I've played the game solo three times now, once with one investigator, and (discovering that that virtually forces you to play for the final battle, and preferring a gate-sealing victory), twice with two investigators. I won every time, and in fact, it was never really even close. And people seem to think that the game gets easier with more investigators, so I can't imagine much chance of losing with more.

I am playing the base game only, no expansions, and I've read through the rulebook several times, as well as playing in a five-player game with someone who knew the game well, so I don't think I'm doing anything major wrong. I did discover post-game-two that I'd once made the mistake of forgetting to exhaust a Withering spell when used, thus applying it several times in a turn against successive monster fights in a single location, but I don't think this made a big difference to the outcome, and I only did it once.

In particular, the following seem to be the case:

1) Unless you adopt a generally dubious strategy of closing but not sealing gates, it's very hard for the AO to awaken due to the doom track (only Yig, due to his 10-doom and doom-increasing-ability, is remotely likely to). If the AO does awaken, it will almost always be due to the terror level rising to 10 and too many monsters arriving. Since there are only 11 unstable locations (and four of them open gates very rarely), more than 11 doom tokens is impossible under normal circumstances. And if you use even one elder sign, no AO but Yig can possibly hit the maximum doom track level.

2) Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath are almost ridiculously easy to beat with few players if you simply prepare for the final battle. Grabbing all possible clue-tokens/ monster-trophies is really not hard. Ithaqa, Yig and Hastur (in that order of increasing difficulty) are similarly quite easy to beat in the final battle if you grab good enough equipment. Only Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth make for a really hard final fight (Cthulhu because of his regeneration and high combat-modifier; Yog-Sothoth because gate trophies are hard to acquire and require you to go for a gate-closing strategy anyway); Azathoth being impossible, obviously. It seems like the game is encouraging you to ignore gates most of the time and build up combat capbilities. Because the AO can't awaken from doom tokens, and the terror track can be kept in check by beating up on monsters (which coincidently, also requires good combat capabilities), this generally lets you have all the time you need to "level-up", as it were.

3) The real threat in the game is not the AO, but the rumour cards. A really horrible rumour (The Terrible Experiment or Good Work Undone if you're going gate-sealing), can seriously affect the game difficulty. Conversely getting a weak rumour (Southside Strangler, arguably Digging up the Dead) into play and leaving it there to stop any nastier ones appearing is very good.

4) Gate-closing victories seem almost impossible, unless you're playing 1-investigator and the Mythos deck hits the same location four times in a row or something. Generally, if you're getting close to closing all gates, you've also sealed enough for a gate-sealing victory.

I've now beat Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth 2-investigators (both times by sealing gates), and Shub-Niggurath 1-investigator by final battle. It doesn't look like any of the remaining AOs offer any significant challenge, unless I try Azathoth with 1-investigator: that sounds quite tough.

Get one of the expansions other than Curse of the Dark Pharaoh. Gate bursts will put some more pressure on you, and the newer GOO's will also give you a tougher time. Also, make sure you are playing the rules 100%. It is easy to forget things from turn to turn and misplay the tiniest things that then make the game significantly easier (or harder). I've been playing for months and only just learned that you can only have one rumour in play after cross-checking what you were saying (my bad. Might make my games a touch easier now).

Are you remembering there is a limit to the number of gates that can be open at any one time? From point #1 it sounds like you may be ignoring that. You have to close gates eventually to stop the GOO from coming out from too many gates.

AndrewClarke: I've played the game solo three times now, once with one investigator, and (discovering that that virtually forces you to play for the final battle, and preferring a gate-sealing victory), twice with two investigators. I won every time, and in fact, it was never really even close. And people seem to think that the game gets easier with more investigators, so I can't imagine much chance of losing with more.

Mageith: Easier is relative. It becomes easier to seal with more investigators and more difficult.

AndrewClarke: I am playing the base game only, no expansions, and I've read through the rulebook several times, as well as playing in a five-player game with someone who knew the game well, so I don't think I'm doing anything major wrong. I did discover post-game-two that I'd once made the mistake of forgetting to exhaust a Withering spell when used, thus applying it several times in a turn against successive monster fights in a single location, but I don't think this made a big difference to the outcome, and I only did it once.

Mageith: The basegame is fairly easy if you are a smart person and/or have tactical advice from veterans. Like all Horror Movies, one shouldn't disclose the ending!

AndrewClarke: In particular, the following seem to be the case: 1) Unless you adopt a generally dubious strategy of closing but not sealing gates, it's very hard for the AO to awaken due to the doom track (only Yig, due to his 10-doom and doom-increasing-ability, is remotely likely to). If the AO does awaken, it will almost always be due to the terror level rising to 10 and too many monsters arriving. Since there are only 11 unstable locations (and four of them open gates very rarely), more than 11 doom tokens is impossible under normal circumstances. And if you use even one elder sign, no AO but Yig can possibly hit the maximum doom track level.

