There are few things they could have done with Mountain of Madness. It did not take into account 7-8 player games, the focus tokens do not have a +2 on backside so you would be short on those. Mystery where you have to do gates on Antarctica board there is one less then what would be needed, I guess have to use Advancing Mystery cards to get last one.

Also the unique asset characters should have done something with their backs instead of just duplicating, you miss out on a big chance to add more mixture to the game. They could done prelude card to just use backs of unique assets giving the cards different stats and actions.

They should have added extra two mysteries for each ancient one, since it unlikely see an expansion for those ancient ones again.

Fair enough on some of these points... and there were certainly a few typos and unclear rules that went out with the finished product

That being said, I think the game has been drastically enhanced and given many more options.

As far as your unique allies comments , preludes, and AO mysteries... sometimes less is more. And I wouldn't be surprised if we see more mysteries for old AO's in later expansions.

Mystery where you have to do gates on Antarctica board there is one less then what would be needed, I guess have to use Advancing Mystery cards to get last one.

Solving the mystery does not require that the gate being closed be in Antartica. While the setup for the mystery arranges the Gate stack so that gates will appear in Antartica, you can close any gate to advance the mystery. From the mystery in question:

"When an investigator closes a Gate during an Other World Encounter, he may spend 1 clue to put that Gate on this card".

(Bold emphasis mine)

Focus is almost certainly going to be included in the next big box expansion, which means that the extra tokens won't go entirely to waste, and the Mystery you mention doesn't require Antarctica gates to be closed.

I do agree that the Prelude cards are disappointing. Having played with them all, they all seem to add a great deal of ease to the gameplay, and without actually increasing variance that much.

Well I was just recalling the game we had and thinking of how it would work with more players. I yet to memorized these cards yet lol

Here's a concern I had: does it play well with 2 investigators?

Those make up most of our games (2 people, don't like keeping track of more than 1 investigator each). I love Eldritch Horror but it's more wonky as far as player scaling goes compared to Arkham. Things get a lot tougher with 3 or less and lot easier with 6 or more.

The whole extra Antartica board of MoM had me worried. Does it work with 2 player games?

Two players it is okay, its when you are at odd numbers that it is tough. Pretty much a three player game has the same cost and spawns as a four player game.

Here's a concern I had: does it play well with 2 investigators?

Those make up most of our games (2 people, don't like keeping track of more than 1 investigator each). I love Eldritch Horror but it's more wonky as far as player scaling goes compared to Arkham. Things get a lot tougher with 3 or less and lot easier with 6 or more.

The whole extra Antartica board of MoM had me worried. Does it work with 2 player games?

I've played EH mostly as a two-investigator game, and I think I've done Rise of the Elder Thing twice 2-investigator. In general, I think MoM makes the game easier compared to base+Forsaken Lore and I've had no trouble getting to the sideboard. Not only can you go to Antartica and travel, but you can catch a flight on an Acquire Assets action (guaranteed with a debt) or get to the Plateau of Leng through any gate (more or less, I could be misremembering the exact mechanics).

All in all, I haven't seen the problem people have complained about regarding covering the board with two investigators (covering everything you want to do, on the other hand…), and it's been pretty easy to get to the side board so far. Admittedly, getting back is a bit harder.

I dont thing MOM make things easy. Elder things they are very easy. And yes Antarctica board make game easy too

I just play couple of times only but I was impressed how quickly you can boost your hero in Antarctica.

So my conclusion for now if you wonna challenge just remove easy mythos card when you play against Elder Things or use Antarctica board!

Play a second game against Elder things. Yes is quite easy….. Ursula just super puper on Antarctica board. Mythos deck should be buid only from normal and hard cards….

