Something I've noticed with this game is that it gets easier as you add more investigators. With one investigator you can't keep up with all the gate and monsters spawning; but with four you almost can't lose. I haven't tried with 5-8 investigators. Eldritch Horror is more balanced because as you add more investigators there's more you need to do, and more gates/monsters to deal with. I like Arkham better apart from this issue; so I'm wondering if any of the expansions fix this.

First question: do you play with core set only, or with expansions as well? According to the answer, there could be a few ways to boost up the difficulty of the game when playing with more investigators (but yes, the more you play, the easier the game becomes, sadly. The only parameter changing according to the number of investigators in play are conditional rumors and the number of successes needed to remove a doom token during final battle, but if you play 8, you never end up in final battle)

I just have the base set, and generally only play by myself. So making it easier with less investigators would be nice.

Then I'd suggest that you play with the core set modified version created by Avi, a long time ago (copying from another thread, apologies for bad formatting):

Enhancing the Base Game AOs

For playing the Base Game only and for enhancing the difficulty of the Base Game Ancient Ones:

I wouldn't play with the modified Doom Tracks if you have other board expansions (particularly Dunwich and Innsmouth), or use the following Elder Sign/Encounter rule:

Doom tokens can not be removed from the doom track by any means prior to final combat (that means no South Church exploit, and no Elder Sign hunting). This makes it so you can't just play out the clock for a guaranteed win. Elder Signs are used as normal, but they don't reduce the doom track.
Optional: ban the use of clues with the fight skill and/or the shotgun during final combat.

Starting Doom Tokens for base game Ancient Ones [with the base board only]:

Yig: 0
Ithaqua: 2
Azathoth: 5 [if you are not just playing the base game, 3]
Cthulhu: 3
Nyarlathotep: 2
Hastur: 3
Yog Sothoth: 2
Shub Niggurath: 3

Yig: Investigators can not be blessed during games against him (Sister Mary is an exception to this rule). Twice as many successes as normal are required to remove a doom token from his doom track.

Cultists are fast.

Ithaqua: gains physical and magical resistance.

Each round of combat with a cultist, roll a die for each weapon or spell you are using, on a failure, it is lost.

Azathoth: Start him with 5 or 3 doom tokens.

Cultists and Maniacs deal four damage to an investigator who defeats them and are stalkers.

Cthulhu: when he reaches 7 doom tokens, his ability reduces all investigators maximum stamina and sanity by 2 instead.

Star Spawn have their toughness increased by two. If they are adjacent to an Elder Sign, they will move onto it if their movement is shown during the mythos phase, ignoring investigators and arrows. If they are still on the Elder Sign during the next mythos phase, remove it from the board. If they defeat an investigator in combat and are permanently on the board, they immediately move one space closer to the nearest Elder Sign (player's choice if there is a tie), following an arrow, or directly (if they are directly adjacent). They can not be taken as monster trophies. If they are defeated, return them to the cup. If they are placed in the outskirts, substitute them with any non-Star Spawn monster on the board that is not in the Sky— if there is a Cultist on the board, a Cultist must be chosen.

Nyarlathotep: is magically and physically immune and requires twice as many successes as normal to remove doom tokens from his doom track.

If you defeat a Cultist, immediately search the monster cup for a random Mask, and fight or evade it as well. If the Cultist was on the board, the Mask remains on the board if undefeated, if not, return it to the cup.

Hastur: raise the terror track to four at the start of the game.

If a Cultist is in the sky, moves, and is unable to leave the sky (due to lack of investigators in the street), raise the terror level by one. When a Cultist is defeated, all investigators lose one clue.

Yog Sothoth: gains physical resistance. Flip all gates against him upside down until investigators enter them, increase their modifiers by -1.

Before investigators in an Other World draw their first encounter they must fight or evade a random monster from the monster cup. If this causes them to be devoured, add a doom token to the doom track.

Shub Niggurath: gains magical resistance. His final combat attack require investigators to lose 3 monster trophies.

Dark Young have their toughness increased an additional one, are Endless, and are not counted against the monster limit. Dhole moves like a Hound of Tindalos, is not counted against the monster limit, and is Endless. Every time a Cultist is defeated, roll a die, on a 1-3 search the cup and place the Dhole on the open gate with the least number of monsters on it (players choice if a tie). The Dhole and Dark Youngs can not be taken as trophies.

I like Arkham better apart from this issue; so I'm wondering if any of the expansions fix this.

The Black Goat of the Woods expansion includes a set of five Difficulty Level cards. These cards adjust the balance of the game in various ways, making it easier or more difficult depending on the card chosen. But whether you want to invest in an expansion just for those few cards is a different question altogether.

