I am new to this game. Die hard wargammer and by luck i tripped over Arkham over at BGG. I've been reading the rules feverishly and god knows i've read enough forum opinions concerning this and that about the game , so with tommorrow being Saturday and myself having next week off. I thought i would get intimate with this game. Mind you, i will play this primarily , if not exclussively, in the solitare mode. I've heard that one playing alone should at least play 2 investigators, but is that wise whilst losing my virginity on the streets of Arkham? Any advice appreciated.

I usually play with 4 myself, mainly because on the rare occasions I play this with a group there are 4 of us. My own personal experience is that with only one investigator you just can't keep up with all you need to do to win the game. Depending on the ancient one and Investigator involved it may make final combat easier, but I look on that as a last resort.

I did find it very useful to play just one investigator in my first couple of solo games while I was learning, and there's nothing wrong with it, but don't be bummed when you lose that way. In fact, get used to losing with any number of investigators, it happens quite a lot

J_L speaks the truth. It might be a good idea to play with just one investigator just so you can get used to the game's mechanics. You most likely will wind up fighting the AO, and the battle won't be too tough.

3 or 4 investigators work well solo. I personally use 6 because I also use all three board expansions. 3 or 4 just doesn't cut it.

Welcome to the carnival, by the way! Enjoy your stay, but don't ride the merry-go-round too much

I play three investigators solo, but I use all expansions (actually, that's not quite true, I cut out the Kingsport Board because I think the rifts mechanic is annoying and I don't want to add in a fourth character just to take care of it).

Personally, I think you can win the base game with one investigator (I've done it twice out of three or four attempts?) Granted, I did use Mandy Thompson ;')

If you're going to solo with one investigator, don't play with a three movement investigator unless it's Jenny, or possibly Carolyn.

Thanks for all of the replies. I've been at this since mid-morning and am loving it. I drew Harvey Walters, Which i guess is ok, but, i also drew "Cthuluhu....OH BOY!. I've got six monsters on the board and The AO is up to 7. Poor old Harv is trying but, i'm just not getting it done. The important thing is though i am learning alot, From what i'd read i thought it was going to be alot more difficult to understand. Its not really, but as others have mentioned, there is alot to do. When i get to controlling three or more investigators i may need to add a little more "Bacardi's" to the coke! I think now , though, that this is going to be a great game for a hermit like me...YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SgtWaka said:

Crazy people around the world are going crazier for Arkham Horror! Shocking ;')

Harvey's really fun, you just need to play him properly (crank his fight up to max and have him take the failed horror checks when necessary— his sanity is so high, he can afford the occasional loss of a point, and any horror checks under 2 san. damage he completely blocks).

::Laughter:: the game is filled with all sorts of bizarre rules that you might think you got but actually missed, but still, I agree, despite how byzantine the rules can be, the game itself is fairly simple.

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SPOILER ALERT:

Piece of advice for getting the game under control: pay attention to gate frequency.

Nowadays I rarely play with less than 4 Investigators. Solo, I'll play all 4 myself; with my usual sparring buddy we play two each; and on the rare occasions we have three players we tend to also go with 2 each. The game does work best with about 4-6 Investigators, any less and you can find yourselves wtih too much ground to cover (especially when you start using additional boards), any more and you can find yourself losing before you can do anything.