Players: 1-8
Time: 3-5 hours
Difficulty: 8 (of 10)
Full disclosure: I brokered the deal to get this new edition of Arkham Horror released by first tracking down Richard Launius, then acquiring the rights to Arkham Horror, and then getting them over to Fantasy Flight Games. As a result my company, Skotos, earns some royalties on sales of this game. In addition I did some significant cleanup work before I handed the game to Fantasy Flight. For that matter, I also used to work for Chaosium, the previous publishers of this game. Thus this review can't in any way be fully objective. However, this game has changed so much since I last saw it, thanks to the massive redesign done by Kevin Wilson over at Fantasy Flight Games, that I think I can actually review it as its own entity, not something that I had some hand in. Nonetheless, you've been warned.
The Components
Arkham Horror comes jam-packed with a huge quantity of good quality components:
- 1 game board
- 16 investigator sheets
- 8 ancient one sheets
- 1 first player marker
- 56 money tokens
- 34 sanity tokens
- 34 stamina tokens
- 48 clue tokens
- 24 skill sliders
- 20 doom tokens
- 3 activity markers
- 1 terror track marker
- 3 explored markers
- 6 closed markers
- 16 investigator markers
- 16 investigator stands
- 60 monster markers
- 16 gate markers
- 189 investigator cards
- 179 ancient one cards
- 5 dice
Before I discuss any of the components specifically, I'd generally like to note that the artwork used throughout the game is superb. I believe it's largely drawn from the Call of Cthulhu CCG. Besides the beautiful art, the graphical layout & design work that puts it all together is quite good too. I'm not going to keep repeating this, but it's true for all the components in the game that feature artwork (e.g., everything but the more simple cardboard markers).
Board: A six-panel board which depicts downtime Arkham, around the Miskatonic. The Other Worlds, such as Yuggoth and the Dreamlands, are displayed to the side. This new board actually matches the map of Arkham seen in the Chaosium products. It's an element that I like, but it also happens to have been one of our requirements for the newer edition of the game, so I'm biased there.
The new board is also somewhat abstract, which was one of the innovations that came out of Fantasy Flight. The various areas are connected by what's effectively a simple graph. Neighborhoods are shown in distinctive colors. Each one has a "street" space which connects to other streets as well as locations in that neighborhood.
Arkham Horror is a pretty complex game with lots of special events at various locations as well as frequent special effects (such as the ability to regain Sanity at the Asylum). The board nicely manages these in a very usable fashion with lots of icons. For example, each location shows the items that you can most likely acquire there,while dangerous locations where gates can appear are shown with red diamonds. Finally, special effect text is printed directly on the board. I've found all of these elements very useful during the game.
Besides the aforementioned Other Worlds, there's also some bureaucratic spaces on the board, including the Terror Track, and spaces for "Outskirts" (where extra monsters are placed), the "Sky" (where flying monsters go), and "Lost in Time & Space" (where unlucky investigators go).
Sheets: The 16 investigators and 8 ancient one sheets are each printed on sturdy card stock. The investigators feature everything you need to know about your inevstigator and are very easy to use. In both games I played I kept missing my special power, but that's not really the fault of the sheet; there's just a lot of info here. The ancient ones meanwhile show you everything you need to know about your foe, and also display his personal doom track. As with the investigator special powers, it's possible to lose track of some of the ancient one special powers if you're not careful. In both cases it would have been nice if there was some iconography to make it easier to spot the rules, but the total number of things to remember is minimal enough that they're not hard to keep track of for an experienced group.
Cardboard Bits: The game comes with a huge pile of cardboard bits, all printed full-color on thick, linen-textured cardboard.
Some of the tokens just feature very simple iconography. These include money tokens (in three colors and denominations), sanity and stamina tokens, clue tokens, skills sliders (which are used on the skill tracks on the character sheets), doom tokens (now, with elder signs on the back!), activity markers (which helpfully remind you of where events are occurring), and closed markers (which helpfully remind you of locations which have been shut down). Although they feature full artwork, the explored markers are another simple, repetitive piece; they helpfully remind you that you've been through a gate. The terror track marker just shows a screaming face; one of our players in my second game of Arkham Horror found it overly disturbing and made us use an alternate piece for it.
The investigator markers go in the investigator stands and each features original artwork of the characters. I had the devil of a time getting those investigators into the very tight plastic stands, but I suppose they'll stay there now.
Likewise, the monster tokens feature individual artwork for the various monsters. In addition there's a ton of additional info on each monster token: sneak modifier and dimension of origin on the front (the latter a symbol which is matched on gates and some cards), and all the info you need for combat on the back. There's a lot of info on these monsters, but it's all pretty easy to make out at a glance.
Finally the gate markers each show the dimension they lead to, plus the appropriate icon.
