Hi, Eldritch Horror hivemind.

I have a question for all y'all...I've always had good experiences with forums in the past, and I don't see this as being any different.

Anyway, I got a copy of EH from a local game store that was going out of business (it was actually the copy they rented out), and was happy to see that everything was there--well, except for the Omen Tracker ring. The dope who opened the game up punched out the center and used that as the marker instead of the ring. I hate stupid people. But I digress.

I played it several times, and absolutely love it. But I came across something lately that has me confused. To refresh myself, I watched the intro videos and other promotional stuff on the game site, and it actually shows and refers to five Old Ones instead of four. Cthulhu, Shub-Niggurath, Yog-Sothoth, Azathoth and the Dunwich Horror . I checked again to make sure my box wasn't missing anything, and everything was cool. Then I went to a different game store and checked, and it said the box only contained four Old Ones, as well. So I'm now wondering if the Dunwich Horror is a recent addition to the game from an expansion or if it was originally meant to be an Old One and got downgraded to an Epic Monster.

Either way, everyone's arcane wisdom is much appreciated, even if you decide to just be snarky about it.

Thanks!

As far as I know, the Dunwich Horror has only ever been an epic monster (associated with Yog-Sothoth for obvious reasons). Even in Arkham Horror (the obvious antecedent for this game), the Dunwich Horror was a just a Herald and not an actual AO, so I'd be surprised to learn if there had been plans to make it an AO for Eldritch Horror.

The Dunwich Horror has never been classified as an AO. Though the Dunwich Horror is probably one of the more infamous monsters in the Arkham games, as there is an Arkham Horror expansion named after it.

Yup, don't worry. Just an epic monster.

Okay. Just so I know I'm not crazy. Speaking of AH, I'm considering saving my pennies and getting either a copy of it or the MoM expansion for EH. Thoughts? My EH box is almost full, so I'm concerned about what will happen if I get a deluxe expansion.

That you get a load more fun and more space to host the next expansions

Jokes aside, Askham is a great game that requires time and commitment to shine; and you probably need the Dunwich expansion to complete the experience (core game AH is too easy and can drag for very long). So, I'd keep going with EH since you already have some stuff and the game is becoming richer and better with each expansion.

I'll echo Julia's comments: since you already own EH i'd deepen the experience first by getting an expansion. You could go with MoM, although if you could swing it I'd also toss in Forsaken Lore as it expands all the decks so you see less repeats. For example, you get an additional two mysteries per AO (setting a new standard of # mystery cards = 2 * number needed to solve before AO wakes up).

AH is a lot of fun (context: I own all the expansion and have logged over 200 games), but as noted by Juiia it will require some time and commitment. Also, if you only own the base game, then once you learn how things work it is real easy to win, so you'll need some expansions in order to bring back the challenge. And then once you get one expansions, you'll want more and more (and AH has a lot)!

That's kind of where I stand on this. I did recently get a copy of Forsaken Lore, but have yet to convince my wife to log a game with me. As far as space is concerned… a friend of mine is a genius. He bought a tackle box that's about an inch or an inch and a half deep, but it has removable dividers. I picked one up a couple weeks ago, and it's ideal for storing EVERYTHING except for the full- and oversized cards. When I get home later, I'll have to take a picture and upload it.

As far as the difference between AH and EH, I know what a lot of people say, but it's good to have that suggestion, ricedwlit. My wife will tell you that I LOVE playing games, and that as soon as I feel that I'm really able to sink my teeth into a game, I want to start expanding the experience. For example, with the LotR board game (back when it was licensed under Wizards), I logged a bunch of games, and got both expansions, although none of the people I played with could figure them out. I tried. I've also picked up two or three expansions to Killer Bunnies (great for getting people into gaming, as it's fairly light), and just one expansion for Munchkin (need I say more?). What can I say? I'm a sucker when it comes to making the gameplay experience more diverse and interesting.

That was a big tangent, though. Anyway, I think the time commitment angle is kind of moot; EH generally takes a couple hours (longer if you count setup and takedown time). I'd assume AH is the same way if you're using everything to the fullest.

In my experience, EH gets slightly longer if you include the expansions (specifically fighting against Yig, Rise of the Elder Things, or using the MoM sideboard).

Arkham Horror has always been a longer game (unless you solo it, or happend to be Julia), and only AFTER the addition of the EH expansions has EH come close to the length of a typical AH game.

That being said, they're both amazing. If you are crazy about gaming and believe the expense is worth it, you really should get both. It's completely understandable to NOT, but if your love for games is really that extreme you should at least consider it as a long-term goal.

But all in all, for the average gamer with limited time and/or budget, I would agree with the above posts and pick up either MoM for EH or the other expack. I have all of it for both games, and the games really do get much richer with each expansion.

Arkham Horror has always been a longer game (unless you solo it, or happend to be Julia)

LOL. Julia's totally Eldritch impaired, I never go under 3 hours, while Arkham is always around 75 minutes. I know there must be something wrong in the way I play Eldritch, but I can't figure out what :-/

I know this about you. But I don't think you're doing it wrong. I almost never play either game solo, but my games all last hours longer than yours. By now, I'm pretty experienced with them both, but I don't think I'll ever manage to chop my 5-7 hour (3-4 hour if I'm on my A-Game) Arkham Horror games to your paltry 75 minutes.

We played a 3 player game of EH over the weekend including Mountains of Madness agasint the Rise of the Elder Things. We won with about 4-5 mythos cards left, but it took us a good 6 hours (with a pause to eat). Was my first 3-player victory (George, Lily, Daisy... eventually George died and got replaced by Norman). That Daisy... she's ALMOST too good.

LOL, we should play together at least once each game

True that, Daisy is spectacular