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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[]
- 7 Wonders of the Ancient World at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- 7 Wonders of the Ancient World at GameFAQs
- 7 Wonders of the Ancient World at MobyGames
- 7 Wonders of the Ancient World at NintendoLife.com
- 7 Wonders of the Ancient World at Jeuxvideo.com
- 7 Wonders of the Ancient World at IGN
- 7 Wonders of the Ancient World at Game Chronicles
- 7 Wonders of the Ancient World at Metacritic
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