Hi, I ordered the base set of Arkham Horror, thinking it looked cool. But I don't really know much about the game at all. How is the quality? How's the playibility? What's the whole theme or goal of the game? oh yeah, and I read a bit of description about Arkham Horror, and it says that you play against the board game. So would that mean I can play by myself? How would that work??

Congrats on joining us in the madhouse. Yes you can play by yourself. This can happen because its the investigator(s) (PLAYERS) against the Ancient Ones (THE BOARD). The theme is very dark, and expect to loose more then win till you get the basics down. There is a set of videos on youtube that help learn the game. Search Arkham Horror tutorial. Anyway the game is fun and if you still have questions just post them here. Hope you enjoy the game when it arrives.

PS: The game is long and the setup is long but once you start you should have fun, more so if you love Lovecraft's stories like I do.

madhouse? a dark theme? sounds fun. I did look up some videos on Arkham Horror, and now I can't wait for it to arrive

Once you do get it, try a few games by yourself. Don't forget you can play as multiple investigators! I first played with one, then played with two, then three, then four. When I play by myself I mostly play with four now. This really helpd solidify my understanding of the rules. If you want to introduce it to friends, make sure you have a few games under your belt before you do, otherwise it'll be long, messy, and you'll probably be in the rulebook for longer than you want!

I won't spoil how to play the game or anything, so my one tip is: Follow the phases! There are 5 of them, all done in order, for a reason. Many of your questions can be cleared up that way. If not? Just come to us and we'd be more than happy to help you out!

Awsome!

Indeed the game is great. As has been said, it does have a rather steep learning curve, but it levels off fairly quickly.

Part of what I love about the game is the thematic feel in it. If you have never read any of H.P. Lovecraft's stuff I reccomend it.

Call of Cthulhu and The Horror of Dunwich are a few of his classic short stories. Also, the movie "In the Mouth of Maddness" is a great movie with Sam Neil that uses the Lovecraft mythos. There was also a great movie version of Call of Cthulhu made in 2006 (I think) that is made in the old Black and White Silent movie style.

Welcome to the carnival! I hope you will insanely enjoy this game as much as we do. If any questions that arise during gameplay, we will always be there to answer them!

I'm pretty new to it too (I just bought it a few weeks ago). I've played 2 games with friends and a few alone to get a better feel for it. While the learning curve is a little steep at times, it is the best board game I've ever played. I can easily say with the vast randomization and number of cards, no two games are the same. I'm sure you're gonna love it. Hope you have fun and if you have any questions, post them and surely one of the many members can help you. Happy playing.

N'gai, n'gha'ghaa, bugg-shoggog, y'hah!

Yog-Sothoth, Yog-Sothoth, ai!

Y'hah, bug-shoggog, n'gha'ghaa, n'gai!

I'm relatively new, had it for a few months, but only on my 4th time playing, personally I think I may be having a harder time then some, many many rules, after 4 games I'm still looking through the rulebook and phase sheets. Its not easy but its certainly fun.

In fact Ive put together a youtube page where I plan to film myself playing, but its a process indeed, the game I have posted now I'm sure has many flaws, but the channel is a good way to see the evolution of learning how to play the game (hopefully). As of now I feel a bit dumb trying to figure it all out, but I certainly hope I improve.

Also new here, but having a ball.

I played 3 games (1 solo) between xmas and last night - won all 3 without much trouble.

Then sat down with an old pal (and gamer) last night at 7.30, with a couple of bottles of wine and a fair bit of determination.

We finished at 3.10am.

Fantastic stuff.

We won both games (vs Nyarl, by Final Battle, and Hastur, by closing all Gates) but never at any point did we feel remotely confident of doing so. Whenever things were starting to go well we could guarantee that the Mythos deck would pull something dreadful out of the hat (I get palpitations now when I see the word "rumour"!)

Love it. And my pal, who hadn't played before, is planning to buy the basic box this week, and already has his eye on expansions.

It always a pleasure perceiving the enthusiasm for a game just discovered :-) aspecially when the game is Arkham :-)) you're right, Arkham *is* a great game. Countless combos, amazing stories, every game is so different from all the others and most of the times you play it, it's a blast.

Welcome to the Carnival, Beloch

Just finished a game with two friends (started at 5:00 and just ending at 8:00) and we won!! We defeated Yog-Sothoth by closing all of the gates (it was intense). It made things easy since I was blessed and had a shotgun and my friend was blessed and had the Lamp of Alhazred (so we had magical and physical damage on lockdown). I can't stress enough how much fun this is. Can't wait to buy some expansions!

