I was wondering if any of you regular Arkham players also played the Cthulhu card game and whether it was any good? I know at least some of the artwork is done by the same folks and therefore imagine it to be just as pleasing to the eye?

If anyone does know the game does it have any sort of crossover (characters, events etc) with arkham, or are they just linked by the Lovecraft?

Thanks

xx

I think most of the artwork, if not all, in Arkham Horror originally came from Call of Cthulhu, especially back in its CCG stage. And yeah, it's good.

As far as the game goes, there are some experienced players who could give you more info, but you could always read the rules in the COC section here.

I don't think the adventurers make an appearance in the card game, though their portraits do, an example is the Blackwood File Clerk in the card game is Mandy Thompson in Arkham Horror. The monsters and Ancient Ones are the same, as well as some of the allies that made appearances in the original stories.

Either way you should look into it. Especially if you like the Lovecraft theme.

well for what its worth i really like the card game. its worth checking out if you like card games. the resourcing system is what makes the game very different from most other card games. its also not hard to learn.

I've also been interested in the LCG version of the game. The information about it is a bit confusing, though, since it seems to be mixed up with info about the CCG version of the game which I am definitely NOT interested in. This also kept me from ordering anything, yet. I can't seem to figure out which is which

ccg is done but it came from booster packs. Mountains of Madness, Ancient Horrors and the Coreset are all lcg. ffg is done supporting the came in the ccg format. so no more rare chasing or anything. you buy a pack you know exactly what you get and everything. the coreset is all reprints from older sets but with the new(lcg) backs and white borders, except the story cards those are all new. there were also 4 asylum packs that were basically lcg but came out before the backs and border change. if you check the products section everything thats not under legacy is the new format.

some people are worried that ffg might rotate out all the black borders, but thats neither here or there if youre just starting the game.

hope that helps

Ah, thanks - I think now I understand what confused me:

The LCG uses the same rules as the CCG; it's basically just packaged in a different way (i.e. non-random)?

That leaves only one question for me: Does every player need her own Core set?

(sorry for being off-topic, btw. I'll post further questions in the LCG-Forum - I promise! )

the coreset is designed for 2 players. so 2 people can play casually right out of the box. but if you wanna build your own decks and make them better you'll probably want your own coreset, or 3, since the deck limit is 3x of cards. but yes the game plays the same as the ccg version. they changed they way transient looks, its an arrow now before it printed the word, maybe a few other minor things like that.

im still waiting on my copy of the coreset so i cant comment on how well the decks work with the cards included, but since its meant for casual play i dont know how much that will matter. i doubt anyone thats playing the game on the casual level will try to build turn one decks or find broken combos. there are some very good cards in that set though. id like to try and play a game or two using only the coreset cards and see how well it plays like that.

way off-topic, i see you used 'her' are you one of those rare female gamers?

Thanks again for the prompt reply!

PearlJamaholic said:

Ah, that's great! An initial low investment to try out a game is definitely a plus. So, let's go shopping

No, that's just me being infected by political correctness. There are two female gamers in my regular gaming group, though. Arkham Horror is a pretty female-gamer-friendly game, I think.

jhaelen said:

Sorry, my bad with the thread, but thanks to everyone for all the info, very interesting. I too was confused over the CCG / LCG option. After seeing alot of money disappear on Warcraft cards the idea of static sets you can buy is quite appealing.

I printed some demo cards and rules from the Fantasy Flight Cthulhu (why do I always miss the second 'h' when I type that!) area, but haven't had a chance to play at it yet.

The general gist as I see it is a kind of race to complete story sections, is that correct? In which case, is it easy enough to expand to a multiplayer game or does it only work as a two player? I am of course considering the potential dinner party applications of the game, we can't keep playing Zombie Fluxx for ever!

Oh, and, girl gamer (albeit noob) here, so remember to be polite as there may be a lady in the room!

xx

Huitzil, no apologies for the thread. Its a good idea because of the crossover appeal with the card game. I have a bunch of the older collectible cards, but couldn't find any other players. I hope this gets a few more interested locally so I can play. I think the non-collectible aspect will make this easier to keep up with. Magic lost me after awhile, because I couldn't afford to get the really great cards.

You're right about winning the story cards to win the game. You really don't NEED the coreset, but if you don't buy it you'll have to buy a few of the asylum packs to get enough of a faction (Cthulhu, Miskatonic, etc) to put together a decent deck. The core set gives you a little of everything, including those cool little Cthulhu miniatures.

mulitiplayer should work, the rules are still up over at coc support page. the one thing is the game becomes longer, where a 2 player game can end quickly and usually isnt very long, mulitiplayer can become very long. yes the general idea is to be the 1st to win 3 stories but you can also win by decking in this game. ill just state this though it may be obvious to some, a well tuned deck for 2 player may totally suck in 3+ games and vice versa.

also with trying to build decks with just the packs, i think you need to coreset pretty much. each asylum pack includes 2-3 different cards of a faction, and not even a playset of all included (coreset doesnt include playsets of eveything either though), and to make the 50 card limit you need atleast 17 different titled cards. though you could build a rainbow deck and have something playable with 3 different asylum packs it probably wouldnt play very well. plus the coreset is a better bargin. 2 asylum packs is 80(40 different) cards for $20, where the core set is 150 some cards different cards for $40, and you need story cards which arent in asylum packs. so with the one coreset you will have varity but a less consistent deck, with asylum packs you lose varity but gain the ability to have a more consistent deck.