Hi all... Today I bought Arkham Horror board game, the salesman said that it's the best one they have in shop... anyway... my only board game before AH was Monopoly

So me and my friends decided we want to play something serious

After we studied the manual for about 2 hours... we didn't know how to even start the game, we setted up our characters on the map (home)... but we don't know how to move, where, or anything else, we know that there is ancient one, we setted up the game almost ready to play... we didn't know how many monsters to set on the board.. anyhow... so is there some easy tutorial or something that explains how to play this or maybe a video of a gameplay where someone explains what is he doing during the game... I would be really thankful if some of you would help me on this one.

ps: I watched this movie..

Thank you

-Vjeko

Oh boy. You need help. Arkham is actually really easy play, a lot of rules questions will come up though, but you don't need to be a rules expert to start playing.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/23314

That's the legendary flowchart by Mr. Skeletor. It has helped many a new player to start playing Arkham.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/22286

This one is a play guide by UniversalHead.

Download either one (I prefer Mr. Skeletor's) and use it to play SOLO for a while. Set up one investigator first, then play that. Then keep upping the number of investigators until you can play with other people.

kookoobah is right, you really do need help. I suggest you forget about the turorial, especially if it is a video, actually. I recommend something that helped me a lot : play on your own, during the week, before inviting anybody. You do that with 2 or 3 investigators that you will play on your own, with the rules booklet in front of you, and you turn around the table to play everybody as if it was your friends. It ll be messy, slow since you'll check everytime your next authorized option, (ok, i'm here, now phase 2, movement, this guy's turn, i do that, and then phase 3), but I promis : it helps a lot, and, well, looking at the number of people here who play on their own with 4 invests, you won't be disappointed and actually might enjoy

And, when you do play solitaire, *don't play with the monsters*. Combat is the most complicated part of the game.

When you have the other mechanics down, add the monsters. *Then* you may scream.

kookoobah said:

Mr. Skeletor's one is awesome, I'm using it since I occasionally forget tidbits even though I already know how to play it.

Also, for the thread owner, avoid using investigators with spells, focus on those with no spells first.

ced1106 said:

I've gotta say, I disagree with this advice.

I think you should just get stuck in, and not worry about excluding the most complex game bits. It's not like it matters if you cock up the rules and play the game wrong. I've played, like, a hundred games, and I still basically have no idea how it works.

Well said. Even till today, my friends and I still can't agree whether monsters which appear on a mythos card can move on the same mythos card (those from the gate), most believe it should follow some summoning sickness, but the rulebook order dictates they can move. Horribly confusing.

Well, I'd say what you can't agree, house-rule.

Hi all... and thank you for your kind reply on my question.

I've learned how to play it now, but not enough , so I have a few more questions...

About closing dors...

1) Why is it good to close doors, and when I close it, do I remove a doom tolken from ancient one's doom list?

2) What happends if I leave the door open, or closed, what is the diference, and what marker do I place in both situations?

3) When I'm in other world, and I fail on some chek or something that Gate card says... do I stay in other world that turn?, and if I do, on the next turn do I try to solve the same Gate card or do I chose another Gate card?

thank you all for quick answers

-Vjeko

Hey man,

1) It is good because God said so. What a weird question ! It is not always good, it can be good when, for instance, there are as many gate trophies as players minus 1, and it is the last one on the board : that is **** great. But it is not great when it is a place when gates open ofte, it s better to prevent that and get a monster surge, sometimes. You NEVER remove a doom token, except if you SEAL the gate, while USING AND ELDER SIGN CARD. Closing a gate is common, don't mess with the doom track young impudent !

2) If you let it open, and that you stay on it, nothing happens, you can close it whenever you want ; if you let it open and leave, you'll loose your explored counter (if you ever used one, quite useless usually) and you will have to go through it and the other world AGAIN if you ever come back on it ; if you close it... well, see answer 1.

3) You always stay in the other world except if you fall down to 0 on Stamina OR Sanity, in which case you go to Lost in Time and Space. Wether you succeded or failed your check in the other world, you ALWAYS discard the encounter card.

Mate, keep on reading the rules booklet, I'd say... you seem lost. Read it in the subway, in your bed at night, and all... like a good book ! It helps !

Well, since nobody has given you a straight answer, I will. Seems like you say you know how to set up the game, so I will assume that you have set it up correctly and are ready to go.

Step 1: Turn over the top mythos card. Remove a gate marker from the unused gates (all of them, at this point) and place it on the location that is shown in the bottom-left corner of the card. Add a Doom token to the Ancient One's Doom track, due to a new gate opening.

