One of my favorite games of 2023 was World Wonders from Arcane Wonders. While I didn’t have a chance to play it until this year, so it didn’t make my Top 10 Games from 2023 list, I’ve still enjoyed each and every play of it. It does a great job of scratching that tile-laying and city-building itch.
Less than a year after its release, Arcane Wonders is back with their first expansion for World Wonders: Mundo Wonders Pack. Is this a worthy addition to the game? Let’s find out.
Expansion Overview:
This small box expansion adds 9 new wonders, many of which should be familiar. Much like the base game, each of those wonders comes with a wooden monument and matching card. But what else is included in this expansion are 9 Mundo cards that add an alternate scoring condition for each of the new wonders.
Game Experience with the Expansion:
The World Wonders Mundo Expansion is an easy add for anyone who enjoyed the base game. It adds in more wonders… and not much else. This falls into one of the “more variety, hurray!” expansions. And that’s a welcome addition because some games of World Wonders at higher player counts would have players running out of wonders to buy. With another 9 now, that shouldn’t be a problem anymore.
More interesting for me were the Mundo cards. One of my complaints with the base game was that the wonders, while being the coolest part of the game, we’re a pretty low part of your final score. These new Mundo cards seek to fix that. You can now earn 1-3 points depending on how well you meet the criteria for the card.
For example, the new Gate of All Nations Wonder will earn you 1 point just for building it. However, if you are able to run a road through it, you’ll instead earn 2 or 3 points depending on how long your road is. Or with Himeji Castle, you can earn up to 3 points by building next to Natural Resources in your city.
I really enjoyed the Mundo mode, but it also begs the question, why not include cards for the original monuments? That seems like the obvious move because any player who is able to build a Mundo Wonder will have an advantage over the players who don’t. When we sat down to play, one of the first questions people asked were if there were Mundo cards for the core monuments. Perhaps there will be a stand-alone expansion down the road, but it just feels like a huge miss for this expansion.
Final Thoughts:
The World Wonders Mundo Expansion is an easy choice to pick up for fans of the game. It adds more variety with almost zero new rules overhead. It’s one of those expansions that you can just toss in with the base game and always play with. The only miss for me was the lack of Mundo cards for the original game Wonders.
Hits:
• Easy to integrate
• New Wonders look great
• Mundo cards increase Wonder scoring
Misses:
• No Mundo cards for the core Wonders