Yeah, the intent behnd Rise was to offer an easier AO, considering Ithaqua is rather hard. I had a great time playing RotET as you suggested, without Easy cards in the deck (that's a good thing in EH: staging difficulty. You can make difficult AOs easier, easy AOs more difficult, difficult AOs insane or whatever you fancy the most: adapt the game to your likenings and playing style. It's not the first time FFG attempts at doing this - Doom and Arkham come to mind - but it's the only time it actually works greatly

I think some of the general encounters should have offered a free focus token. Something as simple as "The slow drift of your ocean voyage gives you plenty of time to think things over. Gain 1 Focus."

To be honest after couple of plays I realize how easy to play now with MOM expansion….

So for now if you wonna have a challenge you dont use easy cards at all (maybe only against Yig will be impossible) and also new prelude cards make it also easy. New investigators also crazy powerful.

I believe next expansion will ramp difficult level same as FL once…

What is your idea?

just remember advance mystery of serpent crown is only a clue added to clue pool. Playing Yig right now >_<

So I play 2 games against ET scenario with 3 investigators. First game I use only hard and normal mythos cards. Was crashed without chance. Really difficult, no possible…

Second game I use standard mythos cards shuffling. So I lost too but was very close….. So odds number of investigators ramp difficult for me quite good. Sounds like is enough to make game exiting and challenge!

Yeah, the intent behnd Rise was to offer an easier AO, considering Ithaqua is rather hard. I had a great time playing RotET as you suggested, without Easy cards in the deck (that's a good thing in EH: staging difficulty. You can make difficult AOs easier, easy AOs more difficult, difficult AOs insane or whatever you fancy the most: adapt the game to your likenings and playing style. It's not the first time FFG attempts at doing this - Doom and Arkham come to mind - but it's the only time it actually works greatly

I agree. RotET is a nice AO for a casual night of gaming and offers a lot more theme than the game delivers normally. Ithaqua is definitely where the challenge is however... down right brutal.

Yeah, the intent behnd Rise was to offer an easier AO, considering Ithaqua is rather hard. I had a great time playing RotET as you suggested, without Easy cards in the deck (that's a good thing in EH: staging difficulty. You can make difficult AOs easier, easy AOs more difficult, difficult AOs insane or whatever you fancy the most: adapt the game to your likenings and playing style. It's not the first time FFG attempts at doing this - Doom and Arkham come to mind - but it's the only time it actually works greatly

I agree. RotET is a nice AO for a casual night of gaming and offers a lot more theme than the game delivers normally. Ithaqua is definitely where the challenge is however... down right brutal.

Pffft.. Not if you're using Ursula...

Ursula is looks really broken to me.. She just simply to powerful ah?

Ursula is looks really broken to me.. She just simply to powerful ah?

I don't know that she is toooo powerful, but in a normal difficulty game, she surely ups my win ratio. The good thing about Eldritch horror is that you can stack the mythos with harder cards if you so desire (the cards with the tentacle backgrounds) or remove the "easy" cards.

I think the big thing about Ursula is that she has all of the important stats: Lore, Fight, Willpower, Observation. These stats are the most tested for game-changing cards like Rumors, Otherworld Encounters, and Mysteries. Influence isn't really that big of a deal unless you are Charlie Kane.

I can't recall her being particularly good in Arkham Horror either. I mean, I think she was okay, but not spectacular.

Both Daisy Walker and Patrice Hatheway had certain reputations for being quite powerful. It was unsurprising when they were also fairly powerful in EH. Ursula, imo, sort of came out of left field as a star player. And now that she has so much versatility, every time I see her, all I can think of is Lara Croft.

I can't recall her being particularly good in Arkham Horror either. I mean, I think she was okay, but not spectacular.

In Arkham she's rather good, since she starts with 4 clues and can start wherever she wants, hence, basically you place her on an unstable location to start with five clues and hopefully Mythos zero card sending her in the first OW.

I'm always happy to draw her (but clearly she's no Patrice, Daisy, or Wendy)

I actually wasn't sure if starting on an unstable location with Ursula granted you the clue, or it you would still have to end your movement phase there to pick it up. I also forgot that she started with 4 clues. That does make her rather good.