Seven!

Seven! (with exclamation mark) is a game I bought in June at the All Aboard game fair. Being a game designer and indie publisher means I often attend local boardgame events as an exhibitor. As an exhibitor, I have to take care of my booth  and teach people to play my games. I don't usually have time to visit other booths or play other people's games. This time I did not participate as an exhibitor due to another commitment, but I had time that weekend to visit the fair as a visitor. That was nice. I could take my time to browse the booths and all sorts of games new to me. There were demo copies of many of the games and I could examine the components and skim the rule books. 

Seven! first grabbed my attention because of the unusual cover. It made me curious. I read the description at the back of the box. It's a card game that's good for casual play. That means it's the kind of game I am working on myself. Yeow Meng from Swan Panasia gave me an overview of the game. Eventually I decided to get a copy. It was the only game I bought that day. After I got home, I opened the game to take a closer look at the cards. I realised that unusual wasn't the right word to describe the art. It was just ugly. That was worrying, because if the art of a game is poor, it might mean the publisher is an amateur (which should not be the case for Swan Panasia - they've been around for 20 years) or they didn't bother to do a good job. I didn't want to jump into conclusions. I waited until I'd actually played the game myself. After actually playing it, my opinion changed again. It turned out to be a game I enjoy and admire. 

The Game

Seven! is a set collection card game. There are seven sets of cards in the game, each having seven cards. Every card is unique. It is an object. Each set has a theme, and the objects are all related to that theme. E.g. there is a billionaire's toys set, a burglar's tools set and a body parts set. The game is played until every set is completed. Whoever has the most number of completed sets wins. 

The game starts with everyone being dealt 10 cards. A turn is simple. You ask for cards, and then you draw cards. You may ask anyone for a specific card, and if they have it, they must give it to you. When you demand a card and get it, you get to demand again. This continues until you demand a card which your target doesn't have. Then you end your turn by drawing from the draw deck. Every card in the game is named. Names of cards belonging to the same set are listed on the cards, so as long as you have one card in a set, you know what other cards you can attempt to ask for. 

The moment you collect all seven cards in a set, you must play them before you and end your turn. So everyone knows how many complete sets everyone has. In addition to the basic cards, there are three other types of special cards. There are jokers. If an opponent asks you for a card but you don't want to surrender it, you may play a joker instead. This ends your opponent's turn too. This can sometimes be a life-saving play. Then there are power cards. These have all sorts of abilities, some hurting your opponents, some helping you collect sets. Some are crazy powerful, e.g. one allows you to take over a complete set from an opponent (but you still need to give him 5 cards). Finally there are some disaster cards. They are, of course, bad. When you draw one, you apply the effect immediately. 

The pink set is related to baking cake. They are all ingredients you need for making a cake. The white card on the left is a power card. It can stand in for any other basic card in the game. When I have six cards of a set and I'm missing just one, this Artist card can represent that missing card, completing my set. 

This is the Joker. If an opponent asks for a card and you have it but don't want to surrender it, you can play the Joker instead. This only delays your opponent by one turn, but that one turn can be crucial. On your turn you can counter-attack by demanding cards from him. 

The one with a black star is a disaster card. The one with the yellow star is a power card. This particular disaster card lets other players each steal one random card from you. The power card here lets you look at all hand cards of one opponent. 

The Play

The early game is pretty random. There are still many cards in the deck, so most likely none of the sets can be completed yet. You don't know what cards your opponents have, so you are just trying your luck. When you ask for a card, you are at the same time giving clues about what you have. You can only ask for a card from a set when you have at least one other card from the set. So by attacking, you are also making yourself vulnerable. Gradually more and more information becomes known as players ask for cards. There is a memory element in this game. 

If you find that another player is trying to collect the same set as you, things get exciting. It becomes a race. If you can't collect the complete set on your turn, by your opponent's turn he might be taking all those cards from you if he keeps asking for the right cards. You can't defend against this, unless you have a Joker. 

If there are still some cards of a set in the draw deck, it may not be useful to have many cards of that set. You can't complete the set anyway. It is dangerous when other people know what cards you have. As long as they remember correctly, and they have at least one card in those sets, you can lose many cards on the same turn. This is why Seven! is nerve-wracking. Tables turn very quickly and dramatically. This is a game with plenty of player interaction. It can get rowdy. With the right group you'll get lots of banter and trash talking. 

As the draw deck dwindles, the game builds up to a climax. This is when the tension shoots up. Some sets will become fully available. It is a matter of who will beat the rest to complete them. 

Some of the power cards are crazy strong. Once you get familiar with the game, these power cards create a strategic layer. One particular power card forces all opponents to give you their cards in the rubbish set. If you have this card, you'd want to keep it and use it only in the late game, when you expect there are no more rubbish cards in the draw deck. This power card also makes players reluctant to collect the rubbish set. It's a high risk set unless you have that power card. The power cards give the game character. 

You get nervous when you collect cards. The process of successfully asking for cards is also the process of exposing what you have. Even when you have 6 cards in a set, it is not guaranteed that you will eventually complete the set. An opponent with that last card can easily demand all the other six from you. When this happens you will feel like committing murder. 

Being middle-aged uncles we found some of the text small and hard to read. We are going to let our Karens out and complain about accessibility and inclusion. 

The Thoughts

Seven! was a pleasant surprise. Now the kind of game I am designing is of this type - short but interesting card games. I enjoy learning from how other people make this kind of game. Had I designed a game like Seven! I would feel proud. It's simple, easy to learn, rich in player interaction,  and exciting. It gives you an emotional roller coaster ride. There is plenty of luck, but due to how there is sufficient player interaction, you feel more in control than you actually do have control. You would imagine the power cards to make the game more random and luck-based. I found the opposite. There are many power cards, and usually everyone will get some. Since players can choose who to attack (i.e. demand cards from and play power cards on), the players naturally balance the game during play, with leading players getting attacked more often. Luck evens out. When a game with a large dose of luck makes you feel it is strategic and that it has meaningful tactics, that's a successful design. When you win, you feel smart and that you deserve it. When you lose, it's just bad luck. 

Seven! (with exclamation mark) is a 3 to 5 player party type game which plays in just 20 minutes. At first it may sound like the kind of forgettable and brainless take-that game which non-gamers tend to like. However when you look deeper, you'll discover how clever it is. Not many games create such anxiety between gaining and losing cards.