My go to reviewer. If you haven't read the book this game is named after, then do yourself a favor and read it.

I really liked this review. I appreciate when you share little observations about elements of the game that don't sit right with you, while still acknowledging it's a good game overall. These sorts of things are very helpful in getting a feel for a game.

Or that's how I feel, anyway.

Did you happen to see the HBO series? Is it worth watching at all?

I just finished watching the HBO series, but I haven't read to book, so I can't say whether the two compare..

I will say that the series itself was quite good. I really liked all the political intrique that was going on - which seems less present in the game unfortunately

Considering the fact there there is NO Political Intrigue going on in the game at all? Or building of any Church. Hahaha.

Isn't "building the church" represented by VP? A woodcrafter turns wood into VP and a stonecutter turns stone into VP, for example. Isn't that just saying "my woodworker contributed took the wood I provided and used it to help build the cathedral?"

Is it that the church progresses at the same rate no matter what you do that makes it feel like there is no connection? I think of it as the cathedral being built whether you contribute or not. The more VP you have, the more you contributed to the process.

Then again, I don't have this game. I have enough worker placement games!

A great review as usual. I too thought the game was somewhat fiddly when I first played it, particularly at the part of the game when everyone gathered their wood, stone and gravel. We have significantly reduced the "work" required to play the game by putting the workers directly on the card itself, instead of placing them on the board with the resources. This also allows the resource cards to remain in their original place instead of having to bring it to your playing area and then remembering to return it, etc. The game moves alot smoother. Before we always seemed to get bogged down in who was getting what, how many of that, etc when distributing the resources. We would also sometimes forget to collect all 9 cards and have to redo the 7 card laydown of the resource cards. I also recommend using the "holier-than-thou" player mats at the BGG download area as this gives all your personal materials, craftsmen, etc a designated place to be. The artwork of the mats look like they came with the game and they really help to keep things organized.

Those two "tune-ups" really helped streamline the game for us.

Is that Halo music I hear? nice.