Mageith: The GOO also awakens if there are too many gates open. That's 8 with 1 or 2 players. But the point is there are a number of timing mechanisms.

AndrewClarke: 2) Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath are almost ridiculously easy to beat with few players if you simply prepare for the final battle. Grabbing all possible clue-tokens/ monster-trophies is really not hard. Ithaqa, Yig and Hastur (in that order of increasing difficulty) are similarly quite easy to beat in the final battle if you grab good enough equipment. Only Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth make for a really hard final fight (Cthulhu because of his regeneration and high combat-modifier; Yog-Sothoth because gate trophies are hard to acquire and require you to go for a gate-closing strategy anyway); Azathoth being impossible, obviously. It seems like the game is encouraging you to ignore gates most of the time and build up combat capbilities. Because the AO can't awaken from doom tokens, and the terror track can be kept in check by beating up on monsters (which coincidently, also requires good combat capabilities), this generally lets you have all the time you need to "level-up", as it were.

Mageith: You know ALL the secrets! (of the base game)! The real question is did FFG (the old ones of old ones), pull you into ITS world so you can buy more games or are you fed up (devoured) with their trickery?

AndrewClarke: 3) The real threat in the game is not the AO, but the rumour cards. A really horrible rumour (The Terrible Experiment or Good Work Undone if you're going gate-sealing), can seriously affect the game difficulty. Conversely getting a weak rumour (Southside Strangler, arguably Digging up the Dead) into play and leaving it there to stop any nastier ones appearing is very good.

Mageith: Yep

4) Gate-closing victories seem almost impossible, unless you're playing 1-investigator and the Mythos deck hits the same location four times in a row or something. Generally, if you're getting close to closing all gates, you've also sealed enough for a gate-sealing victory.

Mageith: They aren't! Half or more of my recent victories have been gate closings. I still usually seal 4, at a minimum 3. In Kingsport, there is an Old One that will burst all your seals, so you will have to figure out a gate closing strategy or die trying. OTOH, having only played 1 and 2 investigator games, your view of our world is horroribly skewed.

I've now beat Cthulhu and Yog-Sothoth 2-investigators (both times by sealing gates), and Shub-Niggurath 1-investigator by final battle. It doesn't look like any of the remaining AOs offer any significant challenge, unless I try Azathoth with 1-investigator: that sounds quite tough.

Mageith: FFG has prepared more delights for you in ITS expansions. Each will add a horrible little twist to test your sanity. I hope you are up to it.

I'll echo the thought that you ought to make sure you are playing by all the rules. Ignoring even a couple of seemingly minor rules can vastly shift how the game plays. You also have only played three games. Some games will be easy just by luck of the draw and dice. Other games, you'll lose investigators left and right due to failed skill checks and bad combat rolls.

Getting an expansion will certainly make things more difficult. There's not much point in complaining that the game is too easy when FFG has already made a ton of options to make the game more difficult. They can't very well go back and change the base game for the few that think it's a cakewalk. Dunwich alone makes it much more difficult to win with just two investigators, and combined, the expansions make pretty much any game brutal.

You can also simply make it harder by drawing two mythos cards a turn, starting all investigator cursed, limiting yourself to third-rate investigators, spawning two monsters per gate, etc.

AndrewClarke said:

Just start thinking of "win" by final combat as draw, that should get you wanting real wins, instead of anti-climatic dicefests.

AndrewClarke said:

I'd say gate-closing wins require a bit of luck, since you need a monster surge or a no gate opening mythos card here or there, preferrably a couple in a row. Kate Winthrop can also come in handy (or break the game, when combo'd with Arcane Insight).

AndrewClarke said:

Did you remember to get 2 success to close a gate when playing Yog? If you get -2 mod gates and have investigators with 5 max in Fight/Lore, you'll need 2 success on 3 dice, which isn't nice odds.

AndrewClarke said:

::Shrug:: assuming you understand the game dynamics— gate frequencies, getting cash at the newspaper (and possibly exploiting bank loans), the base game is very easy, even sometimes with only one investigator (when going for sealing victories— if you go for a combat victory, you're right, it's very easy except against a few of the Ancient Ones). If you know what you're doing, the base game isn't a challenge, you'd need to add in Black Goat of the Woods or Dunwich to have some fun. Or you could just make it so only sealing victories count (personally, even still, it's fairly boring— even if you only play with one investigator— the game gets very anti-climactic). The anti-climactic effect doesn't take place once you add in multiple expansions though (because there's a high element of random danger, and a few other things). If you've managed to break the base game already :') congrats, add in Dunwich if you have the cash (that's fairly challenging with a two player team) or BGotW (with the herald, and moving Dark Young it should make the base game difficult).

