Pillars of the Earth
Saturday was the first time I've played Games Magazine 2008 Game of the Year, Pillars of the Earth. Having come to it with really high expectations, I must admit to disappointment.
It's not to say that Pillars is a bad board game, it's just not great. I can certainly see the replay value in the game, with its multiple strategic options but it just seemed to drag. Mind you, it might just have been the company I had, and I will certainly give it another shot.
Pillars brings very much to mind Puerto Rico, another highly rated game that somehow just doesn't cut it for me. The mechanics in Pillars is definitely simpler (you only have to choose between a series of cards for your resource allocation of workers) but you do have to balance workers, gold and victory points again.
The choice of cards is very Princes of Florence as well, though it does lack the 'bidding' aspect of the game which might have made things more interesting. Perhaps what really gets to me is the lack of player interaction - you are building your own workers and choosing cards almost irrespective of the other players. Sure, their choices limit yours and vice versa, but otherwise, you cannot directly affect the players. And with so many things dependent on luck, it's hard to actually seriously affect your opponent.
As for fans of the book - there is some, but not a huge amount, of tie-in to the novel. The theme could really be on anything, the mechanics just don't seem to play in much to the actual novel itself.
Lastly, I will point out that players with more experience with Pillars of the Earth will definitely have an advantage. Knowledge of cards, resources available and the on-going improvement of characters all play into an advantage the veteran players have. Overall, for now, I'd have to rate it a solid 3 stars.
It's not to say that Pillars is a bad board game, it's just not great. I can certainly see the replay value in the game, with its multiple strategic options but it just seemed to drag. Mind you, it might just have been the company I had, and I will certainly give it another shot.
Pillars brings very much to mind Puerto Rico, another highly rated game that somehow just doesn't cut it for me. The mechanics in Pillars is definitely simpler (you only have to choose between a series of cards for your resource allocation of workers) but you do have to balance workers, gold and victory points again.
The choice of cards is very Princes of Florence as well, though it does lack the 'bidding' aspect of the game which might have made things more interesting. Perhaps what really gets to me is the lack of player interaction - you are building your own workers and choosing cards almost irrespective of the other players. Sure, their choices limit yours and vice versa, but otherwise, you cannot directly affect the players. And with so many things dependent on luck, it's hard to actually seriously affect your opponent.
As for fans of the book - there is some, but not a huge amount, of tie-in to the novel. The theme could really be on anything, the mechanics just don't seem to play in much to the actual novel itself.
Lastly, I will point out that players with more experience with Pillars of the Earth will definitely have an advantage. Knowledge of cards, resources available and the on-going improvement of characters all play into an advantage the veteran players have. Overall, for now, I'd have to rate it a solid 3 stars.
Labels: board game review, starlit citadel
posted by Tired | 4:20 PM
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