Arkham Horror


[thanks boardgamegeek.com]

This is my first review on BGG since I just became a member today. I've been eyeing this website for a couple months ever since I decided the one thing that was missing in my life was boardgames. Some people tend to not want to play videogames (women especially), and ever since spotting a couple rpg players at my college cafeteria (on who brought Zombies!!!), I've had my interest. I've played many boardgames before, from Life, Clue, Monopoly (boring), Risk (boring), to Pente, Chess, Knockout, Gargoyles, and The Lost World Jurassic Park (the last 3 being old kid games that I used to play a long time ago). Upon seeing Zombies!!!, I realized there was a whole different style of boardgames I wasn't familiar with. So I browsed the internet and got led here. Been hooked ever since. After much studying and browsing, I determined that the top 3 games to get were Last Night on Earth, Arkham Horror, and Starcraft (I have a list that contains 18 games to get [the above included], but I figured the top 3 are the only ones worth mentioning). So after my B-Day came and went, thus getting some cash in my wallet, I was determined to get LNOE first. After 2 weeks of waiting, I went over to my game store and found out it was on back order. However, I saw the next best thing, Arkham Horror, along with a couple expansions. So I payed the $50, brought it home, and stayed up till midnight reading the rules and setting up the board, punching out the pieces and everything.

Sorry for the long intro, but this being my first review I couldn't resist. Onto the game itself, which I have currently only played single player twice. It's true what they say, the rules are a bit extensive with 24 pgs, but they make sense and go with the natural flow of the game. You'll probably get the majority of it down after 1 game, correct some bits of play flaws on the 2nd game, then be looking at the FAQ by the 3rd game. More on the FAQ later.



[thanks to highprogrammer.com]

OPENING PANDORA'S BOX
The board is bigger than any board game I've played before, but that's not saying much in my case since I've only been sticking with mainstream boardgames up till now (not counting Ingenious). I did make a slight error in folding the board back up to put it away since I tore the board just a little bit (nothing noticeable, but it made me cringe and curse since I thought I just messed up my first nmg [non-mainstream game]. So take heed, be very careful when opening and closing the board.

[edit: this is the best way to open up the board]

1. Get the board which should be folded up like this:



2. Then fold it out straight so that it's only folded in half at this point.





3. All that's left to do is completely unfold the board in a manner such as this:





This is the best way to unfold the board (reverse for the safest way to fold it back up ).

End edit.



If you are by yourself, it will take a while to punch out all the cardboard pieces and such, so it's recommended you have a helper to make double time. But again, even though the bigger pieces seem to pop out just from a touch, you might want to be careful about the smaller bits, from the hearts to the skill sliders. And to make a long stroy short, there are a lot of pieces. I expected something like this with my firsst nmg, though I heard it's not as big as War of the Ring. And then there's the character stands (plastic). I thought for sure those would scrape up the cardboard character pieces, but to my suprise, they are some tough cardboard pieces. However, they do get the indentation from the plastic stands if used enough times, so I would suggest getting the other stands that are found in the Dunwich Horror expansion (yes, I bought and played that one recently). The cards are fairly tough too. I tend to shuffle them the Granny's way (just having all the cards face up/down scattered all along the floor/table and mixing them up in a sort of 'was on wax off' method, and there wasn't a scratch on them. Speaking of shuffling, if you're big on that, expect to do it a lot since there are a lot of cards, and plenty of them need to be kept in seperate decks (17 minimum, though only 5-6 are big enough to where you may want to shuffle them once per game minimum).

Durable cards, durable pieces + fancy cards, fancy pieces = great game components.


THE FATE OF MANKIND
Gates leading to the Otherworld(s) are opening up all over Arkham. Through these gates come forth creatures who terrorize Arkham and threaten your lives. As more gates open and more hell breaks lose, The Ancient One stirs more and more in its sleep, waiting for enough gates to open, or for enough havoc in Arkham to be unleashed, before it awakens to devour the world. Your mission is to close all the gates before this happens. If that fails, you are to defeat the Ancient One in an epic battle. If that fails, then mankind’s fate is doom.


IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS
Complex when you first look at the rules, but goes smoothly after your first game if you learn it like I did. Try starting out with Michael your first game, since he gets some good weapons at the start so that you don't need to get fancy with the magic (or even use it at all). There's 5 phases of play, though sometimes you only end up using 3 or 4. In each single phase, assuming more than 1 person is playing, the first player resolves his single phase, then the person to his or her left, and so on, until that phase is complete. The same process repeats for each and every phase (unless a certain player isn’t in a position to do one or more of the phases).


[thanks to gamephotos; member of boardgamegeek.com]

1.)You adjust you're character's ability setting (speed/sneak, fight/will, lore/luck) depending on how much focus your character has (my personal choice is Michael, who only has 1). Every trait can be useful, and the luck factor of the game can come back at you if you end up relying on one trait too much at the wrong time/place (such as adjusting your luck to be higher than the lore, and vice verca).


[thanks to highprogrammer.com]

2.)You move your character, not with dice, but according to the limit you are given by your speed trait (adjustable along with sneak). You stop movement either when you are on the same space as a monster, or you arrive at your destination, or you use up your speed points for the turn. However, if you successfully sneak by a mosnter (see below), you continue your movement (unless for whatever reason you want to stay in the space with the monster).

If you encounter a monster, you can either sneak past it or fight it. Either way, you'll end up using dice to try out against the monster. Depending on the power of your traits and the monster's effect on them, you roll 1 die per number your trait is. For example, if Michael's speed is 2 his sneak is 4, which can adjust to 3/3, 4/2, etc. until it goes to whatever limit is on the character sheet. Assuming he has a 4 sneak and he goes up against a Hound of Tindalus which has a -1 effect on the sneak, you would roll 3 dice. Most of the time in order to get a success, you must get a 5 or higher with each dice. In a sneak case, only 1 success is necessary. Failing to sneak results in the monster doing combat damage to you (the Hound does 3 stamina damage, but since Michael has the Strong Body ability [explained on the character sheet] he would only lose 2 stamina). Then you enter combat with the monster. I prefer going into combat right off the bat with Michael since his tommygun is pretty useful, but this again depends on which character you choose. Some are more fit for combat than others. When you first enter combat, you do a horror check which tests your will (which is to fight as speed is to sneak as stated above; raise one, the other lowers). If Michael has a 4 fight, he has a 3 will. Since the Hound has a -2 effect on will, Michael would have 1 die to roll. If he fails, the Hound makes him lose 4 sanity (since Michael has a max of 3 sanity, you better hope that doesn’t happen). Horror checks only happen once per battle (and apparently they never happen when fighting the Ancient One, which is a bit strange to me). If you get a success on a horror check, don't worry about sanity, get to fight check. Michael has 4 fight (since will was 3), plus the addition of his tommygun (assuming you have it and are willing to use it [in every case you should be more than willing]) which grants him another 6 fight points (combat only), this gives Michael a 10 fight ability. However, the Hound has a -1 effect on him, so he only rolls 9 dice (there’s only 5 dice with the base game, so just roll 5, remember your success amount, then roll another 4). In order to win combat against a Hound, you need 2 success' minimum, otherwise the monster is alive and receives no damage (it's all or nothing). If you fail, the Hound does his 3 stamina damage (2 for Michael since he has Strong Body), then you have the option to flee (repeat the evade scenario) or fight again. If you lose all stamina, you go to the hospital and your turn ends. If you win, you keep the monster piece as a trophy and your character's movements/actions for the turn are over.

3.)If you are at a location not out on the streets, then you draw an encounter card depending on the location and follow it's directions (unless your location allows you to do something else, such as the Arkham Asylum allows you to substitute an encounter by having 1 sanity point restored).

If you’re on the streets you do nothing (unless some event is taking place there).