To give you an idea of what these cards are, the easiest difficulty card essentially doubles the clue tokens in the game. During setup you place 2 Clue tokens on each unstable location. And whenever a Mythos card makes a Clue token appear, an additional Clue token appears at the same location.

If I understand him correctly, I think Goblin is asking for a way to make the game easier with one or two investigators, not make it harder with four. I know I read somewhere that people were drawing a mythos card only every other turn when playing solo. Maybe this will help?

Myself, I only play solo controlling four characters so I don't have any suggestions.

Pseudonym, I read it the other way, that Goblin's complaining that you can't lose when playing in 4 and he wants the game harder, that's why he asked about expansions.

Goblin, sorry, forgot to answer to that part of your post: get Dunwich, it will make the game a lot harder: more surface to cover, more unstable locations, tougher monsters. Playing 4 would be a greater challenge

Hi Julia,

I hesitate to speak for Goblin, and when I read his initial message I did think the same as you do, but reading his first reply to you I'm not so sure anymore.

You're right, the first answer seems to lead in the opposite direction, sorry for the confusion.

If he wants the game easier with lower player counts, then it should be enough resolving less Mythos cards, or playing a couple of turns "Mythos-less" just to gather resources.

Sorry if I was unclear. I was actually asking about both scenarios; but more concerned with making it easier with less investigators, as that's how I play more often. I will try out drawing a mythos card every second turn, see how that goes.

Sorry if I was unclear. I was actually asking about both scenarios; but more concerned with making it easier with less investigators, as that's how I play more often. I will try out drawing a mythos card every second turn, see how that goes.

Sorry if I was unclear. I was actually asking about both scenarios; but more concerned with making it easier with less investigators, as that's how I play more often. I will try out drawing a mythos card every second turn, see how that goes.

I'd like to hear how this goes for you. I'm about to pick up Arkham to solo and duo and would like to control just one investigator each.

Sorry if I was unclear. I was actually asking about both scenarios; but more concerned with making it easier with less investigators, as that's how I play more often. I will try out drawing a mythos card every second turn, see how that goes.

I'd like to hear how this goes for you. I'm about to pick up Arkham to solo and duo and would like to control just one investigator each.

Drawing a mythos card every second turn got confusing because I kept forgetting if I drew one on the previous turn. But I got the Black Goat expansion and those difficulty cards work well. The also add corruption and gate bursts which add a bit of difficulty too.

Shadin,

I'm a player who almost exclusively interacts with Arkham Horror as a solo player, typically playing four Investigators, with every expansion mixed into the madness. A more comprehensive write-up is over at BGG, but for the first four turns only Mythos Cards with Gate openings in Arkham take effect. It allows the Investigators to garner a few Clue tokens and have a few encounters around town before all hell breaks loose and it's a mad dash to the Other Worlds.

Cheers,

Joe

With just me and my son playing we experimented with how many Investigators to play. If we play one each, it really was a scramble to save the world. We then tried two Investigators each, it was challenging but we knew we had a chance. Then we tried three investigators each the game went on for about four hours and though it took some effort (doom tokens was half-way filled), we won and IMO we were lucky with the Mythos Cards.

I just read on page 10 in the core rules that if you're playing with 5+ investigators and a gate opens in the Mythos Phase, then you spawn 2 monsters rather than 1. Has anyone been using this rule? That will surely increase the difficulty.

Ehm, I think everyone uses this rule in their games...

Ehm, I think everyone uses this rule in their games...

I figured as much, I just thought I would ask because I don't think it was mentioned above. I have yet to play with 5+ investigators and so have never played the game where 2 monsters are spawned. Is the game still relatively easy even with more monsters running amok?

I'd not say it's easier or more difficult, it's different. Monsters tend to slow down a little bit the gameplay, but you still have a monster limit, so, if you adjust your strategy to play near the limit, new gates could release even 0 monsters in Arkham (they go in the Outskirts). Plus, having more investigators implies you have more people able to collect resources and kill the monsters. Also, you need 6 seals for a win, so if you play 3p, it means each investigator needs to seal twice (on average), if you play 5p you need only one investigator to seal twice, so, considering the length of the doom track is constant, the game's easier (this should also be proven by Tibs' stats IIRC, the higher the number of investigators, the easier winning by sealing is)

If you only have the base game and want to make it harder / easier, add some custom material to the game. Guardians, Institutions, Heralds and Ancient Ones will probably give you the fastest return over effort invested. If you want something a little more involved, you could also look into the Door To Saturn custom expansion. If you want the minimum return for your effort, just print out one of the boards (which easily fit on one sheet of paper) and the encounters. (See https://sites.google.com/site/doortosaturn/ for this expansion.)