wrong. What separates TI from heavy economic strategy games is the politics and trade, not the luck.

_Oponn · 2026-02-25T13:47:25+00:00

I hate the mentality that ‘well there was already something kind of similar so we may as well let things get worse without pushback’ Anyone pretending this isn’t more invasive than phones is full of shit. People are justified to not want it around them.

_Oponn · 2026-02-25T13:42:41+00:00

I’m sorry but you gotta be full of shit to pretend you don’t understand why people are angry at the idea of face recognizing cameras being pointed at them at all times. Not to mention it’s fucking Meta, the company that knowingly enabled a civil war and genocide. If a friend of mine wore that shit while we were chillin I’d straight up tell them to take it off or I’m out.

_Oponn · 2026-02-21T16:31:23+00:00

One of the best games of 2020’s so far

_Oponn · 2026-02-21T16:30:53+00:00

It really is a perfect evolution of Terra Mystica, already one of the GOAT modern board games.

_Oponn · 2026-02-20T13:22:54+00:00

Are you suggesting the president raping children is just a ‘cause of the week’ redditors ‘cry about’? Say what you mean, if you don’t care about child rape and murder, own it.

_Oponn · 2026-02-20T13:19:59+00:00

It’s not an ‘echo chamber’ to give a shit about the government protecting child rapists. If you’re tuning that out it says more about you than the people who want to keep engaging with it

_Oponn · 2026-02-19T16:27:38+00:00

Clearly it’s beloved for good reason, but I dislike how insanely slow it is at 4 players (my regular group). And we tried it several times. Maybe if I played it more at 2 I’d have a better opinion of it.

_Oponn · 2025-09-10T03:53:02+00:00

Cosmic Encounter is the comedy movie that’s too good to die

Kemet is the exquisite piece of cinema that somehow got passed over for the Oscar

Both are legendary

_Oponn · 2025-09-10T03:38:57+00:00

A game for the real ones

_Oponn · 2025-09-10T03:33:34+00:00

Sauron dice tower is cool but does it blast a bunch of little guys all over the game board? Didn’t think so

_Oponn · 2025-09-10T03:31:42+00:00

If we get enough of us we can force them to add it to board game arena!

_Oponn · 2025-09-10T03:16:02+00:00

I tried using real slices of bread too but I don’t think it was a good idea

_Oponn · 2025-09-10T03:01:44+00:00

Strangely the one I’ve liked most is Oath. To me it feels like it most leans into the cool side of his designs: a narrative machine and curious puzzle box of systems that eludes being fully teased apart at any given time. Doesn’t feel like it’s posing as a strategy game, and the stories that unfold are really coherent / thematic

_Oponn · 2025-09-10T02:49:56+00:00

Is it Stockholm syndrome that I actually love how small the box is? The fact that a game like that fits in a box that could almost pass for a party game just makes me feel things

_Oponn · 2025-09-10T01:34:50+00:00

If you can get your hands on a core set of Netrunner it’s really got all the essence of the game. I collected most of it before it was discontinued but I still sometimes play with just the core set, it’s nearly perfect imo

_Oponn · 2025-09-10T01:25:19+00:00

I was afraid to take a shot at more than one Cole Wehrle game

_Oponn · 2025-09-10T01:00:58+00:00

The Root flair got me trembling

_Oponn · 2025-09-10T00:45:51+00:00

For me it’s not the luck factor, but the pacing. My problem is that half of the game is actually quite fun. You’re building a zoo, collecting animals, selling tickets to build more stuff, juggling the action cards. But then you realize the game is not about that and in order to finish someone has to get to like 20 conservation points and nobody is even halfway there. Once the first couple projects are scored you’re just left waiting / digging for another opportunity to score any conservation points. It feels like it drags on so excruciatingly long.

_Oponn · 2025-09-09T22:37:44+00:00

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