If you're at a location with a gate to one of the otherworlds, and you haven't explored it yet (you would have an exploration marker if you did explore it), you’re sucked through. This part of the game confused me when a monster just so happened to be on the same space as the gate, so I consulted the FAQ on the web, and looked at the “Rules” forum for clarification. Apparently, you fight the mosnters during the movement phase, while in encounter phases you either deal with a gate, get sucked through a gate, or draw an encounter card if there isn’t a gate. Before I knew this I assumed you just get sucked through before doing any combat since you would face any monsters on the space when and if you came out of the otherworld (assuming the monster was still there, and assuming you do come back, muahahah). If on a previous phase you make it out of the otherworld, you should use this chance to either seal or close the gate. To close a gate you use a fight or will check (your choice) against the gate, which may/may not have an effect on it. Say Michael has 4 fight and the gate is Yuggoth, which has a -2 effect, you roll 2 dice. You fail, the phase ends with no result. You succeed, the gate closes, and specific monster are taken off the board (including off the sky and outskirts) if they match the symbol shown on the lower part of the gate marker which you just closed. Then you take the gate marker as a trophy. To seal a gate, you either spend 5 clue tokens to put a seal on the location (upon closing the gate), or you use an elder sign (if you’re lucky to get one during gameplay). If a gate is sealed, then it can never be re-opened at that specific location, thus limiting the gates.


[thanks to Baki Nalincioglu (drfunk); member of boardgamegeek.com]

4.)If you are in the otherworld, you draw an otherworld card and follow the directions. If you stay sane and keep your stamina, and are lucky enough to not be stuck in the 1st or 2nd part of the otherworld, you progress to the next part on your next turn (the 3rd place being the location in Arkham where you were first sucked in, with an explorer marker (showing that you have been through the otherworld). You must stay at the location of the gate if you are to attempt to close the gate, otherwise you lose the marker and are sucked back in next time you go to that location.

5.) In the final phase (this phase is actually the first one played out at the start of the game, but the final phase for your turn), you draw a mythos card and follow it’s directions. Chances are this card will cause a gate to be opened at a location on the board. If the location a gate is to be opened already has a gate on it, a monster surge occurs, and the number of monsters to appear at each gate evenly will equal either the number of gates on the board, or the number of players in the game, whichever is higher. If a new gate is ever opened, a doom token is placed on the Ancient One’s doom track. In addition to a gate opening, a monster will enter into that space where the gate has opened. On the Mythos card, it will specify which creatures will move and where (the card will highlight specific monster signs and the black or white color per sign to determine if the creature moves according to the white or black arrows along the board). The directions didn’t make it clear whether or not the newly spawned creature moves if it’s symbol is on the card, so I determined that the creature does move if it’s symbol is on the card (since there isn’t a rule against this). If a creature moves into your current position, nothing happens with the encounter until your next turn, which is when you either evade or attack it.

Certain mythos cards have abilities where they remain in play for more than one turn. These can either be environment or rumor cards. They affect the game in a similar way the Ancient one does, only they can be temporary. An environment card stays in play until another one is drawn, thus replacing the previous one; it’s effects continue into the game until it is replaced (with the exception of gate openings and monster movement, of course). A rumor card stays in play for the amount of time stated on the card. If another rumor card is drawn while the other one is in play, it’s effects are ignored (except for the gate opening and monster movement), then discarded.



[thanks to Petr S (tynian); member of boardgamegeek.com]

THE ANCIENT ONE
As I said earlier, battling the Ancient One takes place if too many gates are open (for a 1-2 player game that’s 8 gates). It can also be awakened if there are too many monsters in Arkham (see below), the doom track gets full, there are no gate markers left to use (as in a player has so many gate tokens that there are none left to allow another gate to open during play [this occurs the moment a new gate opens and there are no gates left to put down on the board at any time]), and no monsters left to place on the board (due to a similar scenario as stated above). But before the battle, it must be said that the Ancient One (depending on which is chosen before the start of the game) affects the gameplay in 2 ways. First, in the left section of writing, it makes certain creatures more powerful in some way. Second, in the middle section, it does something to influence the gameplay. For example, Cthulhu has each player’s character drop their maximum sanity/stamina by one point. In Michael’s case, he originally had a maximum of 3 sanity and 7 stamina, but during this game, if Cthulhu is the Ancient one, he goes through the entire game with a max of 2 sanity and 6 stamina. However, the Ancient One sheet says this only happens while Cthulhu stirs in his slumber, so I assumed from the start that when it is awakened these rules lose their effect. However, according to one “Rules” forum this isn’t true for Cthulhu, that it’s in-game ability of taking your maximum sanity and stamina number down a notch stays in effect during the final fight. Well, I guess it depends on whether or not you want the game to be a little easier. House rules exist for a reason.

