Hi everyone! I'm new to the forum but after doing as much searching as possible I still haven't found a discussion covering the question I'm now asking:

Would everyone who has now played the Arkham Horror LCG reccommend it over Elder Sign?

I currently own Death Angel & Warhammer Quest (loved the originals when I was a kid & FF have captured that great style & nostalgia for me) but I'm also a big fan of Lovecraft. I will be playing solo and both AH LCG & ES look to work well like this.

I like to have a small selection of games I play A LOT rather than loads that I only play once in a while so replay-ability is a big thing for me but once again both titles seem to have this built in - maybe elder sign is better straight out of the box?

It would be an easier decision for me if ES wasn't being supported but the expansions look great & I know another is coming. Whichever I choose I will be planning on pursuing the expansions for it - I just can't decide which one I will get more of my 'moneys worth' from. Would I be right that ES may perhaps be more 'epic' in scope during a single session but perhaps not as immersive?

A good theme/atmosphere is something I'm looking for but I don't know which is best or why - what do you folks think?

(I love the look of this LCG too but I have no experience of the LCG format - LOTR looked quite intimidating to me at a glance)

For some reason your post never showed up on the forums, so I didn't see it.

Definitely recommend the LCG format. Each release, you know exactly what you're getting. There's no blind booster buys, no randomness, and each player has access to the same cardpool (assuming you bought the same expansions). As a co-op, though, even if you didn't buy the same, it doesn't matter because you don't compete against one another. You work towards a common goal, so it's just a bonus if your partner has better cards and combos. Lastly, a co-op game allows for solo play.

Arkham Horror can be "epic" if you play through an entire campaign. You're supposed to take one character through all 3 scenarios, and your results of each one affect the set-up of the next one, so it tells a linear narrative. It's like a Choose Your Own Adventure book.

Straight out of the box, Arkham doesn't need much deckbuilding. There are recommended starter decks to play with just one Core set, but once you get a second Core, or add expansions, you'll be doing deckbuilding and upgrading your deck with new cards, better cards.

Ultimately, I can't make that decision for you. It depends on what you want. A lot of their games have the same aesthetic and follow similar patterns of storylines and "grand scheme" design. Do you want RPG card game? Or do you want co-op dice games?

Get the elder sign app and try it out.

I played the Elder sign via App for a few weeks. My personal opinion is: It is very flat compared to Arkham Horror. If you don't get the right dice rolls, you are just screwed. The images are nice, but the mechanics could work for any other game. Arkham Horror LCG brings the roleplaying, the lore and interactions that feel a lot more like what they are portraying (like a switchblade being able to be played with a fast action before your enemies react).

I would recommend Arkham Horror LCG over Elder Sign every day, even though Elder Sign was nice for 5 dollars during holiday trips.

There's no feel of story in Elder Sign like in AH LCG and the board game.

I'll add another vote against Elder Sign. I found the game to be just... dull. There's very little in the way of decision making, with most efforts being dependent entirely on the dice. There's a slight bit of resource management, but that's about it. Maybe the expansions bump it up a bit, but I didn't find the base game interesting enough to be worth spending any more money on.

AHLCG, on the other hand, I'm loving so far. There's a definite sense of character and theme, and the multiple locations have goals that actually make sense. The story bits with the scenario (at least the first one) actually make those clue tokens more than just little tokens.

I mainly play solo myself and i didnt keep elder sign, it just doesnt have enough going on to hold my interest after a few plays. i probably should have kept it but shelf space is tight for me.

even using just the core set there is a lot of variation that can happen in Arkham LCG, for instance i played one game where ghouls remained a distant presence except for a priest arriving, then on another play i ended up with three different types all in play at once. the random card draw of the deck makes this so eventful and you will at times hope that a certain asset will arrive to save the day or just hold your breath hoping that another enemy wont appear. you dont really get that story experience from elder sign.

all this said if you really want a dice game over a card game then elder sign is worth a go but i preferred playing it multiplayer where you can chat about what you need to do.

Thanks the replies everyone! Maybe some day in the future I will be able to own both titles but I will check out the LCG for now!

Is the app for Elder sign free? I can play it on my phone for free? If so I will be downloading that.

Is the app for Elder sign free? I can play it on my phone for free? If so I will be downloading that.

I think it's $3.99 USD.

I tried the app first, and IMHO it's not very good. Your visibility to what is going on overall is limited, and the app doesn't do a great job of conveying your choices and what's going on.

Definatly this over elder sign.

It just feel more streamlined and there's something incredibly frustrating about ES when those dice don't roll the right way.

For solo, you go with Arkham Horror. If you are planning a board game night, I'd actual go with Elder Sign since it does play better with a larger group and it has dice. The game does have some story but that mainly has to do with the last expansion (omens of ice).

For solo, you go with Arkham Horror. If you are planning a board game night, I'd actual go with Elder Sign since it does play better with a larger group and it has dice. The game does have some story but that mainly has to do with the last expansion (omens of ice).

Sadly not my game group. They already balked at Age of of war! Now imagine them play a game where failing your dice rolls has consequences...