Country: England

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)

A contest got the designers of Mr. Jack 137 ideas for new characters. Out of those 137 two were chosen:

Steve McKeogh's “Spring-Heeled Man” who can jump over other people or obstacles
Arnaud Fillon's “Abberline”, an inspector

The expansion contains these 2 new characters and 3 others designed by Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc:

John Pizer, a butcher who frightens everyone
Joseph Lane, an anarchist who builds barricades
Madame, who can move fast, but won't enter the sewers

Furthermore, the expansion contains rules for a new way to set up the game.

Released: Essen 2007.

Expands:

Mr. Jack

Mr. Jack is exclusively published by Hurrican, all printings of Mr. Jack are from Hurrican and distributed by other companies

One of the two players represents Jack the Ripper, who will be one of the 8 characters on the board. This player knows the identity of this character and his goal is to flee from the district as soon as possible (or avoid being accused for eight turns). The other player represents an independent investigator (not represented on the board) who tries to guess the identity of Jack. But he can make only one accusation during the game!

During each turn the players move the characters, using their special powers, placing them either in shadow or light. At the end of each turn, the witnesses declare if Jack is visible (in light, or adjacent to another character) or not (alone in the shadows). This allows the investigator to know which characters are innocent. This continues as the investigator tries to eliminate suspects while Jack tries to escape. Intuition, logic and cold blood will be necessary for each of the two participants.

Check out the awesome graphics by our own BGGer/genius graphic designer Piero Lalune (pierolalune)

Mr. Jack is exclusively published by Hurrican, all printings of Mr. Jack are from Hurrican and distributed by other companies