Pillars of the Earth (The)

It's always nice when a game looks as good as it plays, and that's what you get with The Pillars Of The Earth. The board looks beautiful and the wooden pieces are of excellent quality. The cards are also very nice although I thought they could have been a bit larger.

The game plays in six turns of three phases each. The first phase is the selection of resource and craftsman cards and this is a fairly short and simple exercise. The second phase is the assignment of master builders as they are randomly selected from the bag. This is a really fun phase. Am I prepared to pay a high cost to go first, or do I risk waiting and hoping I can allocate my master builder where I want for a cheaper price before someone else takes that option from me? I love this part of the game. The third and final phase involves resolving the game board actions, and this is done by simply following the order as clearly illustrated on the board itself. The all important victory points are scored in this final phase as you help to build the cathedral.

Game time is listed as 90-120 minutes, and that is about right even for first time players. Age is given as 12+ and I think that's also correct. The rulebook is short and simple with good illustrations of gameplay. Replay value looks to be fairly high too, with only a selection of the Privilege and Event Cards being used each time. There are plenty of elements that you do not know where, when or even if they are going to happen in each game.

Overall I really like this game, and I think both fairly serious gamers and casual players will be rewarded with an enjoyable experience.