The Estate (2021) is the second box set for Mausritter and it is pure delight. It is a multi-hex campaign setting centering on the grounds of the titular human dwelling. A brief guidebooklet provides an overview of each of the hexes, information on the primary mouse settlement (as well some smaller ones) and some hostile factions (a cat sorcerer, the spider-queen, rat bandits and some thieving magpies).

The real star of the box is the pile of eleven pamphlets, each written and illustrated by a different creator. When I went through the box the first time, it was magical, there seemed to always be another beautiful pamphlet to look through! Each one details an adventure site to explore. Amanda Lee Franck, for instance, presents the suit of armor in the estate house that serves as the home of a mouse wizard (who would like to animate that armor). There’s a river race (by Ema Acosta) that feels like a mousy version of Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown. Skullfungus’ pamphlet reveals dark doings in the Moth Queen’s mines. There’s the orchard, the tree that was struck by lightning, the estate chimney, the sewers, the shed a human child used as a science lab, and more, each tying into the others along multiple narrative paths (and each accompanied by a sheet of cardstock inventory chits and little paper “backpacks” to store them in).

The whole thing is gorgeous. All the individual artists are in top form, and their work is visually tied together by the always sharp Games Omnivorous design. I think the original Mauritter is a great box set, but The Estate is where the game really comes alive for me.