Just a quick check... You know you can't trade clues. Gates opening destroy clues that they open on and clues can't appear where gates are. If you start on a location with a monster you can't move anywhere else that turn. Also, if you fight a monster, your movement ends. ::Shrug:: you probably know all this, but if you don't know, it makes the game much easier. Well... I'll say it again, the base game is a joke if you know how to play it. Add in BGotW :')

Also, I hope you're randomly drawing your investigator. Picking them makes the game... Err... Less challenging (for all I know you're playing Joe Diamond and stocking up a shotgun).

Umm, let's see...

Yes I was remembering Yog-Sothoth's difficulty increaser. One of my investigators was the researcher, with the re-roll skill check ability. Also, an early Mythos card Blessed her (the Blessing remained for most of the game), making gate closing easier. I think I did fail a gate-closing roll a couple of times, but just stayed there for another turn and closed it the turn after. (You don't lose the clue tokens for sealing if you fail to close the gate, do you?)

Regarding starting on a location with a monster, I've been playing that you can try to evade the monster at the beginning of turn, and that if you suceed, you are able to move normally. Is this not true?

I was noting the number of gates open at a time. I think I've had up to six open at once; never more. Eight gates open is quite unlikely. Even if you totally ignore gates, that's not going to happen soon. And if you put any effort into closing/sealing gates, it's pretty much impossible.

I did get my best investigator devoured by Yog-Sothoth's ability towards the end, but at that point I already had 5 seals, so was able to win in any case.

I am drawing randomly. My 1-I game was Carolyn Fern (whose ability is very useful. Somewhat luckily, I also drew a Healing Stone, meaning I never needed to visit the Hospital or Asylum). My 2-I games were Amanda Sharpe/Harvey Walters and Mandy Thompson/Dexter Drake (I drew the photographer after Mandy was devoured, but he only got to take one turn).

I'm sure I will pick up some expansion/s at some point (I did enjoy the game). Any recomendations? I'm somewhat dubious about extra boards (if I'm going to be playing with a small number of investigators, it sounds like there will be too much going on for them to handle.

AndrewClarke said:

Sounds to me like you should try Dunwich Horror. The extra board adds new unstable locations and you have some gate bursts. You'll have a job at keeping the number of gates low enough. Yes, it's an extra board, and you will have a lot to do in a short time. But that's exactly the feeling you should get. You should be able to handle 3 investigators without much problems if things get too bad.

If you don't want to add an extra board, then the king in yellow or black goat would be great. I prefer black goat myself. The herald in a kick in the nuts.

Yesterday I played a game with 3 investigators against Yog-Sothoth with the Dunwich expansion. Gates where opening everywhere and I was only able to seal one gate and close another when 7 gates opened and woke up Yog-Sothoth. The Dunwich Horror woke very soon and when I tried to go to Dunwich my investigator got arrested and send back to Arkham. Doom and terror levels rise fast. Lost horribly but it was a blast. I'm probably going to 4 investigators though...

When the AO awakens, add 6 doom tokens to its track (even if this sets you over) then remove 2 for each seal on the board. That should still allow a victory by final combat to seem more valid and earned than just a draw, but also discourage gearing up and encourage sealing.

Tibs wrote: When the AO awakens, add 6 doom tokens to its track (even if this sets you over) then remove 2 for each seal on the board. That should still allow a victory by final combat to seem more valid and earned than just a draw, but also discourage gearing up and encourage sealing.

Mageith: I like this but not sure of the context. But why remove 2? Why not just remove 1? I'm guessing the 6 represents the number of gates needed to seal.

Eddie said:

Agreed... Dunwich is very much fun (it's by far the best stand alone expansion, in my opinion), but if you don't want to get an extra board, Black Goat is the way to go. If you add in either of those, you won't be able to pull off one investigator victories anymore (well, maybe combat sometimes, but not against certain Ancient Ones) and you'd still probably have a hard time stockpiling weaponry if you played vs. The Black Goat Herald. Adding in The Dunwich Horror Herald would also give you a much stronger challenge (especially if Dunwich is undiluted by other expansions).

Personally... I'd advise you start off with Black Goat (because it's not much of a money investment, and it will *definitely* challenge you).

okay so...my 2 cents, be sure you play rules right, I had a hole bunch of games and this is my favourite game on the site but still I missed the rule that didn't let you put clues on opened gates :/, It passed my mind if a gate is replacing a location, shouldn't the clues not spawn, but I always seemed to skip the rule or something.

