7 (2009)

Hear me! As you know, before our kingdoms, blessed by the gods with the gifts of Seven Virtues, were born, the world was ruled by the Unnamed. It was him, who spread disaster and there was no-one who did not bear wickedness in his heart. Only the First Hero, shielded by an armor, which defended him from the influence of sin, has challenged the Unnamed, defeated him and banished into the Void, which he close using magical seals.

Today the safeguards crumble, and the power of the Unnamed makes its way to our world. Again, people act against each other, their hearts bearing the seeds of wickedness. The Virtues that were our strength are transforming into parodies of themselves. If the heroes will not complete the armor of the First, clothe with it the most worthy of them, and achieve victory over the Unnamed, all shall be lost.

7 is a fantasy board game, in which you will become a hero worthy of legends, gathering his own party of adventurers to win over an ancient evil. You will take part in dangerous quests, working with other heroes to recover the miraculous Armor of Virtues and proving that you are the most worthy of wearing it. You shall accomplish great deeds, as long as you guard yourself from the temptation of excess, which brings with it sin and disaster.

7 offers a unique mechanism of play, joining the aspect of cooperation with an element of rivalry. For the kingdom to survive, you will have to join your forces with other players. Be wary though, as there can be only one victor. You will have to beware of excessive ambition though, as it can unnoticeably cause your strength to falter. 7 opens the gates to a heroic, but dangerous adventure.

7 is a fantasy game which uses the well-known themes which created the genre: a kingdom endangered by an ancient Evil, and a need to repeat a great deed of the first hero. Here the similarities end, however. 7 isn't your typical adventure game in which the heroes journey around the board and complete missions. Instead, it focuses on a strategic and economic aspect of the plot, by joining two elements: a traditional model of constructing a party and completing adventures, and a resource management mechanic. To retrieve the elements of the First Hero's armor, or to seal the portal through which the enemy of the world may arrive, the players have to utilise their characters' talents and think which challenges are worthy of undertaking.

The foe is common, so the players have to cooperate to win – they complete journeys together and decide what path the game should take. This is accompanied by a rivalry though, because as much as strategic alliances are a must to defeat the game's mechanisms, there can be only one winner – which is unlikely for regular cooperation games. The most important issue then, is to balance between private gain, which helps your character become better than all the others, and cooperation which is required to beat the game. The winner is a single person, but in case of defeat, all players lose.

Evil corrupts, and it's not any different in 7. If a player focuses too much on personal gain and plays against the other players instead of helping them out, his hero may betray his comrades and join the enemy. From that point on, his goal is to work with the game mechanisms, because he wins if other players lose. Corruption is an option for players who were left behind during normal gameplay, and if chosen, it balances the chances for all the players to win, without introducing the popular element of a Traitor, arbitrarily chosen at the beginning of the game.

7 offers several alternative ways to victory, a cooperative style gameplay with a strong element of competition and an unconventional merging of a fantasy theme with a resource management mechanic. It's a good choice for both players who seek competition, as well as those who would rather slowly and methodically complete their goals while working with others.

Inside the box:

• quest board
• tavern board
• store board
• world board
• might board
• 42 gift cards
• 7 artifact cards
• 7 Legendary Armour cards
• 14 cataclysm cards
• 18 building cards (6 Temples, 6 Castles, 6 Estates)
• 6 hero cards
• 28 sin cards
• 18 treasure cards
• 6 closing cards
• 24 quest cards
• 30 character cards
• 36 elixir cards
• 6 treasury cards
• 36 corruption cards
• 14 Unnamed cards
• 30 wooden fame markers
• 30 wooden gold markers
• 54 wooden player markers (9 in each of the 6 colours)
• 25 neutral wooden markers