Cards: There are an amazing 19 decks of cards in Arkham Horror, plus a number of special cards.
The investigator cards are all half-size, printed on medium-weight cardstock. They include common items, unique items, spells, skills, allies, and a number of special cards, such as the deputy cards you can pick up at the Police Station, the Silver Lodge membership cards that you can pick up at the Silver Twilgiht Lodge, etc.
The ancient one cards are all full-size, again printed on medium-weight cardstock. They include: location encounter cards for each of the 12 neighborhoods; Mythos cards which move monsters and cause other random events; and gate cards which are location event cards for the Other Worlds.
Some of these cards have the tendency to be wordy, especially the location cards (which were a booklet of encounters in previous editions). However some good effort has been made to make the cards overall utilitarian. For example the item cards all have costs and icons to show if they require one or two hands. They're also all color-coded so you can quickly tell the difference between common items, unique items, and spells. Phase names are clearly shown to make sure you know when to use cards, and required rolls have been bolded. I personally would have used some more icons, but the cards are entirely sufficient and relatively easy to use as is.
Dice: A set of plain white, inked dice.
Rules: A 24-page rulebook printed full-color on glossy paper. This is a long and dense rulebook. I've had a few problems with issues of timing, but at least part of that is because I've played the old game just enough to be aware of how things used to be. Overall I think the rulebook is pretty good, but could be better.
Errata: I'm less pleased by the fact that there's already a multpage FAQ and errata which can be found on FFG's AH support page. There are some notable changes to a couple of cards, that I suspect will generally be forgotten, and also some pretty big rules changes, including limitations to keep people from camping out at the Curiositie Shop and increases to the number of monsters that appear in the Mythos Phase. I'm not a fan of Living Rules, and I'm generally disappointed when pages of errata and FAQs are required to play a game, as is the case here.
However, overall Arkham Horror's production values are gorgeous. The quality of the components is all good are better, the art is terrific, and good work has been done to make the game quite utilitarian. As such the new Arkham Horror earns a full "5" out of "5" for Style.
The Gameplay
The object of Arkham Horror is to save the town of Arkham from the vile ancient one which shadows it ... and perhaps even stay alive in the process.
Setup: The board is laid out. One clue token is placed on each of the "unstable" locations on the board.
Each player random selects an investigator. He takes his starting possession (some random possessions, some money, some clue tokens, and some specific items such as a spell for the magician, a cross and holy water for the nun, etc.). Each player puts their investigator token on a specific starting spot. Starting skills are choosen.
The rest of the huge array of components are also laid out around the board. In particular the 12 location decks, the Mythos deck, the gate deck, the common item deck, the unique item deck, the spells deck, and the skills deck are laid out.
An ancient one is randomly choosen. He'll be the Big Bad for the day's gaming. In the end either the players win or the ancient one does. The ancient one is a Great Old One or Outer God like Cthulhu, Yig, or Azathoth. There are 8 total.
Finally the first Mythos Card is drawn. A gate and monsters are placed on the board and any other affects take place, as per the "Mythos Phase", discussed elow.
About the Characters. Besides his posessions and his special ability, each character has a few other notable characteristics. Every character has a Sanity from 3-7 and a Stamina from 3-7; these are starting and max values for these characteristics. Points can be lost throughout the game.
Skills. In addition each character has values in three pairs of skills: Speed/Sneak, Fight/Will, and Lore/Luck. These are each set up on a clever track that inversely relates them. Each track contains four values. For example, Sister Mary (the Nun) has four values for Fight/Will: 0/4, 1/3, 2/2, and 3/1. She's never that great at Fighting, but the better she is at Fighting, the less good her Will is.
Each character also has a "focus" characteristic. This notes how many changes they can make in their skill values in a turn, so Sister Mary, who has a focus of only "1", could move her Speed/Sneak from 2/3 to 3/2 on a turn, but not all the way to 4/1. Likewise if she changes Speed/Sneak she can't adjust any other characteristic.
Speed limits movement and Sneak makes it easier to sneak by monsters. Fight affects attacking monsters and gates while Will keeps you sane. Lore affects spell-casting and can be used as an alternative to destroy gates, and Luck is mainly used in encounters.
Skill Checks. Throughout the game players will have to make skill checks. They're usually noted like this: "Lore +1". This means that you have to make a lore skill check at plus one. So, for example if your Lore is currently 3, you'd make it at 4. You roll a number of dice equal to the value of your skill. Every die that comes up 5 or 6 is a success. Most simple checks require one success. Combat often requires 2 or 3 successes.
You can expend clue tokens to take additional rolls on a skill check if you don't like a result.
