In the game, players race throughout the grounds of Miskatonic University's museum grounds, seeking to stop the incursion of a hideous Great Old One into our dimension. They will face otherworldly horrors as well as mundane challenges, overcoming them by rolling winning combinations on a number of dice. Like Arkham Horror, this is a cooperative game, so everyone wins and loses as a team.
Components
Fantasy Flight has released Elder Sign in its Silver Line of games, which is packaged in a compact format. As I hinted above, the use of art from previous games makes this an attractive-looking product. However, many of the counters are so small that the art is reduced to the point of absurdity. People who own both Elder Sign and Arkham Horror can actually substitute many of the counters for either game.
The bulk of the components are sturdy, colorful cards the size of large index cards. They include the characters players will use as well as the adventures they have in and around the museum. Several decks of smaller cards function as equipment and allies, as well as a random event generator called the Mythos Deck.
The unique addition to Elder Sign are eight custom dice, much in the style of Descent. Six green dice are identical, while one red and one yellow die have some special faces. Rounding out the components is a clock to keep track of game events.
Play
The game begins with a combination of cards arrayed on the table. Players select their characters and starting equipment, while a Great Old One and Mythos Deck event are dealt as well. Six adventure cards are placed in play as the initial challenges to the group. On a player's turn she choose to resolve an adventure or regroup at the museum lobby to heal or stock up on assistance. Once a turn is done, the clock is turned three hours ahead and the next player begins. Every time the clock strikes twelve, bad events from the current Mythos card can take place, and a new card is drawn to hound the group for the next twelve hours.
The meat of the game is contained in the 48 adventure cards (plus eight more cards representing jaunts to other dimensions). Each one is lavishly presented, with engaging art and flavor text. A number of tasks then appear, all of which must be completed to succeed. Some cards require these tasks be attempted in order, but in most cases the player can choose. Resolving an adventure consists of rolling the six green dice, and matching the results to one task per roll. The dice used to finish earlier tasks are not reused on the remaining ones, so that it becomes progressively harder to succeed. However, equipment and spell cards can add more dice to a player's roll, allow rerolls during task resolution, or save good unused rolls for future tasks or players.
If all the tasks on a card have been finished, the player can get the rewards listed on the adventure. These include more equipment, clue tokens which allow rerolls during adventures, the opportunity to visit other dimensions, and elder signs. A certain number of the latter are required to win the game.
Conversely, when it becomes obvious that success is impossible, a player must suffer any penalties on the adventure. Bad effects may also occur when a roll fails to complete a task and one or more dice have a "Terror" result. These include loss of health or sanity, as well as the appearance of monsters or doom tokens which hasten the arrival of the Great Old One. Monsters look like additional tasks, which are placed on other adventure cards, making them more difficult, while the Great Old Ones work like powerful monsters representing the final challenge of a game.
Conclusion
I have enjoyed playing this game, both in solo efforts and with others. The combination of characters, Great Old Ones and adventures allows for a good deal of replayability. The sensation of seeing your resources dwindle as you reach the final task can be suspenseful, although there are no penalties for simply avoiding particularly difficult adventures, and stashing the tough monsters there to be left undisturbed.
Like other collaborative games, sometimes there is little to do when it is not your turn. This can be a particular problem when there are seven other players and you do little while waiting to roll the dice again. Luckily, social interaction and planning can make the delay between turns more bearable. Other critics have mocked the game as little more than glorified Yahtzee with custom dice, and if the mechanics strike a player as too simple, this will indeed be a problem.
Ultimately, your feelings about the theme of the game will go a long way towards whether you like Elder Sign or not. To this end the designers have done a good job evoking the desperate struggles of Lovecraftian gaming that many people enjoy. Anyone who likes that aspect of Arkham Horror or even Call of Cthulhu, but cannot find time (or other players) to play, should get Elder Sign.
