Best-sellerKen Follett published The Pillars of the Earth in 1989, marking a shift in his career, which until then had focused on thrillers. The novel is set in 12th-century England, amidst civil wars, religious disputes, and social tensions.Book coverThe book's central plot revolves around the construction of a grand cathedral in the fictional city of Kingsbridge. Its main characters are:- Tom the Builder: a master builder who dreams of the masterpiece;- Aliena: a noblewoman who struggles to regain her position;- Philip: the prior determined to strengthen his abbey;- William Hamleigh: a cruel and ambitious antagonist.The main charactersThe novel touches themes like faith, power, ambition, love, and resistance. Follett combines political and religious intrigue with personal dramas, creating a vivid portrait of the Middle Ages.In fact, the game reviewed today features these and other characters from the novel and manages to bring the novel's plot into game cards.Out of curiosity, the book became a worldwide bestseller - it sold over 160 million copies worldwide. And based on this bestseller we have The Pillars of the Earth: the card game!The Pillars of the Earth - Game InfoThe Pillars of the Earth card game, from now on simply Pillars of the Earth, is a 3-to-4 players game, age 10+, by designer Michael Rieneck. Art by Michael Menzel, Anke Pohl, and Thilo Rick.Game BoxPillars of the Earth was released in 2010 by Kosmos. The main mechanics are: hand management, set gathering, and "take that!".Game ComponentsThis game is derived from its "father," the award-winning board game The Pillars of the Earth from 2006, which won many awards. To mention a few:- In 2007, it won Best Family Game at the Årets Spill Best Family and the Deutscher Spiele Preis, where it also won Best Adult Game;- In the same year, 2007, it won Best Advanced Game at the Japan Boardgame Prize and was Game of the Year in Spain;- 2007 was generous, it was recommended for the Spiel des Jahres;- In 2008, it was Game of the Year by Games Magazine and Ludoteca Ideale.So in many ways, The Pillars of the Earth: The Card Game was born as a spiritual successor to its "father", The Pillars of the Earh Board Game.Playing the gameWe are in the 12th century, in the fictional town of Kingsbridge, England, where a cathedral is under construction. We are builders vying for the cathedral's construction. The central idea is to use craftsmen and resources to increase our reputation as master builders, while characters from the book appear as allies or obstacles. The competition will be fierce, so be very careful when the King appears - he can take anything and anyone to court.This is the setting of Pillars of the Earth!Before the setup, it's good to familiarize ourselves with the 4 different types of cards present in the game. They are distinguished by their roles and are easily recognized by the colors of their borders, namely:- Craftsman Cards;- Neutral Cards;- Privilege Cards,- Material Cards.The Craftsman Cards have colored borders in each player's respective colors (blue, green, red, and orange) and convert resources into victory points.Craftsman cards: Carpenter, Mortar Mixer, Blacksmith, Stonecutter, Master BuilderNeutral Cards have black borders and play a central role in resource acquisition, as they contain various characters with different abilities, including bonuses and penalties, as well as resources.Neutral Cards: King, Lady Aliena, Tom Builder, William Hamleigh, Bishop Waleram, Regan Hamleigh, Ellen, Alfred Builder, Prior Philip, Quarry, Forest, and Gravel PitPrivilege Cards have a brown border and function as permanent bonuses that players accumulate to improve their score or efficiency in converting materials. They also serve as turn counters, and trigger the end of the game.Privilege Cards: Artist, Potter, Bell-Founder, Brick-Maker, AssistantFinally, the Material Cards have borders in the respective colors of each player (blue, green, red, and orange) and are not played during tricks, but rather are used for managing and recording resources.Material Cards: Sand, Wood, Stones, and MetalHere's the game's setup:- 1) Each player receives their respective Material Cards and places them on top of each other so that 1 Stone, 1 Wood, 1 Sand, and 0 Metal are visible;- 2) Shuffle the Privilege Cards and place them face down in a pile;- Note: If there are only 3 players, remove the unused Craftsmen and Material Cards, as well as the Neutral Ellen Card;- 3) Finally, shuffle all the Artisan Cards, Neutral Cards, and the top card of the Privilege pile together and distribute them evenly among the players.Game SetupPillars of the Earth is a different kind of trick-taking game, where the player whose color is the highest card wins the trick, regardless of who played. This changes everything we're used to about tricks, and that's the flavor of the game, providing many plot twists in each trick, and even the famous "eye-gouging" moments.A round of Pillars of the Earth is divided into 3 stages, namely:- Stage 1: playing cards;- Stage 2: winning the trick, AND- Stage 3: scoring.In Stage 1, playing cards, whoever has the Neutral Card Lady Aliena plays the 1st card of the initial trick, but doesn't need to ; it only indicates that you should start the trick. It's also important to know that the Neutral Card Alfred Builder has a peculiarity: it should only be played in the last trick.That said, after the starting player plays the 1st card, proceeding clockwise, the remaining players play 1 card each in the trick. And that's all about Stage 1!Now