This may seem a bit silly, but there are few things that worry me about the game before I buy.

First, I watched the videos on the site about how to play, as far as I can make out, you don't really play for that long. 3 Story Cards to win sounds like a rather short game. Or is that just the recommended/tutorial version?

Secondly, I may be wrong but from what I can find, there seems to be only story cards in the main box. Does that not mean they are rather limited? Playing the same "story" over and over again could get boring could it not?

Third, Is deck building as complicated as it is with say, "Magic"? My experience with that game is that they over complicated the whole process. From the video I watched on FFG. CoC seems easy enough to understand. Is it pretty simple to build a decent deck?

Sorry for all the silly questions, but I thought it better to ask before I buy, incase it's not what I am hoping for. (I really love Lovecraft and Cthulhu but haven't played many card games).

Thanks,

Ebonrook said:

Like any ccg-style game, varies greatly. Yes, you only play first to three stories. Someone like Syndicate, that could mean turn 3 win (in about 5 mins). Or you could get a 3-2 slobberknocker that goes past 60 minutes. I generally play three games, overall duration comes to around 90 minutes.

Ebonrook said:

Secrets of Arkham expansion adds 10 new stories. Yeah, it does get a bit stale after a while playing with the same stories, but to me, while you are trying to win stories, they are less important than the cards you have out on the "board" and what your opponent has. You absolutely have to pay attention to the story effects, especially if your opponent is looking like scoring a story.

Ebonrook said:

Yes and no. Since every card can be used as a resource, that frees up 1/3 of your deck compared to Magic, no need for lands. If you stick to the simple guide line of 3/5 characters (meaning 30 or so in a 50-card deck) and fortify the rest with appropriate Support and Events, should be a decent deck. Of course, "decent" depends on the meta you're playing in.

Ebonrook said:

- If you're playing casually (i.e. without carefully tuned decks), games can take up to an hour. But even for a slow player, games will typically not last longer than 30 minutes. The current tournament rules assign 50 minutes play time for a single round, i.e. up to three games (it's best of three).

- The core set has 10 cards, Secrets of Arkham has another ten. You could also get a starter for the CCG version of the game to get more story cards. For me it took a lot of games to get bored with the story cards, though. It's not just about the story cards, it's also about their order of appearance. There are also quite a few conspiracy cards in the APs that can add variety. The game isn't just about story cards, either. Depending on the factions in play and the cards you use in your decks, no game will resemble another.

- I don't know much about Magic, since it never really appealed to me. I guess the most important question will be: Are you thinking of playing the game competitvely or casually? For casual games (which I prefer), fine-tuning decks will not be necessary. In fact most of the games I played used Highlander decks (i.e. a single copy of every card) or involved an element of randomization (basically simulating draft games). I think, there's also fewer possibilities for comboing in CoC than in Magic, so deckbuilding might be a bit easier (however, as mentioned, my experience with Magic is very limited, so I could be wrong about this).

Ebonrook said:

This kind of depends on how inured you are to playing Magic. It can be both easier and harder to build a deck than magic. Resourcing is much easier since each card can be used as a resource, unlike magic where you are required to build your deck with resources in the form of lands.

Resourcing is also more difficult once you get accustomed to the game since you cannot simply rely on a land for resourcing. This largely depends on the deck building format you choose. In 'highlander' games, resourcing is an art since you only have one of each card in the deck, but in decks that have access to up to 3 of each card it is easier to choose certain cards.

Overall, I would say that it is simpler than magic to build a deck because of the ingeniuos way resourcing functions in this game.

A 'decent' deck largley depends on your local metagame though. Whats decent in casual will not be as decent in more competitive surroundings generally.

Thanks for the answers guys.

The game is very tempting. I will probably be playing it casual more than anything else, especially considering I've never been very good with competitive games.

Is there enough for two decks in the main box? Or do I need to buy more? As my missus will want to play with me.

Ebonrook said:

Thats where it gets tricky. The rules say a legal deck is 50 cards. That said, a two faction deck using only one core game witll garner you something like 47 or 48 cards. Dont worry about it just strive to get as close to 50 as possible.

Otherwise the directions in the core game to build decks from it are relevant.

Before the start of the game set aside cards F156–F165. These are
your fixed story cards that both players use.

After setting aside the story cards, each player must select a deck.
This can be done quickly by mixing any two of the seven factions,
and adding one of the two neutral card packets (F141–F148 and
F148–F154). Factions can be chosen at random, or each player can
based on personal preference. If both players desire the same
faction, the players should flip a coin for that faction.

There are 21 different faction combinations in the Call of Cthulhu
LCG Core Set.

Oh so you don't have to go with purely one Faction in your Deck? That's cool. I will probably still wind up getting as many cards as I can collect anyway. Still cool to know that I can mix them a bit though.

Ebonrook said:

Thats where the complication of resourcing comes in, is when you use multiple factions.

For the core game its pretty miserable to attempt a mono faction deck. To be honest, its difficult to do even with all the asylum packs now released unless you buy multiples, so dual faction or more will likely be your best bet. (2 factions and a few neutral cards )