Snow Cathedral

During my Christmas trip we played a three player Pillars of the Earth game. 

Apparently once in three years is good enough of a pace for this game. 

First boon cards were rather impactful - the extra worker and a free stone for each round. Or so we speculated. Next round there were pretty good boons too, the fortune teller and extra wood for each round. Or so we speculated.

Two of the players hoarded all of these boons, but surely enough it was the third player who eventually won the game. It was a close race, though, as there was only one point difference with the first and second player, with the winner scoring 52 points.

Baseless Collapsing

First time in three years, I got to play a game of Pillars of the Earth. We had four players, which I have found is the best for this game. With just three players there i is not enough competition for where to place your master tokens. Suddenly turns out that Prior Philip doesn't automatically carry you to victory, when other players can shut you down from entering monastery.

Late bloomers won the day, soaring into stellar point counts in the last two rounds, averaging at 15 points per turn after hanging a long time at the bottom of the scoreboard.


The winner had 53 points, and there was a large gap before the remaining players, who were nearing forty points at most.

Also, it's relatively odd that a part of a cathedral can collapse before any has been built.

A quick note (Pillars)

A game of Pillars of the Earth with three players.

Scoreboard 54/46/37.

Prior Philip wins again (Pillars of the Earth)

We played a Pillars of the Earth game with some family members.

Not much to write about, except it was a three player game.

Prior Philip was there for anyone to pick in the very first turn, and he did not have to wait for long - in three player game that's almost a guaranteed six extra points.

And in the end scores were something like 54, 50 and 46, with winner being the player with Prior Philip.

Pillars of the Earth first time for a couple of years

... and how curious it is, how much you forget about game rules in such a time!

We had four players, and it was a blast.

Game went on with one of the players being in small to medium lead for the first four rounds (he really liked the monastery), and then a race during fifth and sixth rounds when one of the players scored a whopping 12 or more points!

Anyway, it was the very same game it has always been, with mathematic calculations becoming more and more important during later rounds, with last round being almost nothing but mathematics.

This made me think that the game could really use a little more randomness, and I began to wonder how fitting an expansion would be for Pillars of the Earth. One of the players said that he had actually seen one around, and I had to go and google it up.

Damn, I know what this household is getting as a present for next Christmas!

Final scoreboard, by the way, for this particular game was 46 for the winner, 42 for two other players and 35 for the underdog. So, quite close and rather exciting session.

12.07.2010 - Pillars struck again!

Last four player Pillars of the Earth game for a while now. (I know I said last time it'd probably be last time for a while, but, well, it wasn't!)

This time around I managed to grab victory, though it was difficult. If I remember right, there were less than 10 points difference between winner and "loser".

Blue player lost (if we counted right) 22 gold coins because of the maximum of 30 coins. Two first rounds blue didn't have to pay a dime for his builders - he got first builders always when they were free. And all the events gave money too. So all in all. Bad luck?

Oh, then the event deck was a bit weird. First four rounds it gave benefits. Fifth round it did something bad - every player lost four coins. Last round there was a bad thingy too, but it would take effect only on next turn.

So, five rounds either benefits or "nothing", and only one negative effect.

I guess there's nothing more to tell or remember.

11.07.2010 - Building a cathedral at Kuhmo

We played a three player game of Pillars of the Earth. And we're planning to play one tonight more, with four players.

I managed to grab the guy who gives additional point when I have a builder at the monastery on the first round of the game. So it was a high priority for me to get a builder there every round, and that scored me 2 or 3 points a turn.

That was nasty and probably the number one reason why I won the game. I didn't really have good artisans at my disposal.

So I guess when building up a cathedral, the major contribution comes from praying?

I'll update to this post the second game, if we get to play that.


Okies, four player game finished.

Apparently it seems that prayer isn't entirely enough when there are four people building a cathedral. I got the prior guy again and reaped tons of points with it - until people started to flock to monastery, leaving my builders weeping at the gates.

I got quite weak artesans again, but until round 6 I was either first on the leaderboard or second. But then on round 6 the player that was last scored amazing 18 points and got herself to second position - only three or four points short of victory!

But anyway, the game changed almost completely (okay, I'm exaggerating) when we brought the fourth player. Playing board was crowded and there was huge competition over certain areas. In three player games no-one would take the first player position, for example. But on four player game it was pretty critical status.

But now it'll probably be some time again until we play Pillars of the Earth again.