How does Mansions stack against Arkham?

Brilliantly said sir haha

They are two very different games but personally I prefer Arkham Horror at the moment. Maybe, if MoM gets a couple more expansions that build upon the solid base that may change.

Really the only similarity is theme. Obviously, the MoM box bears the Arkham Horror logo, but again, I think this is to indicate the thematic link.

Yes, you see the same characters. Yes, you have hit points, sanity points, spells and the like, but in most cases they are used in a manner rather different to AH.

I would say that if you love the Lovecraft world, the Cthulhu Mythos and all that goes with it, MoM is an excellent way to experience it. But if Arkham Horror is an action adventure, then Mansions of Madness is a suspense thriller. So it would be hard to say IF you like Arkham horror THEN you'll like Mansions.

K xx

Think of MoM as a microcosm event happening within the greater domain of Arkham Horror. While Arkham Horror incorporates many events and encounters w/ the servants of the Elder Ones in a massive campaign against evil, Mansions of Madness focuses on the details of one encounter in one location. If you play Descent and Runebound, you can easily compare MoM and AH in the same way these two are related: Descent depicts an adventure within a single dungeonesque setting, while Runebound expands that experience into an epic campaign.

Mansions of madness is much better.

Streamlined design with a even pace. Arkham Horror have way to much overhead with stops around every corner for spawning monsters, movning monster etc. Also dice rolls, MoM got 1 die, AH got lots of dice with lots of modifier values up and down.

I played MoM and Arkham Horror, both just once. And I have to say, that of these two I prefer Mansions of Madness. Arkham Horror seemed a lot unbalanced to me, very hard from the beginning, very easy (and a little bit boring) at the end. It was also too complex and the gameplay took so much f***ing time! MoM looks more intense to me, a little bit shorter (or maybe I enjoyed it so much, I forgot about the time), and more fun. Every card and every monster unfolds a nice lovecraftian story (yes, AH event cards tell stories too, but I found the storytelling here more complex - you simply find it everywhere), and you can do things which bring more fun to the gameplay. You can even find some of your friends treacherous (instead of helping you in the fight, they block the door of the room with a chest and run away ) which brings even more fun to the game.

These are my opinions on those games. Hope it helped.

Arkham Horror for me has seen 96 plays, with another 104 on the current schedule (if I ever get around to it). For me, AH offers almost unlimited replaybility. MoM has seen 5 plays and I'm doubtful I can get it to 15 plays. Having played Scenario 1 with A and B Objectives, don't really feel like playing with 1C. Scenario 2 saw all three endings used, but now it's been there, done that, so very likely won't re-visit it again.

If I'm comparing apples to oranges, I prefer Arkham Horror. It's big, it's clunky, but the possibilities are endless and the mechanics make sense (regardless of how convoluted some of them might be). Mansions is fun for a larf, but it's too light for my group. The mechanics often skew common sense in favor of a balanced and steamlined experience. The Keeper versus investigator gameplay is almost TOO asymmetrical, resulting in the occasional "wtf" moment. I'm not saying MoM is broken. It's not. It's fun; but given a choice between AH and MoM, the guys I play with will choose AH every time (at least until MoM is expanded, hopefully adding depth and additional replayability).

That said, I can totally appreciate why some (most?) would prefer Mansions. AH is a bloated, demanding ***** goddess.

Last weekend we finished two games of Mansions, then broke out Arkam since we hadn't played it in a while:

It went something like this: Lost in time and space... Lost in time and space again... Lost in time and space again... Rumor mythos... Lost in time and space again... Lost in time and space a-g-a-i-n... Lost in time and space yet again... a second Rumor mythos. The doom track was more than 2/3 full and we had 2 sealed gates. Screw it!

I know the possible outcomes for Mansions Stories #1 and #2, but I'll be happy to go back to them again and still have some choice over my character's actions.

If I were to hold out hope that Miskatonic Horror will make Arkham Horror more enjoyable would that make me a rube?