The game also does not get easier with more players... play style just starts shifting from one side to the other, while in solo you would mostly fight the AO (I surprisingly almost everytime seal instead of fight them :/...only base of course, I wouldn't stand a chance now... ), and while you add more players it turns the other way around, much more easier to seal by closing gates, or sealing, In 8 in my opinion its all about 3-4 who are mainly doing the close the gates, collect the clues, while others hunt for monsters and keep buying new stuff in shops, It's about not getting in the way of each other cause its so crowded.

Best ballance is at 4-5, all victory options are a possible and it works pretty well.

AndrewClarke said:

My understanding was the AO does awaken from doom tokens?(Once the doom track full) Am I playing this wrong?

No, you're correct. What he was getting at is the fact that there are only 11 unstable locations; as such, if you stick to a strategy of always sealing gates, and never merely closing them, then a gate will have to have opened in each location for the doom track to even get up to 11 (assuming you haven't lowered the track with an elder sign)--this takes a very long time, and even that will only wake up three out of the eight AOs. (The danger of this strategy, of course, is that it makes you more likely to lose from Too Many Open Gates, but, as has been discussed, the gate limit is very high for one or two players)

The expansions fix this by introducing more locations, gate bursts, and new ways for the doom track to increase

Well now, I'm not a very experienced or brilliant player, so I don't want to give the impression I have any kind of expertise, but... to me, it sounds like you've been very fortunate in the rounds you've played. The re-roll ability on the researcher is, I am given to understand from the "pro" players, and agree with from my own experience, one of the best, if not the best abilities. I know some players even refuse to have that character in play, considering it overpowered. If you add a blessing to this that stays for a long time, then you've had some huge benefits for that round.

Furthermore, Healing Stone is the most expensive item in the game (at least base game, afaik) and correspondingly powerful. Together with Fern's ability, you can regen one San and one Health per round (as you obviously know) and that, too, makes for a unusually fortunate round.

That being said, it's not at all unlikely you would find the game too easy even with worse investigators, and the expansions are fun to play with, so imo there's no reason except the cost not to get one. Still, I'd say, play some more rounds and maybe you'll be struck by bad luck rather than good some time and have a more challenging time. Also, personally, I much prefer playing 4-5 players/investigators than 1-3. Of course, you may disagree with this.

I hope this post doesn't give the impression to the high-lore players I'm completely out of Sanity points, it's just my spontaneous feelings on the subject.

It does sound like you're playing quite well, but I agree with the others who say that you have gotten some very good draws there. Healing Stone + Fern is quite good, and I definitely agree that Mandy's re-roll ability is tremendous (though I never ban investigators, myself). A Mandy game tends to be a far different experience than a non-Mandy game.

Arkham, as a game so strongly based around drawing random cards, can massively change in difficulty based on which cards happen to come up. Some games will be very easy, others very difficult, based upon the particular combination of investigators, AO, and cards drawn.

I do agree to make absolutely sure that you're obeying all the rules, but it certainly isn't impossible to get this many victories this fast (I beat Yig my first game and my most major mistake was forgetting to use my investigator's special ability :-P).

I will say that I've found that reaching the gate limit is hardly impossible, even if you have been trying to seal. I had a game against Azathoth where we did get a seal or two, but we just ended up close to the limit with several of the most frequent gate locations still open. Totally screwed. O_O It all depends on which gates end up opening. If you happen to get more than one of the less-frequent locations popping open on you and you aren't able to get to closing them for a turn or two you can get in trouble. It is not common to reach the limit (at least with low player numbers), but it is certainly possible and you do need to watch for it.

Additionally, I at least have found the terror track can be trouble when you have fewer investigators. A few good monster surges and that thing will be raising swiftly, since you may not have the resources to keep monsters under control (especially if you get some of the really tough ones). And remember, once the terror track reaches 10, you've got another way that the doom track can raise. Normally, in games with more investigators, the terror track ceases to be an issue.

Anyway, I would also suggest you maybe try to get a few more games under your belt, but then look at an expansion. Each of the expansions adds some challenge. Most agree that Dunwich is really good (and note that you do not have to use the extra board if you do not want to...AH expansions are wonderfully modular), but it has been hard to find and I know they're reprinting soon. I have Kingsport (which actually has stuff to increase and stuff to decrease difficulty) and Lurker (which has some neat cards, but the Herald needs a bit of work to actually work as a Herald...various forumites have done fixes) and enjoy both. I'm not overly fond of the standard Gate Burst rules, but I've made my own that change them from seal-destroyers to doom-track-raisers that work nicely for me.

Read posts 695-698. Those game tweaks should tide you over for a while until you get an expansion (and they should be fun in their own right).

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efpag=46&efid=113&efcid=1&efidt=22867

This topic is from 2008

Joseph_Lavode said:

I was surprised to see my doom token comment. That was my hint that this was an old thread.

Also, I might as well respond:

mageith:
It's -2 doom tokens so that if you have more than three seals, the AO starts with fewer doom tokens than normal.