I'm genuinely curious about who is having fun with the 3rd edition and ideally, why. I have nothing but respect for Richard Lanius and Fantasy Flight Games for the Arkham Files series but I feel like something integral is missing from AH3. My group has a complete version of 2nd edition and a complete Eldritch horror. We had fun with both of those games and played them for a long time. The most fun we had was going through the three seasons of League play--even when we lost. And that's the crux for me. Playing through the 3rd edition hasn't been fun for me, win or loss. I think it comes down to the pressure of the action economy. It feels like we are always behind, even when we are playing smart/making good choices. In theory that should make for a good horror game but so far being on the receiving end, it feels frustrating with our wins feeling like they depended more on luck than skill/smarts. Our group always has played at the four player level, which was the cut off in AH2 and EH for difficulty progression. Generally we tried to cover our bases in what characters would be played, even in the truncated character availability of League play (meaning we had a fighter, a gate closer, some kind of support, and then a wildcard). The first solution I thought about but didn't implement was messing with the Mythos cup in some way, either diluting it with blanks or having players draw less or something. Now that we have beaten all four of the starting antagonists (perhaps 12 games in total), we are returning to AH2 to see if we can pin point what the differences is. Normally we would play the game into the ground to make sure that we were playing "properly," but I just couldn't bring myself to do that any more. While there are things I liked in the update to 3rd ed. (the personal items that helped each character feel unique, as well as items and allies that can take damage/sanity loss) and I appreciate the risks in new ideas like the modular board and the idea of more cohesive stories, ultimately the game just didn't come together for me. Any thoughts from the community?

It is about the Style. 70% of my Gaming croup keep 3rd edition the best option. 30% prefer Eldrich. None the 2nd edition... I like the tighness of 3rd edition. No ”useless rounds” or if there is... well you Are going to lose most likely. I personally like that ”Oh my god” we Are going to die feeling of 3rd edition.. though after quite Many games the 3rd is a Little bit too easy to get that feeling anymore, but the same problem was is in previous editions. I am sure that expansions will make this game much, much harder again!

Werepanda,

the main difference between 2nd and 3rd in terms of gamestyle, is that in 3rd you cannot control the board as you did in 2nd. In 3rd edition is all about risk minimization and action optimization. There's no need to go ward every single neighborhood (it costs you move and actions). Just meta on the tokens in the Mythos cup, and see what you might expect coming in the next Mythos, and then define strategy for the current round.

Tbh, didn’t enjoy the game at release. Was not what I was expecting.

However, had a group of 6 and decided to take it off the shelves. It was a lot of fun actually.

Our group usually plays Talisman religiously, so I did away with the 13 limit newspaper cards, and used the whole deck since round timers might be daunting.

Which encouraged a few players to explore Arkham go shopping, recover health/sanity etc, with only the doom as the only worry. My opinion actually turned around. The game was sooo much longer but like I mentioned, they play talisman.

We still lost but everyone had a blast.

Eagerly waiting for an expansion now.

I'd like to play it more often but the LCG is just THAT much better..

I've played each scenario at least 3 times now and i'm still finding new paths in the story to surprise me. This game is a blast. It combines all the adventure elements i like from EH and all the story/combat elements i like in the LCG and puts it into a package i can play in one evening. Outside of the learning game, i've never had a game go over 3 hours.

So, in short I'm having a blast with this game due to:

1. Short playing time that can be played in an evening after work

2. More dynamic combat where enemies just don't camp on gates.

3. Quick resolution combat system that involves more tactical decisions.

4. Story driven game play that does not linger or bog down. Good or bad, the game progresses to a climax quickly.

5. Exploring different paths of the story...from "we did a great job" to "and that was the 'good' ending?"

I think the game is a design masterpiece that combines adventure game elements with story driven game play from the LCG to make a unique blend that does not compete with any other AHF product. Yes, i'm having a great time with it and hoping it gets just as many expansions as EH.

I enjoyed my time with it, but after playing all the scenarios 3-4 times each we're mostly done with it until expansions come out. It just doesn't have the variable setup and unfolding that Eldritch did.

I think its fun but it also seems very random. I does not give player the chance to go and explorer and build thier characters. Instead something will happen that must be solved as an emergancy. I think this is bad. Takes away some of the atmosphere from the game.

VIctory or deafeat seems to have alot to do with luck more than skill and planning.

Absolutely. Love the game and perfectly designed for future adds on expansions

Hmmm... I have completely different feeling. This seems to me less Luck fest and more about skill than older version. But more about the Luck compared to Arkham Lcg...

most likely because there is less content, so the thing that can happen Are here more coherent and so less random.

Arkham Files games have always been about chaos just unfolding and players holding on for dear lives, trying to somehow manage it. In that sense, AH 3e is the least random of the board games, as chaos unfolding is much more tightly scripted.