Want to buy! What version?

By USP45, in Arkham Horror Second Edition

I'd like to head out to my local game store and purchase Arkham Horror. What's the latest version? I understand there's an 80's version so is the FFG one version 2?

The main page for the boardgame here at FFG says "Not yet available". Does that mean there's a "new" possibly 3rd edition on the way?

You might be thinking about the original Chaosium version. Any copy you buy new at this point will be the FFG version and will be fine.

I don't think it's a new edition coming out. That would be big news. It's just a reprint as some distributors are running out of the base game.

+1 to Sepayne. The odds of you finding a copy of the old 80s game on store shelves today is laughably small, and even if you did the relative quality of the components (and hopefully cheap-as-dirt price) would be a dead giveaway.

FFG's game is technically a different version (a "version 2" if you like) but it's radically different. It is the first edition of a completely new game that really only shares a few common terms (like Doom Track and Gate) but whose implementation is much different. I haven't heard anything about a second edition of FFG's game in the works and suspect it's just that the current supply is sold out and awaiting reprint, like Sepayne suggests.

Considering that they've been releasing new expansions for the first edition as recently as this year, I think a second edition (presumably incompatible) so quickly would be a huge slap in the face to existing customers. I wouldn't expect such a beast until the current edition has been dead for at least a few years.

Thanks for the info.

It was a little confusing because Amazon has the core set for 49.99 marked down to 40.95 while the site here lists an MSRP of $59.95 and "not yet available" so it seemed reasonable that something not yet available and priced differently might be a new edition.

Yes, it looks like the core board game is out of stock in the FFG store. But whatever you get through a local retailer will be the same game. Although I think there have been several printings of the original. For instance, I bought the core board game at Gen Con along with Innsmouth Horror. The Innsmouth Horror lists some corrections to the original rules of the core board game, however, my core boardgame rulebook already had the corrections.

I recently tried to purchase AH from two different vendors via the amazon store, and even though they both said 'in stock' once I got to checkout the quantity always changed to zero and an error popped up stating that the seller was actually sold out. I'm going to try to hit up a semi-local (120 miles away) gaming store next weekend to see if they have it in stock.

Sluggonics said:

Although I think there have been several printings of the original. For instance, I bought the core board game at Gen Con along with Innsmouth Horror. The Innsmouth Horror lists some corrections to the original rules of the core board game, however, my core boardgame rulebook already had the corrections.

There are two FFG editions: the original, and the Revised printing. The game board from the original printing does not have the yellow background, it's just the image of the city. Also, some of the neighborhood colors are a bit off (red and orange are pretty close, and can be confusing if you aren't familiar with the game). Also a few of the investigator cards are wrong (lantern, Flesh Ward), which is why Dunwich has replacements. The revised edition has the new board and rules, and says "Revised Edition" on the cover in the lower right corner. Also, I'm not sure how long they did it, but the original has a red FFG logo on the box instead of the current silver one. [My roommate has the original printing while I have the revised.]

Any copy you find in a store will be the Revised Edition.

Thanks just what I was looking for.

Brine said:

Sluggonics said:

There are two FFG editions: the original, and the Revised printing.

Caedmus said:

I recently tried to purchase AH from two different vendors via the amazon store, and even though they both said 'in stock' once I got to checkout the quantity always changed to zero and an error popped up stating that the seller was actually sold out. I'm going to try to hit up a semi-local (120 miles away) gaming store next weekend to see if they have it in stock.

120 miles? Yikes! I hope you're planning to call ahead before driving all the way over there =D