--- product_id: 486206108 title: "Encyclopedia | Strategy Board Game | Dice and Worker Placement | 1 to 4 Players | 25+ Minutes | Ages 14+" brand: "holy grail games" price: "344 zł" currency: PLN in_stock: true reviews_count: 4 category: "Holy Grail Games" url: https://www.desertcart.pl/products/486206108-encyclopedia-strategy-board-game-dice-and-worker-placement-1-to store_origin: PL region: Poland --- # 25+ minutes gameplay Dice-driven worker placement 100+ unique illustrations Encyclopedia | Strategy Board Game | Dice and Worker Placement | 1 to 4 Players | 25+ Minutes | Ages 14+ **Brand:** holy grail games **Price:** 344 zł **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 🎲 Roll into the race for scientific glory — don’t let your discoveries gather dust! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Encyclopedia | Strategy Board Game | Dice and Worker Placement | 1 to 4 Players | 25+ Minutes | Ages 14+ by holy grail games - **How much does it cost?** 344 zł with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.pl](https://www.desertcart.pl/products/486206108-encyclopedia-strategy-board-game-dice-and-worker-placement-1-to) ## Best For - holy grail games enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted holy grail games brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Solo to Social Flexibility:** Engage 1 to 4 players in a thrilling race of scientific discovery and legacy-building. - • **Accessible Yet Deep Gameplay:** Easy to learn mechanics with rich strategic depth for repeat plays and mental challenge. - • **Become a Renowned Naturalist:** Compete to publish groundbreaking studies and dominate Buffon's Encyclopedia leaderboard. - • **Visually Stunning Experience:** Immerse yourself in over 100 beautifully crafted illustrations that elevate every game night. - • **Strategic Dice Placement Mastery:** Use dice as your workers to unlock research, expeditions, and discoveries with precision. ## Overview Holy Grail Games' Encyclopedia is a medium-complexity, dice-based worker placement board game for 1-4 players aged 14+. Set in 1739, players act as naturalists competing to contribute the most to Buffon's Encyclopedia through research, expeditions, and publishing. Featuring over 100 unique illustrations and 25+ minutes of engaging gameplay, it blends educational content with strategic depth, making it a must-have for fans of cerebral, visually stunning board games. ## Description The year is 1739, and as aspiring naturalists and adventurers, you’ve been hired by the Comte de Buffon – Darwin’s predecessor – to help him create the first encyclopedia of natural history. To do so, you’ll be conducting research, organizing ambitious expeditions and publishing studies of the world’s most fascinating creatures! The aim of the game is to become the biggest contributor to Buffon’s encyclopedia. Encyclopedia is a dice-based worker placement game for 1-4 players, designed by Olivier Melison avec Eric Dubus, the authors of Museum and Dominations: Road to Civilization. Through a dice placement mechanic, you will be able to choose different animals to study, prepare for your research and lead expeditions to other continents. All this will allow you to reach your main goal: publishing your findings to impress the public and increase your fame! Review: Absolutely fantastic game - If you have played Museum, or Museum Pictura, you need to get a copy of this game as well. If you haven't played those games... what's wrong with you? Get on that immediately! Basically while Museum and Museum Pictura are games where you spend cards to place cards and medium complexity, this is a game where you place dice to get various tokens and spend them to get and place cards (I'm drastically over-simplifying but you get the idea). People say this is a "heavy" game but it is not. It's a medium complexity dice placement game (like Discoveries: Lewis and Clark, Merchants of the Dark Road, etc). You have to make a lot of decisions about which dice to use to get which actions as dice in this game are basically "workers" from a worker placement game. THAT is pretty straightforward as you just have to use the right kind of die and get the right kind of bonuses for various values etc. Where the "heavy" comes in is the math. You're going to be adding number values of various tokens to get enough points to place/cash in a card and you'll perhaps yell in frustration when after 10 minutes of mental math you are ONE point too low in resources to do what you want. Ah, such is life. At any rate, THAT is the heavy part of the game. The MATH. If you can handle a lot of multiplication and addition (or just use a calculator) you should be fine. The gameplay itself is brilliant. The artwork is amazing. The rules are pretty clear but some people may be confused by the iconography and "different kinds of money". This game is quite honestly a 10/10 for me. I have played many hundreds of games and this is in my top 10. I consider the current price to be an absurd bargain. If you can handle more complex games (Terraforming Mars, Underwater