This game is completely random

[ReadyPlayer1492]

7 Wonders Architects is not in anyway, shape or form a skills based game. Skill has as much to do with this game as throwing dice or playing the lottery. I feel this should be made known at the beginning so no one suffers under any delusions there is any way to "get good" at it. No matter how experienced you are, anyone can beat you at any time by total dumb luck. The rankings on this game are a total waste of time. They don't indicate skill, just blind chance.

[Romain672]

The game page https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?ga ... architects confirm it.
Complexity 1/5. Luck 3/5. Highest elo 485 for 3,3 millions games.

But the fact that anyone can beat you with dumb luck is commun with the majority of games. Just it's extremely more likely with some games compared to others.

[tyranno25]

I wouldn’t say completely random. There are many subtleties one learns over time about understanding the pace of the game, what to recognize in different situations, and when to draw from the side decks or the central deck. Yes, luck can quite often determine who wins, but in the arena games I see similar people reach the top 50 over the various tournaments, and I would at least say that they don’t get third place results as often as others due to their skill and knowledge of the game.

[tyranno25]

Part of understanding the dynamics of when to draw from the side decks versus the central decks is know the card distribution differences between the different civilizations. There’s a file of this somewhere on Boardgamegeek. So Egypt is a little more likely to reveal gold and cats while Babylon and Ephesus are a little more likely to reveal the green technologies.

[ReadyPlayer1492]

I only play this game to practice absurdism.

[cosmosis]

I think if you want to claim a game is random or not, it's good to look at the elo distribution. In games with less luck the highest elos will be higher. The number of players can factor into this too, but luck is a bigger factor.

If you want to see a game that's almost completely luck look at Senet. There, the highest elos are just over 300. Can't Stop is popular and more luck-based than Architects with the highest elos a little lower than Architects.

Architects has enough skill so that 500 elo might be feasible. It's definitely a game that has more luck than most, but there's enough skill involved that it's far from completely random.

[DMonty]

While I think luck does play a factor in this game, you're ignoring that you have choices. And the choices are where the skill part comes in.

If there were just one deck that everyone drew from - yes. Pure luck of the draw.

However, there are 3 decks, which provide choices to maximize your chances of winning.

Do you rush to try and build your wonder, or try and score more points with blue cards?

Which science token do you pick - one to get extra cards, or one to get points?

Do you try and grab shields vs. a Rhodes player, or just try and complete your wonder as quickly as possible?

Is there luck in the game? Absolutely. Is it 100% luck based? Not at all. If a game has choices, then a skillful player can gain an advantage.

[tbok]

I do agree on the randomness. I lost 80 ELOS points in one night yet went up 70 on another. It's like the stock market.
I was 2 levels in the build ahead of all my opponents, I had only 1 level left with 6 materials in hand. For a few turns I couldn't get the right material to end the game and someone else caught up and won the game. Total BS