7 Wonders Architects

7 Wonders with the drafting taken out, which sounds like heresy and is actually the point.

Antoine Bauza rebuilt his own game for people who found the original's simultaneous card drafting a barrier. Here you simply take one card from one of three decks in front of you, and build your wonder a layer at a time until it is finished. A turn takes seconds. The whole game takes twenty-five minutes.

What survives the simplification is the shape of the original - military conflict with your neighbours, science sets, civilian points - and what disappears is the analysis paralysis that stalls 7 Wonders at the wrong table. It won the Kennerspiel nomination on the strength of being genuinely good rather than merely easier, and the wonder pieces stacking up in front of each player do a lot of work.

Perfect for: The family that owns 7 Wonders and has never once got it to the table.

2-7 players | 25 minutes | Age 8+