I don't think I've beaten Yog-Sothoth in any manner since I picked up Dunwich. Good times...

It's kinda like the excitement of a new relationship!

...except this one's imaginary...

No, wait, so it's exactly like my last relationship

Well, i finished my first game against Nyarlothotep (spelling?) and i won kinda easily! I hope i got the rules right, but it was in this case a sealing victory. I controlled six investigators and played by myself. It was fun and the game is really good quality! I thought I would adore one of the female investigators like Mandy but it turns out i like Michael McGlen, the gangster. Was that wrong? The set-up was pretty painful though, but it is definitely engaging. Can't wait to start a new game! Who's the hardest ancient one by the way, in the base set? I'd like to challenge it in the next game!

Try taking on Azathoth or Cthulhu. Yog-Sothoth is pretty hard only because once you are "lost in time and space" you become devoured. Azathoth ends the game when he is summoned. Cthulhu always hits when you fight him and he heals himself. All are challenging to some degree, but those three are pretty rough.

catH said:

Congrats at your first victory! It is rare for someone to win the very first game, but you must be a quick learner. Well, there's nothing wrong to liking the gangster over Mandy, as my sister's heartthrob is Joe Diamond. Anyway, glad you like AH as much as we do!

The next suggestion for a challenging Ancient One is Cthulhu or Yog-Sothoth. They'll make you tremble in despair! Shub-Niggurath and Hastur are not that bad either. The weakest are Yig, Nyarlathotep, and probably Ithaqua.

Yig, Nyarlothotep, and Ithaqua are definitely the easiest. Good call (especially Yig).

Yeah, Nyar's one of the easiest AOs. Mandy is a great investigator, no doubt. Michael is fun to play if you're in to smacking monsters (just keep your Will high).

The hardest AO in the base game is also a top-ranking out of all the AOs:

Yog-Sothoth

It's much harder to close gates, which makes it harder to seal them. In final combat, you use your Will stat to defend against his attack, which means you have to balance between dealing damage and surviving. Just about the only solace you can get is that he's fully vulnerable to physical weapons. But good luck in any case.

Great! so i guess Yog-Sothoth is up for battle next game! Thanks guys. One more quick question before setting up the game: who are the weakest investigators? And yes, Tibs, I happen to like smacking monsters from time and space

catH said:

The weakest investigator in the base set is unfortunately the poor doctor, Vincent Lee. Of course it depends on the situation. If you are fighting against Ithaqua, then he could actually be very helpful! Dexter, Amanda, and Sister Mary are quite lame as well.

The "weakest investigators" in the base set are usually named as:

Amanda Sharpe (rare ability and starts with no money, but she certainly isn't weak in any areas besides money).

Dexter Drake (low sanity for a spellcaster, and his high lore is coupled with a very low luck)

Vincent Lee (low speed, and he doesn't start with fixed weapons; fighting monsters is usually what leads to stamina loss)

Sister Mary (starts with poor weapons, no clues, no money. Her blessing's usefulness was overestimated).

But certainly, these are not bad characters. Their personal story cards in Innsmouth certainly compensate for their shortcomings. I just passed Vincent's story for the first time recently and was like, "oh really?"

There are "least favorite" investigators, but for me, I enjoy them all. Some fit different peoples' playstyles better, but for me I don't roll my eyes if I get a certain investigator. I know some people don't like Bob. But Tibs lists all the ones that people on the Internets have a general consensus of who is "least liked." At least, from the base set. Then you get into George Barnaby if you have Innsmouth...

I don't understand the George hate. Preventing someone from befalling the fate of the Innsmouth Jail is really helpful. And his other ability can often translate into a guaranteed success off of a clue. What's wrong with that?

Dunno Tibs. I've never played with him, much less in Innsmouth where Jail can actually get you Devoured! But a lot of people don't like him or Charlie Kane. I think the idea of Charlie Kane is adorable. Especially with his personal stories Not really my opinions, but those of the Internets. I happen to like Dexter and Vincent! Combo Vincent with Cloud Memory and he can make casting Voice of Ra every turn a viable option! Along with many other Nasty spell tricks!

Tibs said:

3 movement points (slow), 4 maximum fight (low), 4 maximum lore (too low to be a good spellcaster). His abilities are indeed helpful, but it happens quite often (at least, to me) he's not good enough to do the basics. I usually use him as a gate sealer / OW surfer and that's it. Nonetheless, I do not *hate* George, I simply believe he's very weak, that's all. The only character I really hate is Mary.