I was thinking about this a bit today, and on Monarch I definitely try for less wonders than I do on Prince. Certainly, many of the early wonders are good, but often I get beat to them, and it doesn't even seem worth it to try unless I have the special resource associated with them. I typically only go for those that the computer never seems to target first, like the Colossus.

So the question is, which early wonders can you reliably get on monarch, and of those, which are worth building. There will be a following post for late wonders

So the question is, which early wonders can you reliably get on monarch, and of those, which are worth building. There will be a following post for late wonders
Sounds like you're asking which wonders are must-have, but instead making the poll "which are worth building?"

Oracle and GL unless I am industrious. Then I try for:

- Given stone:
Pyramids, Oracle, Stonehenge, Great Wall and Great Library - thats an awesome start believe me.

- Given marble:
Pyramids, Oracle, Temple of Artemis, Great Library and Parthenon - also an awesome start. Probably even stronger than the first one, but takes more work to get the Pyramids and get going.

Usually on Monarch I can pull this off. Even Emperor I've had some success with an early wonder rush with Stalin.

oracle, great library and wall and pyramids. though unless i'm industrious, i rarely get more than two.

You can easily do without any of the, and most often I would prefer to expand/conquer>wonders, but if you want you could go for:
Pyramids, Colossus, Great Library, Oracle, and possibly Hanging Gardens.

These threads really are not helpful. It depends on what leader you have, what the terrain is like.. what resources... etc. All these factors have to be planned. Even knowing who else is in the game can impact these.

Must build: GL
Usually build: Oracle
Build when resources available: Pyramid, occasionally Great Wall
If I play charismatic leader and has stone: Stonehenge
Coastal start: Colossus (great lighthouse is good but AIs really love it)

I will build the Great Library most Monarch games, Oracle, Hanging Gardens and Colossus a bit less. If I was industrious and had stone I would attempt Pyramids but it is hammer heavy and an AI fave.

When I start with Ramness, I'll go GW ( to hold off barbs so I can quickly build.... Pyramids). I also TRY to get Oracle for a big tech to grab the tech lead. I then finish off with the GL, but the GL is not a game breaker. OF course the stonehenge gets built asap. I manage to get these even without stone or marble.

Then I go off conqureing, unless I am on my own continent, then I build all the other wonders cept a few junkers like sistene palace.

BTW, I dont get hanging gardens, (hardly ever). It would be nice, but it's expensive in techs and resources, and time. The pyramids gives you much better bang for the buck early phase, though it becomes useless in the end phase, where the HG shines at its best.

Usually I just HOPE someone near has HG so I can conquer it later.