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The Pillars of the Earth

#24480BGG ↗

2006 · 2-4 players · 120min · weight 2.81 · 18,469 ratings

v2 v3 fit 0.401

BGG raw

ID
24480
Name
The Pillars of the Earth
Year
2006
Rank
258
Min players
2
Max players
4
Playing time
120
Min playtime
90
Max playtime
120
Avg weight
2.8136
Num weights
1443
Bayes avg
7.03158
Average
7.25584
Users rated
18469
Num owned
24070
Wanting
595
Wishing
3524
Num comments
3958
Fetched at
Sat Apr 25 2026 16:15:40 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Mechanisms (6)
EventsMarketTurn Order: Claim ActionTurn Order: RandomWorker PlacementWorker Placement, Different Worker Types
Categories (4)
EconomicMedievalNovel-basedReligious
Description (1236 chars)

Die Säulen der Erde / The Pillars of the Earth is based on the bestselling novel by Ken Follett and the 2006 game in the Kosmos line of literature-based games. At the beginning of the 13th century, construction of the greatest and most beautiful cathedral in England begins. Players are builders who try to contribute the most to this cathedral's construction and, in so doing, score the most victory points. Gameplay roughly consists of using workers to produce raw materials, and then using craftsmen to convert the materials into victory points. Workers may also be used to produce gold, the currency of the game. Players are also given three master builders each turn, each of which can do a variety of tasks, including recruiting more workers, buying or selling goods, or just obtaining victory points. Getting early choices with a master builder costs gold, as does purchasing better craftsmen. Players must strike a balance between earning gold to fund their purchases and earning victory points. Expanded by: The Pillars of the Earth Expansion Set (which include the Expansion Cards in some editions) The Pillars of the Earth: Expansion Cards (which are included in the Expansion Set in some editions)

LLM v2 (wide)

Core verb
draw worker, place action
Decision shape
combinatorial
Reward schedule
delayed
Aesthetics
["Challenge"]
Core loop pitch
Draw your master builder in random order; pay gold to skip the queue and grab the action you need.
Translation difficulty
Medium
Difficulty reason
Random-bag turn order and resource conversion port well, but no publisher has done it; Daedalic's Steam game is a different narrative adventure, not the board game.
Direct digital port
Port kind
Closest loop translation
none yet
Primitive tags
["random_bag_turn_order", "pay_to_skip_queue", "resource_to_vp_conversion", "craftsman_market_refresh", "round_event_modifier"]
Confidence
0.7
Extracted at
Mon Apr 27 2026 11:40:03 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Raw v2 JSON (886 chars)
{
  "game_id": 24480,
  "name": "The Pillars of the Earth",
  "core_verb": "draw worker, place action",
  "decision_shape": "combinatorial",
  "reward_schedule": "delayed",
  "aesthetics": [
    "Challenge"
  ],
  "core_loop_pitch": "Draw your master builder in random order; pay gold to skip the queue and grab the action you need.",
  "mobile_translation_difficulty": "Medium",
  "translation_difficulty_reason": "Random-bag turn order and resource conversion port well, but no publisher has done it; Daedalic's Steam game is a different narrative adventure, not the board game.",
  "direct_digital_port": null,
  "direct_digital_port_kind": null,
  "closest_loop_translation": "none yet",
  "primitive_tags": [
    "random_bag_turn_order",
    "pay_to_skip_queue",
    "resource_to_vp_conversion",
    "craftsman_market_refresh",
    "round_event_modifier"
  ],
  "confidence": 0.7
}

LLM v3 (deep)

Not yet enriched at v3 (deep pass).