The production value of the Pillars of the Earth (PotE) is quite high from the box to the individual pieces. The box contains a very nice tray that fits the individual cathedral pieces, the cards, dice, and has extra spaces for the other pieces. A nice cloth bag as well as several plastic bags are included to store your pieces. The rulebook is several glossy pages in color. The rulebook is well organized, easy to understand, and has lots of pictures and examples to make it easier to follow the rules. The board is easily the most beautiful board in my collection. The wooden pieces are all attractive although my boardgame came with 2 lame peebles. The only complaint would be the die being made of wood but due to the wide availability of 6 sided dice, it is a very small complaint.
The rules are ridiculously easy. Starting from the chosen first player and going clockwise (with an exception), each selects either a resource card or buys a craftman card that have been placed on the bottom of the board until either everyone passes or all the resource and craftman cards have been taken. If a player has chosen a resource card, he must place as many workers as the card indicates which is shown on the top left hand corner of the card. Any workers left over are placed on the wool mill area. The starting player then places the master builder pieces (3 for each player) into the cloth bag and proceeds to draw the pieces out of the bag. The starting player has one chance to put back a piece he drew and draw another one. When a player's piece is drawn, that player has the option of either paying to place his piece onto the board or passing. The cost to place the master builders are indicated by the cost track in the shape of a glass mural at the bottom center of the board, the highest cost being 7 gold and decreasing with each master builder pulled until the cost becomes zero. After the master builders which had been payed for have been placed, those that have not been payed for, get placed on the board.
Once everyone has placed their master builders, the starting player follows the order indicated on the board:
1. An event is revealed. Events can be good or bad.
2. Archbishop's Office. If a master builder is there, that player can either ignore the event or take one resource from the market.
3. Wool Mill. Players collect gold equal to the number of peebles they placed there.
4. Kingsbridge. Take a privilege card. They either stay in effect throughout the remainder of the game or give a one time effect. There are only 2 of these cards at any one time.
5. Kingsbridge Priority. The first player to place his master builder gets 2 victory points and the 2nd player gets 1 victory point.
6-8. Resource Production. Each player obtains the resources indicated on the resource card(s) chosen by the player.
9. King's Court. The 1st player to place his master builder not only gets tax exemption, he gets one metal as well. Any other player who placed his master builder only get exempted from tax. Die is rolled and each player who did not place a master builder in the King's Court must pay that amount of tax.
10. Shiring. Take a craftman card. There are 2 craftman, cards that a player can obtain for free as long as he placed a master builder or 2 under the card.
11. Shiring Castle. the player who has placed a master builder here takes 2 workers which can only be used once for the next round.
12. Kingsbridge Resource Market. Those players that placed a master builder here can sell any of their resources or buy the resources remaining in the market area.
13. Cathedral. Each player converts their resources to victory points or gold.
14. Reorder Player. The player who places a master builder here gets to be the starting player for the next round.
The game plays over 6 rounds.
I have found that the game to be more exciting in a 4 player game than a 2 player game. Competition for resources, craftman, and master builder placement becomes much more fierce in a 4 player game. While having overlapping strategy in a 2 player game will hurt either player very little, in a 4 player game, it becomes detrimental. It is much easier to block a player to a particular resource in a 4 player game than in a 2 player game. In a 2 player game, strategy is more prominent than tactics. In a 4 player game, tactics become more prominent. While strategy is still important, the environment changes much more frequently and a player may find that he has to ditch his strategy for that round and go another route.
There may be some concern over the degree of randomness in this game. Not only are the availability of the cards and amount of tax random, the drawing of the master builders are random and this is where most of the complaints of randomness is coming from. Personally, I find the level of randomness acceptable and drawing of the master builders quite thrilling. This game forces you not only to manage your resources but also seek ways to minimize the randomness.
Pillars of the Earth is a midweight Euro game that has a good dose of randomness. The multiple paths to victory gives it some depth though and it is my opinion that the amount of randomness does not overshadow a good play. The length of play is around an hour although analysis paralysis can happen and extend the time.
Pillars of the Earth is a game worth getting due to its high production value, ease of play and the depth of strategy this game offers.