Cities, Lost Ruins of Arnak) or enjoy pretty complex dice placement games (Merchants of the Dark Road, Discoveries: Lewis and Clark) I HIGHLY recommend this game, especially at this incredibly low price. Review: Almost perfect - Nice, but items are written in French. I’m English. ## Features - STRATEGIC WORKER PLACEMENT WITH DICE: Immerse yourself in scientific discovery! Strategically place dice to study animals, prepare research, lead expeditions, and ultimately publish your findings. - BECOME A RENOWNED NATURALIST: Achieve scientific greatness! Compete to become the biggest contributor to Buffon's Encyclopedia, gaining victory points through published discoveries and public acclaim. - EDUCATIONAL YET THRILLING GAMEPLAY: Learn while you play! Encyclopedia blends an attractive theme with educational content, offering a fun way to discover the world of natural history. - STUNNING VISUAL APPEAL: A feast for the eyes! Encyclopedia features over 100 beautifully unique illustrations, enhancing both the theme and overall table presence. - EASY TO LEARN, EXCITING TO PLAY: Easy to grasp, hard to master! Encyclopedia offers an accessible worker placement experience with surprising strategic depth for repeat plays. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | ASIN | B0B6CSV4SW | | Best Sellers Rank | #477,212 in Toys & Games ( See Top 100 in Toys & Games ) #12,944 in Board Games (Toys & Games) | | Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (22) | | Item Weight | 5.72 pounds | | Item model number | ENC01EN | | Language | English | | Manufacturer | Holy Grail Games | | Manufacturer recommended age | 14 years and up | | Product Dimensions | 11.65 x 11.65 x 2.76 inches | | Release date | November 10, 2022 | ## Images ![Encyclopedia | Strategy Board Game | Dice and Worker Placement | 1 to 4 Players | 25+ Minutes | Ages 14+ - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Vh6GrbdnL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Absolutely fantastic game *by S***S on January 16, 2026* If you have played Museum, or Museum Pictura, you need to get a copy of this game as well. If you haven't played those games... what's wrong with you? Get on that immediately! Basically while Museum and Museum Pictura are games where you spend cards to place cards and medium complexity, this is a game where you place dice to get various tokens and spend them to get and place cards (I'm drastically over-simplifying but you get the idea). People say this is a "heavy" game but it is not. It's a medium complexity dice placement game (like Discoveries: Lewis and Clark, Merchants of the Dark Road, etc). You have to make a lot of decisions about which dice to use to get which actions as dice in this game are basically "workers" from a worker placement game. THAT is pretty straightforward as you just have to use the right kind of die and get the right kind of bonuses for various values etc. Where the "heavy" comes in is the math. You're going to be adding number values of various tokens to get enough points to place/cash in a card and you'll perhaps yell in frustration when after 10 minutes of mental math you are ONE point too low in resources to do what you want. Ah, such is life. At any rate, THAT is the heavy part of the game. The MATH. If you can handle a lot of multiplication and addition (or just use a calculator) you should be fine. The gameplay itself is brilliant. The artwork is amazing. The rules are pretty clear but some people may be confused by the iconography and "different kinds of money". This game is quite honestly a 10/10 for me. I have played many hundreds of games and this is in my top 10. I consider the current price to be an absurd bargain. If you can handle more complex games (Terraforming Mars, Underwater Cities, Lost Ruins of Arnak) or enjoy pretty complex dice placement games (Merchants of the Dark Road, Discoveries: Lewis and Clark) I HIGHLY recommend this game, especially at this incredibly low price. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Almost perfect *by A***R on July 16, 2025* Nice, but items are written in French. I’m English. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Underrated heavy strategy animal taxonomy *by J***O on July 30, 2025* Underrated heavy strategy animal taxonomy ## Frequently Bought Together - Holy Grail Games | Encyclopedia | Strategy Board Game | Dice and Worker Placement | 1 to 4 Players | 25+ Minutes | Ages 14+ - Synapses Games | Yokohama | Strategy Board Game | Worker Placement Set in Japan | 2 to 4 Players | 90 Minutes | Ages 14+ - Iello: Khora, Rise of an Empire, Race to Development Game, Develop your City Faster and Better than Your Opponents, 2 to 4 Players, 75 Minute Play Time, For Ages 14 and up --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.pl/products/486206108-encyclopedia-strategy-board-game-dice-and-worker-placement-1-to](https://www.desertcart.pl/products/486206108-encyclopedia-strategy-board-game-dice-and-worker-placement-1-to) --- *Product available on Desertcart Poland* *Store origin: PL* *Last updated: 2026-04-23*