Hey guys, I've been on mancation* this week, and in that time we've played a TON of board games. I had the fortunate opportunity to play two 8-player games of Arkham Horror (vanilla*), and one 3-player game. Now, in my history with the game, we've always had a fairly tough time with this game. But I suppose luck, good tactics, and good coaching got us 3 wins in a row.

Anyways, I've always read that the expansions increase the game's difficulty. I think I've finally achieved that point at which we are seeking new challenges. I should mention that I have purchased the Curse of the Dark Pharoah expansion, but I generally leave it out of the mix if I've got new players at the table.

My question is this... which is your favorite expansion, and why should I get it? The current roster of possibilities...

- Arkham Horror (got it)
- Curse of the Dark Pharoah (got it)
- The Dunwich Horror
- The King in Yellow
- Kingsport Horror
- Black Goat of the Woods
- Innsmouth Horror
- Lurker at the Threshold (upcoming)

* Mancation (man-KAY-shun) - A pseudo-holiday that arises from one's spouse going away on vacation, leaving one to their own devices, while staying at home.
* vanilla - base game, without expansions

J-Tech said:

This question seems to endlessly come up... I wish we had an FAQ for it :')

If cash is an issue, get The King in Yellow or Black Goat of the Woods (either will drastically raise the game difficulty).

If you can afford a box box expansion, get Dunwich (it has excellent monster additions, and will thicken your item decks, not to mention the extra board, gate bursts, more investigators, and more Ancient Ones). The main selling point in my mind is that it has the best added monsters, and the base game's item decks are too thin. Innsmouth is also a great expansion, but it has no items, and its monsters aren't the same caliber as Dunwich monsters.

Favorite expansion isn't really an issue... But my favorite is probably Innsmouth... Given that I'm playing with components from other sets too. Then comes Dunwich, then Kingsport, then the small boxes. I own all of the small boxes and use their components, but I wouldn't consider any of them *must* owns, even though they're all very nice to own :'D

My favorite expansion is easily Innsmouth. In fact, it's the first one I bought. Out of all the big box expansions, it has the best expansion board, and it comes with more investigators and Ancient Ones than the others. It also introduces Personal Stories, which are basically side quests for each character. They add a bit more immersion to the game, and some also consider them to serve as a balancing factor in the game, nerfing overpowered investigators and giving weaker ones a much needed boost. (Like poor Sister Mary.)

However, as much as I love Innsmouth, it is not without its flaws, and I now realize that it's not necessarily the best choice for a first expansion. At least not on it's own anyways. Like Avi mentioned earlier, Innsmouth has a fairly weak monster pool. It has a few terrible beasties that it brings into the mix, including the absolutely horrifying Servitor of the Outer Gods, but after adding Dunwich I noticed a substantial increase in monster difficulty. Innsmouth also adds no new item cards, but Dunwich does, including items, spells, allies and skills. Dunwich also adds the Injury and Madness cards, which can come into play whenever an investigator is knocked unconscious or driven insane. They're a nice alternative to the usual penalty of losing items and clues. Innsmouth also has Gate Burst cards, but they only appear in the expansion board, whereas Dunwhich includes bursts for both the base AND expansion boards.

So in terms of what to purchase, I think there are three things you could go with, depending on how much you'd want to spend. Adding in the King in Yellow would be a good choice, and it's actually more difficult with less expansions added in. It'd also put the smallest dent in your wallet. If you want a big board, Dunwich should be your first stop. Innsmouth would also be doable, but to get the most out of it, you should probably also pick up Black Goat of the Woods, which will provide you with some new cards for the item decks, gate bursts for the base board, as well as a small boost to the monster cup. (Not nearly a large enough boost to even compare with Dunwich, but a boost nonetheless.) Innsmouth and Kingsport also pair up very nicely, but combining two big boards at once can be a bit overwhelming, not to mention costly.