Once the Ancient One is awakened, all environment and rumor cards are discarded (or ignored, since there won’t be any mythos card drawing done during the battle anyway [probably no card drawing at all]). At the start of battle, players can refresh their spells/items and adjust their trait settings (fight/luck/etc.). Then the players roll the dice for an damage success. The damage depends not only on the number of successes (die roll of 5 or higher), but on how many play the game. If 1 person is playing, then each 1 success is 1 damage. If 2 people play, then every 2 success is 1 damage, and so on. After each player attacks (combining their successes for a total damage score), it’s the Ancient One’s turn to attack. Each Ancient One has a unique attacking ability (Cthulhu causes each player to drop their maximum stamina or sanity by 1 point per attack [player’s choice on whether it’s sanity or stamina]). This causes the final fight to be desperate since players must defeat the Ancient One quickly. The Ancient One loses if it loses all of it’s doom tokens (which should all be placed upon the Ancient One’s doom track at the start of battle, even if they weren’t right when it was awaken). Once either your sanity or stamina reaches 0, the player is devoured. If all players are devoured, they lose the game. If they defeat the Ancient One, the world is saved.


THE HORROR. THE HORROR.
One more thing, the Terror Track. The main way the terror track is raised is by having so many monsters on the outskirts of town that you are forced to place them back in whatever holder you choose to place them in in a game (the game doesn’t come with a holder for them, but it recommends a coffee cup, a bag, a bucket, whatever works), and raise the terror level in the process. A monster is placed on the outskirts of town when the number of monsters in Arkham have reached the limit, which depends on the number of players in the game. You count the number of players and add 3 to that number (1 player has a 4 monster limit, 2 have 5, and so on). If more monsters enter play then the limit allows, they are placed in the outskirts. The outskirt limit varies upon the number of players as well. For a 1 player game the limit is 7, 2 players is 6, 3 players is 5, and so on. When the number goes beyond this limit, the monsters are put back in your holder (and I assume this includes the one that goes over the limit), which then raises the terror track by 1 level. Every 3 levels the track closes down a certain store (since it makes people nervous when terrors walk the streets). If the track reaches 10, then the monster limit is removed. The number of monsters that can enter Arkham are limitless, plus a doom token is added to the ncient One’s doom track. After this, if the number of monsters reaches twice the original limit number in the game (a 1 player game being 8 monsters, 2 players 10, etc.), the Ancient One awakens. Also, if too many gates are opened during a game (8 gates in a 1-2 player game, 7 in 3-4 players, etc.), then the Ancient One is awakened.


CLOSING THE BOX
To make sure set-up is only a pain the first time you play, I would suggest getting 3 small plastic bags (I used ziploc sandwich bags, but try to get something smaller) and putting the following together in the same bags each: sanity and stamina tokens, clue and doom/elder sign tokens, money and skill sliders. Put the character/ancient one sheets in the box first before putting the bags down, followed by grouping the character and gate markers together before piling/spreading all the monster markers on top of it all. As for the card storage, i think it's common knowledge on how to store those, but place the blessing/curse/retainer cards seperate from the rest into the one container which should've first had the dice in upon first opening of the game. Pile the dice and plastic stands (stands being in the bag which they came in) into the container along with any other tokens not mentioned above (such as activity/terror/closed markers). After all this, all that's left is to put the board back in followed by the instruction booklet, then you have a pretty good repackaged game. However, I have seen specialized storage sets for these pieces, which can be found in some images on BGG if I remember right.