Step 2: Randomly draw a monster from 'the monster cup' and place it on the gate that has just opened, if playing with 5+ people, grab two monsters instead of one. Side note: A large enough dice bag works great for a monster cup, alternatively a hat, an opaque plastic bag, etc, will do. These will be the first monsters placed on the board.

Step 3: Move monsters. If the symbol on the monster you've drawn matches a symbol on the card, the monster moves. It moves on the color of the arrow that the corrosponding symbol on the card has in its background. If the monster's symbol doesn't match the card, then the monster doesn't move.

Step 4: Complete the Headline, following the rules on the text. If it is an Environment than the special text stays in play until a new Environment is drawn and replaces it. If the text is a Rumor, well rumors are discarded and not used as the first mythos card. But for the future, if this isn't the first mythos card, examine the text, the Rumor stays in place and isn't discarded until either the Pass or the Fail condition is resolved. If the text is a Headline (most cards) than resolve what the card says, and then discard it, Headlines are one-time only.

The above is all you need to do in the Mythos phase, that's the most complicated bit. Now you're truly ready to play the game. Move your characters, gather clue tokens and items. If you end in a location (not a street) have an encounter there by drawing from the corrospondingly colored deck and following the instructions for your location. Ending in the street leaves you no encounter, Ending on an open gate draws you through the gate in place of your encounter, you will then have an "other world" encounter during the next phase, which is drawn from the deck with the gate symbol on it, according to the colors that match the specific other world which you are in. A character has movement points equal to his "speed" value at it's current setting, plus any bonuses you might have from skills (+1 Speed) or equipment (Motorcycle, map). For each movement point spent, you can move along one of the yellow lines to an ajacent area. Example: Darell Simmons starts at the Newspaper. In order to get to the Silver Twilight Lodge, he needs to move into, (1)Northside Streets, then (2)Merchant District Steets, then (3)Miscatonic University Streets, then (4)French Hill Streets, and finally (5) into the Silver Twilight Lodge itself. Darell needs 5 movement points so he can only make it there if his speed is at it's highest setting on his sheet, a 5.... or if his speed is lower, but he has equipment that gives him more movement points.

When you have 5 clue tokens or an Elder Sign card, it's reccomended you enter a gate. Assuming you make it through alive, you may attempt to seal the gate. A Lore or Fight check is required at the modifier listed on the gate token (no check required when using an Elder Sign), if sucessful, your 5 clue tokens are spent, and you can place an Elder Sign token on the board. Once you accumeulate 6 Elder Sign tokens on the board, you win.

After each turn (once every player has moved, fought, and had an encounter, if applicable), you will draw a new mythos card and follow steps 1-4. Remember to add a Doom token to the Ancient One's track each time a fresh gate opens. If a gate would open on a spot where there is already a gate there, instead draw one monster and place it on each open gate (or, one monster per player, if that number would be greater). If a gate opens on a location where you have placed an 'elder sign' token, bonus for you, no extra monsters, and no doom added.

That's a basic rundown of the game. Refer to the rulebook for more details on combat, monster movement types and such. Or if you have specific questions, I'm happy to answer them. This really is an amazing game and well worth taking the time to learn the rules and play. I don't know where you bought the game but nevertheless.... the guy was right, it was the best game in the store. Good luck, and happy gaming.

awp832 and hem, thank you guis on your answers!, I know know how to deal with my questions, thanks again, you really helped me...

now I have a few more...

1) When I get on some card, for example skill card or unique item card "exhaust to reroll an evade check" does that mean that I can reroll once again that check or? because I saw on another card saying for example just "reroll combat check", without exhaust... so basicly what does that exhaust in AH mean? ( I know in real life, but this is a bit confuzing )

2) When I get on some skill check for example "Luck (-1) [2]"... does that [2] mean that I have to get 2 successes in one roll of x dies?

3) When I chose Fight check on closing doors for example, can I use weapons to increase die roll? or weapons are used only in Combat checks?

Once again, thank you all on kind and fast answers!

-Vjeko

Yo Vjeko

1) You 'll find that in the rules. Exhaust mean "turn your card face down, you now are able to do what is written on it once" ; then you'll be able to use that card power again once it has "refreshed", that is when you turn its face back up, during the upkeep.

2) Exactly.

3) Answer B ! A fight check is just a FIGHT check. Combat uses fight, not the contrary.

Cheers !