it's time to see who won the trick, that is, Stage 2. The rules are as follows:- typically, the card with the highest value wins the trick;- if the highest value card is a Craftsman, then the player of that Craftsman color wins the trick, regardless of who played it;- if the highest value card is a Neutral or Privilege Card, then the player who played it wins the trick;- in case of a tie for the highest value card, the last card played among the tied cards wins the trick;- if the highest value card is the King, then nobody receives the trick. It is set aside and may eventually be dealt later. As the King card is the highest value card in the game, it always wins the trick.Now, the player who won the trick gathers all the cards played in that trick and places them face down in front of them. Because they won the trick, this player plays the first card of the next trick. In the case of a trick where the King was present, since no one won the trick, then the player who played the King plays the first card of the next trick.In this way, Steps 1 and 2 are repeated until all players have played all their cards and the tricks have been dealt.Now it's time for Step 3, the scoring, which is done as follows:- Players separate and discard the cards obtained from other players' colors, since they don't give them points;- Players receive Materials for each Neutral Card obtained;- Players now use the Craftsman obtained of their own color and any Privilege Cards they have to convert Materials into victory points;- Each player receives 1 victory point for each Craftsman of their own color they obtained;- Victory points gained or lost from Neutral Cards are added to the total score. Points should be noted, after all, this is only one round.An important detail is that if a player did not win any tricks in the round, they score the King's trick, the one that was set aside. The scoring continues normally as described above, and the King, by itself, is worth 3 victory points.Eample: green player receives 7 victory pointsAfter scoring, the next round begins. The Privilege Card remains with the player who obtained it in one of the tricks, granting that player the Privilege and benefits for the remainder of the game.Pay attention, as each player can take a maximum of 3 Materials to the next round. Any excess must be discarded.All other cards are shuffled together with a new card from the top of the Privilege Card pile, then, as before, distribute them evenly among the players. This marks a new round.That's how a round of Pillars of the Earth goes!Ending the GameThe game ends when the last Privilege Card is received by a player.The player with the most points is the winner. Any remaining Materials do not produce additional points.Strategy TipsPillars of the Earth is one of those games where you have to read the table constantly. Each trick can be great or terrible for you, as well as for your opponents, so understanding the correct timing will make all the difference.Here are some tips, both to succeed and to harm your opponents:- Always keep a high-value card in your hand, after all, you never know when a good card will come up that you should compete for;- Always try to win tricks where your Craftsmans are in play, after all, it's a double benefit, it's your Craftsman and it also gives more victory points;- Taking tricks where your opponents have Craftsman is only interesting when there is another important card in the middle: a Material and/or Neutral Card that you need or a Privilege Card;- When there are tricks regarding Neutral Cards that take away victory points, it's always good to play a Craftsman Card from an opponent, and if possible, a high-value one, to make that bad trick go to them;- Always try to win tricks with Privilege Cards, after all, they stay with you for the rest of the rounds and help you.Regarding Privilege Cards, obviously, winning them early in the game guarantees lasting benefits. They award 1 to 5 points, depending on the Privilege Card, and can also convert Materials.Furthermore, pay attention to the opportunities in the game, develop your best strategy, find the best timing, and win in Pillars of the Earth.Unboxing, Rules, and Gameplay VideosUnboxing:Rules:Gameplay:Pedagogical TipsIf you're looking for a fun game with lots of twists and turns that will have the kids laughing out loud, Pillars of the Earth might be the game for you! Each trick is an exciting, card-by-card battle that will keep the kids hooked.If you can and know how, it's worth telling the story behind the game and the book. After all, they'll find the book's characters in the game, which is really cool. They'll understand why some cards are good and others bad, because the game respects the characteristics of the book's characters and portrays them very well.Furthermore, the game requires little reading, is easily memorized, and heavily based on icons, making it easy to understand, learn, and teach, as well as being fun and very quick.In addition to all these benefits, the game provides important stimuli, namely:- resource management: to manage materials;- strategy: to know which card to keep and which to play at the right time;- decision-making: deciding whether or not to win a trick;- logical-mathematical reasoning: to calculate scores.Pedagogically, Pillars of the Earth addresses resource management, stimulates strategy, decision-making, logical-mathematical reasoning, and on top of that, it's fun!I recommend Pillars of the Earth for your collection!!!
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