I bought this game for two reasons:

1- I enjoy everything from Lovecraft, and finding a board game was amazing. Besides, I did not know what a "collaborative" game was.

2- I can be played solo.

Yes, it is always fun to play with your friends and everything that comes with that, but when you really like a game and you don't find friends or time for that, a solo game is excellent.

You can focus on the story, every little text that gives "flavor" to the board game, and even try different strategies everytime.

You should try

balsak40 said:

yeah i always do this with games when i first get them to understand the rules (it sucks doing it for CCGs as you are formulating your strategy knowing what the other person has). I am glad that there is a fun way to not only do this, but enjoy the game when i want to play but don;t have friends over.

AMBusam said:

thanks for this (and to everyone else who offered suggestions), i will definatly keep the recomendations in mind when i crack this bad boy open.

finally gave the game a go solo and it though i lost it was still fun. i tried it again the other day solo and i must say the game still keeps alot of what makes the game great even when playing by yourself. i lost both times but i only used 2 characters. if it wasnt for football tonight i probably would have played my 3rd solo game. next time ill try 3 characters maybe.

PearlJamaholic said:

I'd recommend more. Our first game was a 2-player and we each used 1 investigator. The very next game, we decided as a 2-player we needed 2 investigators each. We loved it even more and found it wasn't any challenge to run 2 (though we kept the first player marker busy so we could track the turns).

When I attempted my frist solo, I thought 3 investigators would be a challenge. Halfway through the game, I realized it was a breeze (keep track not winning!) so I have been playing 4 solo ever since.

Why do you think it's harder with four players than three players, colt?

Avi_dreader said:

It wasn't a statement about the difficulty of winning the game.

Ahh, I see. I was very puzzled.

Avi_dreader said:

Just goes to show that getting all those corruption cards has it's disadvantages as well .

jhaelen said:

Yes, that was my what I meant. I had played 2 investigators and feared I would have to work up to 4. But after realizing how easy it was to MANAGE 3 investigators, went up to 4 and never looked back!

A lot of people fear running mulitple investigaotrs as they think it will be confusing or too much admin work. But I found it helped solidify my understanding of the rules.

Just finished one investigator game. I played Kate Whintorp, Ancien One was Shub-Niggurath and played with basic game only (personally I own only that). It was tough, most of time I evaded monsters (I was able to have Sneak 4, due to motocykle, which granted me +2 to speed). I got lucky in thre points: I got find the gate spell, several times gates opened in sealed locations or locations with open gate and I got two copies of "King in Yllow", which granted me 8 clue tokens. To my surprise, I won. It was very lovecraftian game, as my character was left with one sanity ponts most of the time. (Everytime I regained it, I was travelling through gate, cast spell, lost point and returned to Arkham). Anyways, I was blown away with that variant.

I think that AH as Christmas gift was very cool idea.

I have played it solo almost exclusively, and bought it for that purpose.

It is, of course, still great fun, though it's a different kind of burn. I feel more like I'm playing speed chess when I play solo. You make up in efficiency what you lose in interaction.

I actually attempted to play the game using only 1 invesitgator. I lost.

Miserably, of course.

I played the game once with five players, purchased my own copy and settled down to a 1-player, 1-investigator game.

I won. I faced Shub-Niggurath, and the "terrible experiment" came out, allowing me to acquire a huge number of monster trophies, so she really didn't stand a chance in the final battle.

True, I only sealed two gates, and really stood no chance of winning that way, and I was quite lucky in several places: I played Dr Fern (psychologist), and drew a healing stone, echanted blade and tommy gun.

The game is eminently possible with one investigator, I imagine Nyarlathotep is pretty easy too (can't be that hard just to collect clue tokens). I'd rate Cthulhu, Azathot and Yog-Sothoth as pretty impossible, though.

I then played a game with two investigators versus Cthulhu. I won again, this time by sealing six gates. I wouldn't have stood a chance if he'd actually woken up. It was mostly fairly easy, though I did get pretty worried towards the middle when "Good Work Undone" came out, and Prof Harvey was about to go to pay it off when he was sucked through an opening gate, and had an other-world encounter which promptly caused him to be lost in time and space.

I'd repeat what others have said, and agree that it's the best solitaire game I've ever played. (Admittedly this isn't saying a whole lot, as very few games can be played solitaire at all, and for many of those that claim they can, the rules don't actually work)

The game shifts with the number of players. With more players the Arkham portion of the game is easier while the Final Battle becomes nearly impossible. With less players, the Arkham portion is much more difficult (too much to keep track of) while the Final Battle becomes much easier. Having a single investigator means every success rolled translates into a direct hit. And luck rolls with lots of successes takes the GOO down considerably.

Having said all that, I haven't actually tried 1 investigator as I play multiple investigators even when playing solo.