REFLECTIONS OF THE DREADED PAST
I like this game, though there isn’t a doubt in my mind that it would be much more fun with 2 or more players (I should try 4, since BGG recommends that number, while the instruction booklet recommends 3-5). But single player is good just to get familiar with the game, and I suppose you readers will judge for yourself if I’ve got the rules down after 2 plays. I suppose a numerical score system is the most attractive way of rating this game, so I’ll give a subject, my thoughts, and a number on a 1-10 scale.

Components: Durable, not cheap, and fairly attractive. The exception to the durable part may be the board though. Careful when folding it up, it might rip just a bit if you’re not careful. That said, though I’m probably too picky about this, I desire better looking pictures of creatures. But since I’m more big on substance rather than look, the components serve their purpose and are nothing to complain about. Despite that, it would’ve been interesting to see if the dice would’ve been a bit more stylish rather than the traditional plain white with black dots. 9/10

Gameplay: First time play will be at least 2 hours minimum, and that’s if you are playing by yourself. Can’t comment with absolute confidence on the fun factor since I’ve only played by myself so far, but I could imagine it being a blast with other players. Make sure everyone reads H.P Lovecraft’s The Call of Cthulhu before playing this game, or watch the new black and white silent film (I have yet to do that, but I heard it’s the best Lovecraft book to film translation ever). The game is heavily luck based, I can’t deny that. You roll dice for combat and certain card situations, and draw cards for a random situation that may be good or bad. Fate is more in the game’s hands than yours. But you can decide where to go, what character to choose, what your strategy is when dealing with traits, locations, and monsters. So if you’re willing to let go and roll along with this game, it will be blast. I heard the expansions make the game better, especially the Dunwich
Horror expansion. 8/10

Learning Curve: Took me 4 hours to read and get the board set up. If you count the rest of the 1st game I played which did act as a learning experience since I referred to the rules a lot during that time, it will run you about 6 hours to learn the game in and out if you go about it by yourself. But once you learn the rules, it’s fairly simple to play. Plus the rulebook’s last page (back cover) acts as a easy to use appendix for quick information. Add in the fact that it has an index, and it’s not half bad, though not perfect either. This is more of an information thing than a rating. It wasn’thard, just time consuming.
Gameplay Length: Depends on how familiar the players are with the rules and how many players there are. I say 2 hours playtime on a single player game the first time, adding about 30 minutes to 1 hour in addition per player.

Overall: Great introduction into the nmg’s, especially since it’s the type that has my interest, fantasy/horror. It’s a buy, or at least a game to play with some friends in some way possible. Since I believe multiplayer is better than 1 player, I’ll raise the score from 8/10 to 8.5/10, though it may go higher depending on the experience. Next I’ll go for Last Night on Earth.

Note: I played 1 whole game with multiple players (started out with 2 then added a 3rd player about halfway through, though it’s not recommended that you do that, but what the hell, it was fun). Despite the fact that that SOB Hastur slaughtered us, we had fun. Like I said, more players is better than 1, even though it takes up more room on the table than is bearable unless you have a really large table. It was tough enough playing the game with the DH expansion by myself.


FORGOTTEN DETAILS ON THE UNSPEAKABLE
I wish the final fight against the Ancient One was more strategic and intense (but of course, more players makes it a bit more fun and intense since it encourages a bit of communication for those with special cards). Instead it’s more of a dice fest. I heard that the Kingspot Horror expansion adds a card element to this, but I also heard it makes it so much more difficult that it isn’t recommended. I also heard of a house rule about using each number on the doom track as a progressing action for your characters rather than a health track for the Ancient One, but it sounds too complicated to me. Despite this minor annoyance, the game is still fun. Compared to the overall entertainment from the game as a whole, this downside is forgivable. Anyone have suggestions or clarifications on variations for fights against the Ancient one?

ANY LAST WORDS?

Well, I have a last image:


[thanks to wikipedia.org]