Novel-Based

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)

1931: Your scientific expedition discovers a new and intriguing mountain range in the middle of the Antarctic polar circle. Under these challenging conditions, the survival of your team will depend on your ability to communicate with each other and to coordinate your efforts to overcome each obstacle — but what you discover on the way to the highest peak will strongly test your mental health. Will you even be able to understand yourself despite the madness that gradually insinuates itself into your mind?

Based on the novel by H. P. Lovecraft, Mountains of Madness is a fully cooperative game with a pinch of real-time gameplay.

Macabre detection in the worlds of H.P. Lovecraft

Welcome to H.P. Lovecraft’s Arkham, the 1920s. There will be many mysteries to uncover in this storytelling game of Lovecraftian terror. Using the provided newspaper, a list of allies, the directory of Arkham residents and a map of Arkham - your job is to follow the clues from location to location, suspect to suspect - to unravel the mystery and answer the questions posed at the end of each scenario.

Your score will depend upon the number of clues points you needed to visit, the risks you took to your sanity in your investigations and your ability to find the correct answers to the questions.

Match wits with Armitage's final score the man who has been exposed to the sanity-blasting truth about the existence of the age old evil! Can you beat his score?

With that in mind it is time to collaborate with Armitage’s investigations to complete your training. This is not a typical board game: No dice, no luck, but a challenge to your mental ability.

The cases that appear in print edition are:

Case 1 - A Grain of Evil
Case 2 - Flesh and Blood
Case 3 - The King Cometh
Case 4 - The Slumbering Solace
Case 5 - The Serpent's Vengeance
Case 6 - The Star of Tokelau
Case 7 - The Vanished Girl
Case 8 - Pasquel's Wager

This Clue-style game comes with a game board, Fluffy Folder (for holding the solution), 2 special dice, 6 wizard hat pawns, 1 ghost pawn, 10 Hogwarts event cards, 6 Character cards, 6 Magic cards, 9 Room cards, 2 Summary cards, and a Check List Pad.
The object of the game is to deduce which student cast which forbidden spell in which room in Hogwart's School. Once a player thinks he/she knows the solution they must travel to the difficult to reach third floor where Fluffy guards the answer.
While most of the mechanics of play will be familiar to any player of the classic Clue, a few new elements in the game may require a slightly different approach to play.

In The Dresden Files Cooperative Card Game, players work together to solve cases from the bestselling Dresden Files novels in the ultimate what-if scenario: What if Harry was on the scene with allies who weren't there in the original story? Play Harry, Murphy, Susan, Michael, and the Alphas in the first five novels, or take on "Side Jobs" in a random scenario generator based on the short story collection of the same name.

Play your hand, clear the board, and beat the odds in the final showdown at the end of the book. Use teamwork, strategy, and a wee bit of luck to win the day.

The game has plenty of in-jokes and references for Dresden fans (like the unreliable range of the Blue Beetle), but it’s accessible to people who haven’t read the books.

This is a tightly tuned, strategic, cooperative game that feels intense, vital, and a little bit risky (thanks to dice and other factors) throughout play. At 30 minutes per session, gameplay is fast-paced and down to the wire. In this game, players take on the role of Harry Dresden and his allies, investigating cases and taking on foes from the books. To accomplish this, you'll share a common pool of action points (called Fate points), and each player must choose between taking an action or generating Fate points each turn. Solve more cases than there are foes left standing to win!

In short, each player plays a character from the novels (one of them is always Harry), taking on a shuffled scenario deck based on one of the books in the series. Using a combination of cards, dice, and teamwork, players attack foes, investigate cases, take advantages, and overcome obstacles to make sure they have the best possible odds for a win in the final showdown at the end of the book! Like any good cooperative game, it's hard to win (no fun if there's no challenge!), but always rewarding to play, and scales smoothly from one to five players.