Order of Play: During a round of play the players all take part in the following five phases, each time in player order beginning from the start player:
- Upkeep
- Movement
- Arkham Encounters
- Other World Encounters
- Mythos
Upkeep Phase: Each player can move his character's skills by up to his focus. Some special cards (e.g., newspaper retainers, bless, and curse) require an upkeep roll; if a "1" is rolled, the special card goes away.In addition, many cards are "exhausted" (flipped upside down) when used; this is when you "refresh" them. (It's basically a way to mark once-a-turn card use.)
Movement: Each player may move up to his speed in spaces on the board. The board is an abstract graph. It's divided into 12 neighborhoods, each of which has 3 or 4 buildings (which are leafs) and 1 street space (which is a node). 2 points of movement can get you from one building to another in the same neighborhood; 6 points can get you from one side of the board to the other.
There will generally be monsters on the board, either hanging out in buildings or moving out onto streets. If you move into a space with a monster you must encounter it.
If you end a movement on a space with a clue token, you take it.
Avoiding Monsters. When you encounter a monster you can try and avoid it by making an Evade check. This is a Sneak check modified by the monster's perception (usually a minus modifier) and any special items or spells that you have that modify evading. If you suceed in evading a monster you can continue on with your movement. Otherwise it immediately deals damage and you must fight it.
Fighting Monsters. When you get into a fight with a monster you first make a Horror check. This is a Will roll modified by the monster's scariness. If you succeed you're usually fine, while if you fail you lose one or more points of Sanity as noted on the monster.
Now you decide to Fight or Flee. Fleeing means making that Evade check again. Fighting means attacking the monster with a Combat check. This is your Fight value plus various weapons minus the monster's combat rating. In addition each monster has a toughness rating which is the number of successes you must make to kill it (unlike most skill checks which just require one success). And, combat successes aren't cumulative. You have to kill a monster in one shot!
If you succeed at an evade you get away, but your movement is already over. The monster stays in place. If you succeed at combat you kill the monster and collect its carcass as a trophy. Otherwise the monster deals its damage to you (which is one or more Stamina, except for special monsters like the Nightgaunt which instead throws you through a gate) and you have to Fight or Flee again.
Moving in Other Worlds: After you go through a gate you're instead in an Other World. Each Other World just has two spaces in it. In your first movement phase in an Other World you move from space one to space two. In your second turn there you move from space two to any gate location leading to that world.
Arkham Encounters: Now each player in Arkham who is in a location has an encounter.
Usually this means that the player draws a card from a deck related to the building's neighborhood then reads text specific to his location. He may get a reward, roll a skill, fight a monster, or something else. Various locations are more likely to offer certain rewards, and these are marked on the board; other locations are very dangerous and these are marked too.
Many locations also have special things that you can do there. You can buy items at some stores, get back stamina and sanity at the hospital and asylum, etc. You can choose to take these special encounters instead of drawing a card.
Gates. If you're on a location with a gate you have a gate encounter rather than a regular encounter. If you just got there you're drawn through the gate and placed in the first space of the Other World.
if you're back from an Other World (which you helpfully marked with a token) you can instead try and destroy the gate. This is done as a Fight check, modified by the gate. If a gate is destroyed, all monster on the board from that dimension are also removed.
Gates may also be sealed, which is one of the primary ways to win the game. This is done automatically (without the Fight check) if you have an Elder Sign item. Otherwise, after a successful Fight check, you can expend five clue tokens to permanently seal the gate.
In either case you take the gate as a trophy.
Other World Encounters: Now each player in an Other World has an encounter. They draw a card from the immense gate deck. Each of these cards is marked with one of four colors; if the color of the card matches one of the two-four colors of the current Other World the player reads the encounter, which could be specific to his dimension or generic. Otherwise he draws until he gets an appropriate card.
Mythos Phase: Finally the first player draws a new Mythos card. This card displays a number of things:
- A gate location is indicated. If that location is free, a new gate is placed, along with 1-2 monsters, at a designated location. If the location was already sealed, nothing happens. If there is an active gate at the location, instead a whole slew of new monsters appears on the board. There are limits to how many monsters can appear in Arkham, and if that limit is reached, instead the Terror Track increases which causes allies to flee, businesses to shut down, and eventually causes the monsters to totally overrun the town.
- A new clue is placed on the board at a different location.
- Some monsters move. Based on which dimension a monster is from it'll either move clockwise or counterclockwise through the neighborhoods, or else just stay still. There are special rules for stationary monsters, flying monsters, fast monsters, and others.
- A special event happens. Sometimes these are long-term events (environment or rumors) which may apply for multiple turns. Otherwise they're a one-time effect.
Afterward the first-player marker rotating clockwise.
