We played a 4 player game tonight (our first game) and I'm puzzled because it was easy to win. I mean ridiculously easy. We never had more than three gates open, never reached the monster limit in Arkham, and the terror track never went above one.

Now I'm confused a little. Did I misunderstand the rules? It seems we never got any spawn so I'm wondering if I ran the turn wrong or something. According to the rulebook on page 5 says that every player does every part of every phase. The mythos phase is , of course number 5. This would seem to indicate that every player should draw a mythos card and resolve it. But Page 9 in the mythos phase description talks about the 'FIRST" player drawing and resolving a mythos card, then the end of the description on page 12 states that he does his mythos card, passes the first player marker and a new turn begins.

We we running the turn as the first player draws the only mythos card. Did I get this wrong? or is EVERY player to draw and resolve one, then the first player draws and resolves an extra one? I was under the impression things were supposed to be a lot hairier than this session was. What else might I have screwed up?

any thoughts would be appreciated.....

One Mythos card per turn is correct, only the first player draws one. It could be that the game just decided to go easy on you this time. It does do that. I think it's to lull you into a false sense of security for when it stomps you flat during the next game.

Also the base game alone can at times be very easy. Add Dunwitch Horror or King in Yellow to the mix and see what happens.

Well, since this was your first game, chances are, you've been playing some things wrong.

There are many common mistakes, e.g. continuing movement after fighting a monster, using a location's special ability more than once per turn, confusing closing gates with sealing them, etc.

Or you may indeed have just been lucky. While playing with the basic game alone may be easy for experienced players, it shouldn't be for first-time players.

Which Ancient One did you use, which investigators did you play?

Did you get any rumours?

How many Elder Signs did you have?

How did you win?

When using the basic game, these are the main influences on game difficulty.

We got one elder sign out from an elder sign card and two from discarding clue tokens. The Man in Black Rumor came out , which we resolved and later the terrible experiment but we just picked up the game at that point. And the AO was Nyarlahotep.

We won by having all the gates closed with 6 gate tokens as trophies. The investigators were Carolyn Ferri, Ashcan Pete, Michael McGlenn and Mandy Thompson. I don't think we spawned many ultists so the AO's ability didn't even figure much into it.

We actually kept playing for while after winning too. Since it went so easily we decided to go for all gates closed and two gate trophies per player total. and even that didn't change anything. Every mythos card we drew tried to open a gate and a sealed location, monster movement was for monsters not on the board, mythos cards did good things to us live give free clues etc. Finally we just gave up on it :-).

Okay...it's not just you.

(1) Playing with just the base game alone, three Seals on the board can very possibly bring the game to a grinding halt, especially if you consider which locations you sealed. You noted that many Gate openings after that hit your seals, so I must conclude you sealed some excellent locations. (2) You played some extremely capable Investigators. After 48 Investigators, Mandy and Carolyn are still in the top 10. Michael starts with (arguably) the best Common Item in the base game for free, and Pete can be an awesome utility player. (3) Of the current 24 Ancient Ones, Nyarlathotep is considered the most tutorial Ancient One that still has a potential Final Battle. Even with all expansion Masks in the Cup, Nyarl is often an embarrassing pushover. (This is not how the Great Meddler should be!!!)

Before running out and grabbing a bunch of expansions, try playing Yog-Sothoth, Shub-Niggurath, or Hastur. Try beating them with Dexter, Sister Mary, Amanda, and Vincent. If you still think the game is treating you too nicely, pick up Dunwich with more unstable locations and Gate Bursts. You will find the training wheels ripped from your soul and shredded.

Welcome to the Carnival, Lorenelif!

I am rather new to this game also. My wife and I "won" 14 our of 15 of out first games. I always read the rules afterward again and watched Grudunza'a Videos on You Tube (11 on Arkham Horror, explains a LOT of stuff) to where what I forgot or did wrong. Fight checks are not Combat checks, look at the Monster's special abilities, for example Physical Immunity etc. Finally around game 8-9 I think we probably played a correct game. Mainly won by 6 seals but did beat Nyarlathotep twice in final combat but the first time we forgot to deduct his modifier. Our games were lasting about 2 hours or 2 and a half.

Anyway..............Played with the Curse of the Dark Pharoah and what a difference. First game last 35 minutes. Devoured before we knew we were swallowed.

jgt7771 said:

Thanks!

...............I think? I hope I'm ready for the Carnival!

Well, I feel a little better now.I collect games quickly so I've actually got most of the expansions already. I'll probably add King in yellow or Black goat at first and see where it goes from there. Thanks for the input guys.