Hello. I just picked up the iPhone app and the box both within the last week. I enjoy this game a lot. I am having a much harder time with the app, I have lost most of my games. Where as the box version, we win almost every time. Is the app designed to be harder then the box?

The app is definitely harder than the 'base' box (which is notoriously easy), primarily due to the midnight mythos effects. You won't find any 'add 3 doom' mythos effects in the base boardgame like you do against Azathoth in the app, or even the 'add 2 doom' that usually comes up at least once a game against every other Ancient One in the app. The base game mythos cards just didn't add doom very consistently, and there were too many adventures that gave you elder signs, comparatively speaking. The 'Gates of Arkham' box expansion goes a long way to correcting this problem (although it means completely removing the base museum adventure and mythos decks). The 'Omens of Ice' box expansion, which is based off of the Ithaqua expansion for the app (which can be infuriatingly difficult), also presents a better challenge, and is more balanced than the app version.

I'm finding the app's frequent bugs preventing proper focusing of glyphs to make the already hard game nearly impossible. Even after trashing a die, I'm very often denied the opportunity to focus.

Possibly you have some corrupted version of the app? I never had problems focusing in Omens

I've never had a problem focusing, either. I use iOS devices.

The app is either way harder than the physical game or I suck way harder at the app for some reason. I suppose either is feasible.

Here's a guess at my win rates on the app:

Yig: 99.9%. I find it's almost impossible to lose against him if you avoid killing the cultists with glyphs, and I've played him hundreds of times as filler, when I want a quick game. Wish they'd up his difficulty just a little.

Tsathoggua: 75%. I've had some of my worst losses, score-wise, against him. There are some devastating combinations of midnight effects on adventures that can come up that are unique to him- I think I had one time where 6 doom were added at once. Nevertheless, I win most of the time.

Hastur: 75%. I will often lose 1 of my 4 investigators against him due to the sanity loss that can occur at midnight, but I usually beat him.

Azathoth: 65% Those 3-dooms at midnight are usually my undoing when I lose, but it's rare to get more than two in a single game.

Cthulhu: 60%. I've played him often enough that I usually can judge the best time to go to R'lyeh. Factoring in my early losses here- I win fairly consistently now. I like this challenge the best of all of them.

Pharaoh: 30%. I had more luck against him when he first came out, but I think they upped the difficulty with one of the updates along the way. It's been a while since I've won against him, although I usually make it to the 2nd final battle.

Ithaqua: 15%. They're not kidding when they classify his difficulty as 'insane'. My 'perfect' win rate (beating all 3 final battles without failing once) is probably 5%. Grueling.