I just got done with a solo 5 investigator game with all expansions. It was incredibly hectic with investigators getting lost in time and space or being delayed constantly. I barely squeaked by in the final battle. Fist of Yog-Sothoth actually won the day by giving me nine successes in one turn.

I think controlling 5 was a bit much for me though. Next, I'm thinking of taking Daisy alone in a campaign mode. I may also leave on all the boards and elimate every other mythos phase or something. I have won a few times with a single investigator, but that was with no expansions. With the expansions, it may as well just be a shopping trip if you ever want a chance to win.

Kobu: Next, I'm thinking of taking Daisy alone in a campaign mode.

Mageith: If anyone can seal off a GOO by herself, its Daisy with the right spells.

Kobu: I may also leave on all the boards and elimate every other mythos phase or something.

Mageith: Wouldn't that be like playing with 2 investigators both named Daisy? Actually, I do that a lot, but use a die roll. We skip the phase if high (4-6) is thrown. I think the randomness more fits the game and spirit of the game.

mageith said:

More like one and a half... She still can't move around the board fast enough (to Dunwich and Kingsport). I think it's a good idea though. I haven't played a one player game for such a long time (with the intent to seal as opposed to final battle) due to the increased difficulty... Skipping every other mythos phase would definitely make it more doable... And moodier ;') eeee.

Well, I just defeated Cthulhu on the first turn using Daisy. She mixes a little too well with Call Ancient One. I'll try again without it in the deck and maybe use Dexter this time.

I tried two solo games with Dexter Drake and all expansions. The way I did it was to give multiple movement and encounter phases in a row by skipping mythos and upkeep.

The first game I tried two movement/encounter phases. As gates continued to pop one after the other and I struggled to get up to Dunwich to stop a flow of monsters, it became apparent that the pace was still too great to let Dexter explore at all. It was still going to come down to grabbing clues, shopping, and hoping for some good rolls against the GOO.

The second game I did three movement/encounter phases. This seemed to be a much better pace. Managing spells not refreshing as I plotted my moves was a fun exercise. Dexter's ability really shone for the first time in any game I've seen him in. He had three encounters that had him draw spells and I managed to get a Storm of Spirits pretty early. I stuck his Fight down so he could pass horror checks and saved Shrivelling plus an Enchanted Blade for backup.

Everything in the game basically went my way. Nearly every encounter was gentle and I earned about half my clue tokens from them. With the three movements/encounters, I was just able to keep Dunwich and Kingsport in check. I got lucky on the rifts with a few bouncing on the filled spots. I ended up Changed for the first time in any game (the main board kind of exploded while I did this though) and I just laid down the Great Seal on the cemetery when Yig woke up. His Epic Battle card basically failed him and he got dead in I think five rounds.

I will try again with a random investigator, GOO, and herald.

Kobu said:

Mageith: You skipped Upkeep too? Was that ever inconvenient?

Kobu said: His Epic Battle card basically failed him and he got dead in I think five rounds.

mageith said:

Skipping upkeep made me think a little more about how to best deploy items that exhaust. Worse was probably not being able to touch focus before I got Storm of Souls. It hurt sometimes, but it was also a fun constraint.

At one point, I had 4 seals on the board. I took one off for a Dunwich encounter, but also lost time due to random doom increasing things--one mythos card, and an encounter (I think?). I maybe could have pulled it off if I sealed in a different order.

Doing every 4th mythos definitely would have made it closer, but I think it would have been way too easy. I'm going to try with same criteria before changing variables again.

Kobu said:

There are ways to make it harder/fairer. I've done it but I've made it like all aspects as if there are four players (every 4th Mythos). For example, Like 4 players, there can be up to 7 monsters on the Arkham board. Also, like for 4 players, there can only be 4 monsters in the Outskirts. We treat rumors like there's four players, but you'll have four turns to solve them. Also there can be only 6 open gates, 7 is too many like for 4 players. It's like having a four investigator party but all all with the characteristics of Dexter.

But we always try to seal or close. We count final battle as a draw.

mageith said:

Ah, I see what you meant now. Sorry, yes, I set it to 2 players (-1 for second big expansion), so 5 monsters in Arkham, etc.. I didn't get a single rumor though to see how hard that would be to pass. If I find it too easy again, that is one thing I can tweak.

I too, have purchased 'Arkham Horror' based on its one player option. In fact, I ordered it yesterday... While solo play was not the primary reason, it did rank high. As I patiently wait for its delivery, how long can I anticipate one game w/ one player lasting?

Drewcula said:

Your first few games solo will probably take quite a while since you'll be referencing the rules a lot and figuring out how everything works. My first few games actually took around 6 - 8 hours. Although this includes time off for eating and other stuff. Hence I recommend setting it up in a space you won't have to clear out of for other things for a while.