Why is Arkham Horror fun for you?

By mageith, in Arkham Horror Second Edition

Posted at

Avi_dreader said:

I'd say my biggest trick for winning is A)I play ruthlessly B)I manage risk (I like to have a backup plan with a little backup stuff, and I'm not worried about sacrificing investigators if it looks like the game is turning against me) C)I don't get distracted. Players who go around exploring Arkham lose. I'm not saying it isn't fun. I'm not saying I don't know where many encounters are, but I tend not to dig for particular encounters (unless I have Darrell). The trick to winning is managing your sealing and gate number, while making sure you're equipped well enough to make it through the gates ::shrug:: I don't think it's *that* hard.

(snip)

I usually don't play with gaurdians, but when I do, I don't feel they add to the game difficulty too much. Ghroth makes sealing victories a pain in the ass, but if I were playing with him or The Black Goat, I'd start stocking up for a combat victory (unless I was playing against Azathoth). I'm not going to play the odds that I can pull off a sealing victory with a ten doom track, it's just too improbable (which isn't to say I won't seal gates, but I don't expect to win that way and make sure my characters are properly equipped for a final battle)— even if one makes the unlikely assumption that a double doom token card won't be drawn. For the KiY or Tulzscha I don't modify my strategy much since they don't speed up the game much even though they can both be pains in the ass. I don't usually play heralds though unless I'm in the mood for a treat :')

The first paragraph is pretty much how I view the game as well (apart from the Darrell-whoring gui%C3%B1o.gif ). Main difference seems to be that I don't really buy Allies nor prepare for final combat.

As for the 2nd paragraph, firstly, I think you meant to say "Heralds" Avi (seeing as you already said earlier in the post that you never use Guardians). I played my early games without Heralds (only because I didn't have any), for the last 40 so games (out of total of 72) I've used a Herald. Now will have to see what Innsmouth brings us in terms of GOOs, but most likely play each GOO one without a Herald, then start using Heralds.

Of course, finding the time to play AH will be hard(er) for the next 3 months, as I'll start a temp gig on Monday.

Posted at

pittplayer said:

correction: HAD a great community!

Then you came along BA-ZING

No just kidding you guys are great gran_risa.gif

Posted at

Dam said:

Avi_dreader said:

I'd say my biggest trick for winning is A)I play ruthlessly B)I manage risk (I like to have a backup plan with a little backup stuff, and I'm not worried about sacrificing investigators if it looks like the game is turning against me) C)I don't get distracted. Players who go around exploring Arkham lose. I'm not saying it isn't fun. I'm not saying I don't know where many encounters are, but I tend not to dig for particular encounters (unless I have Darrell). The trick to winning is managing your sealing and gate number, while making sure you're equipped well enough to make it through the gates ::shrug:: I don't think it's *that* hard.

(snip)

I usually don't play with gaurdians, but when I do, I don't feel they add to the game difficulty too much. Ghroth makes sealing victories a pain in the ass, but if I were playing with him or The Black Goat, I'd start stocking up for a combat victory (unless I was playing against Azathoth). I'm not going to play the odds that I can pull off a sealing victory with a ten doom track, it's just too improbable (which isn't to say I won't seal gates, but I don't expect to win that way and make sure my characters are properly equipped for a final battle)— even if one makes the unlikely assumption that a double doom token card won't be drawn. For the KiY or Tulzscha I don't modify my strategy much since they don't speed up the game much even though they can both be pains in the ass. I don't usually play heralds though unless I'm in the mood for a treat :')

The first paragraph is pretty much how I view the game as well (apart from the Darrell-whoring gui%C3%B1o.gif ). Main difference seems to be that I don't really buy Allies nor prepare for final combat.

As for the 2nd paragraph, firstly, I think you meant to say "Heralds" Avi (seeing as you already said earlier in the post that you never use Guardians). I played my early games without Heralds (only because I didn't have any), for the last 40 so games (out of total of 72) I've used a Herald. Now will have to see what Innsmouth brings us in terms of GOOs, but most likely play each GOO one without a Herald, then start using Heralds.

Of course, finding the time to play AH will be hard(er) for the next 3 months, as I'll start a temp gig on Monday.

You're right. Sorry. Tired ;') Otherwise would poke back at you ;'D don't take the absense of teasing personally.

Posted at

Because it's cooperative. I stopped playing board games when everyone else all around me decided it was more important to win and gloat than play. You'd think that kinda thing would have ended when we were all 8-10, but it didn't. And it never worked for me, because...the funny thing about bad winners? They're bad losers too. So I never got to feel good about winning or losing. The people who like to play Arkham Horror like to play with me, not against me. And loud chatty group strategy is so much more fun than silent scheming and backstabbing. (Join the Winning Team notwithstanding.)

Because it's...not cooperative. By that, I mean solo-play. And not those half-assed "follow the rules in the back of the manual" solo-play. Real, honest-to-god, worked-up, banged-in, ironed-out, nobody-can-come-out-to-play, solo-play rules. I can play it any time I want, and the game doesn't suffer in the slightest in its operation. When you consider everything that can go on in a single game, that ONE PERSON can handle the whole thing flawlessly...a stunning work of game design.

Because it's Lovecraft. I was raised in the same soft cushion of existence many of us were, and the day I found HPL was an unconceived delight. Wait...the universe is so vast and incomprehensible...and the cosmic things that exist in it are so beyond organic understanding...that humanity is "lucky" it's too primitive to realize how beyond insignificant it is? Oh, fun! Other heroes in other games must save the village, the economy, the nation, the world...AH "heroes" can't even begin to describe the consequences of losing. And when you win, what do you get? You get the next day. You get Thursday, you poor knowledgable bastard.

Because it WORKS. At first box crack, the level of scope you have to learn looks like putting together a car engine. But it's all sliced neatly into phases and actions and reactions, so that once you learn the motion, it all clicks. And someday you look back and can't figure out how you ever DIDN'T know how to play.

Because it constantly SCREWS with that last paragraph. Don't want to lose half your stuff? Madness/Injury cards. Six Gate Seals? Gate bursts. Still not enough? Atlach-Nacha. Need more Clues? Tsathoggua killed your Science Building. Must have a high Fight? Wendy. How many times have you dealt out a random game...and then realized none of your pre-packaged strategies are going to work? Nothing about this game is "set in stone".

Because it's always different. Even with the same four Investigators and the same Ancient One, you could have a dozen different games. If you love this game, I cannot see how it is possible to get bored with it. And even if you could...there's another expansion to try.

Because it's HUGE. God, I love fiddly bits. And cards. And fiddly bits and cards that don't look like dozens of other fiddly bits and cards. And a HUGE BOARD that covers the table. And a bunch of friends with decades-worth of dice in their bags.

Because it's GORGEOUS. Granted, it takes a certain twist in your grey matter to appreciate the beauty of the Cthulhu Mythos, but if you have that twist...whew, the artwork here can be breathtaking.

Because it's fun to lose. gran_risa.gif demonio.gif babeo.gif

Posted at

well said sir, well said.