The Ancient One Awakens: You're trying to stop the Ancient One from awakening. He can awaken if: (1) the Doom Track, which advances every time a new gate appears, and only drops back if an Elder Sign is used, reaches the maximum for your ancient one, which can vary from 10 (Yig) to 14 (Azathoth); (2) there are 5-8 open gates at any one time, depending on the number of players; or (3) you run out of gate markers.
In any of these cases you go into a final battle.
The ancient one has a toughness equal to its doom track value times the number of players, so in a 5-player game, puny 10 doom track Yig takes 50 successes to kill! (Unlike normal combats, these successes can be cumulative.) Each ancient one has something special (and bad) that it does at the start of its battle, and a special attack. The fights against the ancient ones are quite varied as a result.
Winning the Game: You can win the game in one of three ways: (1) you can close all the gates on the board and have as many gate trophies as the number of players; (2) you can seal six gates; or (3) you can fight and banish the ancient one.
I suspect sealing gates is the most common victory, though in the two games I played prior to writing this review we once banished Nyarlathotep (after he killed half the characters) and we once closed all the gates in Arkham (astonishingly, without sealing a single one of them).
You lose the game if the ancient one instead defeats you (or in the case of Azathoth, if he awakens at all).
Relationships to Other Games
Arkham Horror is the second edition of Richard Launius' original Arkham Horror game, which was first published in 1987. This new edition has all the same basic ideas and mechanics, but is totally revamped, generally to the game's notable benefit.
The biggest differences include: multiple ancient ones which each introduce notably different conditions to the game; a well-unified skill system which involves rolling lots of dice; the conversion of the encounter booklet to cards; lots of new cards of all types including the Mythos cards which control the flow of events in Arkham; an abstract movement system rather than the roll-and-move of the original; the introduction of clue tokens; the introduction of paired skills and focus; and lots more. The new game is generally much more variable, evocative, and tactical than the original.
Arkham Horror was one of the first adventure boardgames which tried to translate the ideals of roleplaying to a more strategic game, and it probably was the first cooperative board game where the players worked together against the system. There have been many more games introduced into each category since.
Other examples of recent & good quality cooperative games include Shadows Over Camelot and Lord of the Rings. Another horror entry into this category is Betrayal at House on the Hill, but as a largely random game, it's not one I particularly recommend.
The Game Design
The general goal of an adventure board game is to present players with unique characters that they can meaningfully advance and to produce an exciting and evocative experience. Arkham Horror succeeds at all of those goals admirably.
Characters each have unique stats and unique special abilities which help to control their style of play during the game, and thus really make them out as distinct individuals. In addition, through the collection of clues, items, and spells you can notably improve your characters and feel like you're truly gaining experience.
Finally the theming evoked by this edition of Arkham Horror is superb. Individual cards all fit right into the Cthulhu Mythos; they give a great feel for the 1920s time period and for the Mythos horrors. Individual special effects are simple, but still feel unique and distinct. The beautiful artwork on all of the cards just helps this all the more. Overall Arkham Horror (2nd edition) is the best and most immersive Cthulhu related game that I've played, bar none.
The mechanics of Arkham Horror are sound. The skill system is simple to use, yet still exciting, and is adapted well for everything from combat to luck rolls.
Arkham Horror has always allowed a good level of strategy. You can send people off to different dimensions or to collect items, or whatever else seems useful. If anything this edition of Arkham Horror increases that strategy because you now also have to keep monsters out of Arkham lest the Terror level get too high, so it's not just about gates. This new edition of the game also expands its strategy with new tactical play. The modifiable skills and the clue tokens both allow opportunities for meaningful decisions on individual turns, and this is a good addition.
Finally, it's worth noting that this new Arkham Horror is very replayable. With so many cards you often don't see all of them, and with 8 different ancient ones you can play 8 notably different games. And FFG is going to make it even more variable with two expansions this year.
I only have one complaint about Arkham Horror which is the huge variability of the game length. The average length is quite long: about 3-4 hours. However it can also go quite short if you get unlucky or it can go quite long if you're not good about sealing gates. There is a cap to the length, due to the doom track, but you can easily tread water for hours before that if you're not playing well.
Although it's not a general issue, some players may also be put off by the complexity of the game. It takes work to learn and to play.
Overall I really enjoyed this new edition of Arkham Horror. I'd played the original game every few years at best, but this new edition really draws me in and makes me want to play again, despite the fact that its length is much longer than I'm usually willing to play. I think the folks at Fantasy Flight did an excellent job of developing this second edition and have notably improved the original game. As a result I've given it a full "5" out of "5" for Substance.
Conclusion
The new edition of Arkham Horror is a superb adventure boardgame. It's got fair mechanics, allowing for good strategy and tactics alike, but the game's true strength comes in its excellent and evocative theming.
Ia Ia Cthulhu Fthagn!
