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This game is a DS counterpart of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World video game from the 7 Wonders series on the PC. This is the first game related to the 7 Wonders PC series on the DS. There were 2 other 7 Wonders games proceeding this one released on the DS. Next game is 7 Wonders II and the one after that is 7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven.

Gameplay[]

General Gameplay[]

7 Wonders on the PC and on the DS is a puzzle game series where you have to match 3 or more similar runes in a row to get points and clear obstacles. As you clear blocks by matching a rune on the same space the block is on, these blocks will be sent up to some people on the top screen. Then these people will move these blocks to build an ancient building or wonder. The faster you clear the blocks, the more people will appear to build. This is the gimmick of the 7 wonders franchise. After earning enough score and clearing enough normal blocks, special blocks called cornerstones will appear which take up their own space like a rune. These can only be moved by removing pieces underneath it to move it down the game board. Once it reaches the bottom of the game board it will be moved up to the people on the top screen the same way a normal block is. Once you have collected enough cornerstones the level will end.

Match Types[]

Match 4[]

If you match 4 runes in a row then it will create a special piece called a lighting ball which when swapped with another piece will earn bonus points and it will clear all pieces to the left and right (horizontal row) of the lightning ball.

Match 5[]

If you match 5 runes in a row then it will create a special piece called a fire ball which when swapped with another piece will earn bonus points and it will clear all pieces to the left, right, up and down (horizontal row and vertical row) of the fire ball.

Extra Bonus[]

After matching several fire or lighting balls, you will earn a special piece (a spiky yellow and orange shape with no name mentioned except "extra bonus") which when swapped with another piece will make 15-20 random runes around the game board disappear.

Development[]

Reception[]

Public reception was average with GameFAQs showing a 3.3/5 public rating. Most of those ratings were 3/5. Metacritic shows a higher public score with an average 8.3 out of 10.

Critics seem to rate it above average often commenting on how similar it is to other puzzle games in the market. Nintendo Life gave it a 6/10 stating "7 Wonders of the Ancient World is a very basic Bejeweled/Zoo Keeper clone, and the little it does to innovate can make things more frustrating and feel less under your control. However, especially when it becomes more challenging, it's still a lot of fun. Considering that it takes its formula from one of the most entertaining puzzle games of recent times, lack of originality isn't a terrible flaw, and it can entertain as well as any of its jewel-swapping competition – just don't count on it to bring much more that to the table.".

IGN gave it a 6.5/10 stating "Just to be clear, there’s very little that 7 Wonder of the World offers that’s lacking from every other DS puzzle game out there. It’s a Bejeweled clone that isn’t quite as polished or focused as that game. At the same time the idea of the pyramid building, while a little superfluous, is fun and the worker animations are always worth glancing up for. This isn’t the one puzzle game on DS to own, but puzzle addicts looking for one more game could do worse.".

Game Chronicles rated it a 6.5/10 saying similar to other critics stating "Mumbo Jumbo and Hot Lava’s 7 Wonders of the Ancient World is yet another take on the tried-and-true Bejeweled formula. It, in fact, plays almost identically to the popular puzzler Jewel Quest – but though it brings very little innovation to the table, 7 Wonders still manages to be a highly playable and addictive Bejeweled clone for the Nintendo DS.".

Credits[]

Producer - David Stalker

Designer - Chris Cervantes

Partnership Manager - Aaron Funk

Additional Production - Richard Robledo

Executive Producer - Michael Arkin

Lead Designer - Matthew Yaney

Technical Director - David Eaton III

QA Manager - Dave T. M. Astremitzkov

Project Leads - David Shepherd and Scott Evans

Artists[]

Art Director - Allen Coulter

Karl Espiritu

Chuck Lee

Mike Tonder

Jeffrey Tse

Philip Worobey

Programming[]

Lead Programmer - Darren Mohle

Dominick Fosco

Jefferson Hobbs

Washington Lee

Zach Shapiro

Testers[]

LA Test Lead - Judah Mehler

LA Testing - Sunie Lee

Monica Alvarez

Christopher Bielinski

Nicholas Becmer

Matthew Harmon

Original Game by Hot Lava[]

Executive Producer - Matthew Lichtenwalter

Creative Director - Kenda Lichtenwalter

Project Manager - Ilya Plyusnin

Game Design - Alexander Vedeneev and Konstantin Zavoloka

Art - Kirill Korneev

Animation - Vasiliy Podvornyak

Programming - Mikhail Rozhkov and Grigory Aleksanin

Music and SFX - Vasily Shestovets

Quality Assurance - Boris Grebnev

Copywriting - Ann Piper

Music Conversion - SomaTone

Flintau DS Engine

Copyright 2007 Cyber Philharmonic Video Game Design Inc

External links[]

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