If you want a really fun, Cthulu-y themed boardgame to pull out and play occasionally that is simple enough for a casual gamer to enjoy (invite the wife!) and has a great feel to it.... its MoM. If you want a game to play every single week or one that works with more than 5 players... you want AH.

As a group with lots of interests and way too many games MoM definitely is great for us. It will be easier to pull out after a month or two and play easily. I eagerly await expansions for it. I do not see it being a game people play every single week over and over and over and over. I know some people who do this with AH or BSG.

IMO a lot of people are unfairly comparing the initial release of MoM to AH with 6-7 expansions totalling $400-ish. I think they also may have either forgotten their first game of AH becuase it was so long ago or played it with some pro's who answered all their questions... in terms of complexity AH is the harder game with more gotchas in the rules. A group here started playing it recently and were on their 4th game before they got things mostly right. MoM is definitely a lot more welcoming to a new player in a group in terms of explaining what their character does on their turn... move, move, do something... vs all the parts and options in AH that I have seen overwhelm 'sometimes' or 'casual' gamers.

My group only owns AH without any expansions, because we found the game to be too boring, too much "always the same" and too much "wait, I have TWO roles I can chose from?"
I think that says enough

(We've been told that expansions bring more action into the game, but really, unless the whole basics change, it's still boring, to my group. Nothing cthulhoid, monsters become SO easy after a while, unlike the old ones, which tear us to shreds. Fun? Nope.)

Elbi said:

I am not sure I understand this point. Would you mind explaining ?

Did you look at the book cases which may be the origin of MoM ?

I mean that, usually, there are people specialized on closing gates and other people who hang around in the streets, killing monsters. As soon as we tried to combine or expand these roles, we failed horribly.
So now it's just "Meh, I don't need a weapon, I'll only use Evade checks to get to a gate, close it, get to the next gate", while the other players only need weapons of different types to kill as much as possible, as fast as possible.

Oh, no, didn't have a look at them. Thanks!

Odd, I've used the jack-of-all-trades approach from the start (meaning every investigator does a bit of everything, nobody specialises in anything) and lose about 1/5 of the time (21 losses in 104 plays, got the number of plays vs schedule flipped in an earlier post). Game is about gates, of sealing six ASAP to win. Since killing monsters doesn't in any shape or form help you in that, normally I'll let monsters roam about all they want, it's better if they move off gates, now I can enter without evading or fighting. Terror can go up to 10 for all I care, it has so little impact overall, doom track is the key.

thank Elbi you for the clarification.

Well, I have also played many arkham games (~170) and therefore had the opportunity to experiments very different styles of games. I am not so much into standard winning conditions but there are zillions of exciting variants/scenarios/things that can be used to play differently. The fan creation sections (for example) is filled with such things. Anyway, I won't try to convince you that you have to like arkham but, I suspect that it is not a repetitive game and it has one of the widest spectrum of game style.

Dam said:

Probably our view of the game is a bit skewed, since out 2nd game went like this:

1. Gate at Witch House
2. Gate at Witch House, oh no, Gate there already, Monster Surge
3. Repeat Step 2 for TOO many rounds.

There were so many Monsters in that corner that it started getting REALLY on our nerves. So we decided some one needs to get rid of them for ever and always

I really need to check out the scenario stuff, sounds really nice. I looked at Dunwich, but "Most of the players run around Arkham as usual, except one or two head down to Dunwich to keep the Monster at bay." - didn't really appeal to me as something completely game changing, so I lost interest. Scenarios and other fan made stuff might be great

You should try the book cases (I gave the link below). This is the closest variant to MoM.

Elbi said:

Is bad shuffling the game's fault ?

Most of my games last 14 turns or so, during which time I need to have 6 seals down (more if I get gate bursts) or the GOO wakes from the doom track filling up. With Innsmouth and Dunwich in the mix, there are 20 unstable locations (vs 11 in base alone), it's not rare for the doom track to reach 9+ with only one or two of the high-freq locations in Arkham open.

I agree with Dam. Bad shuffling. This should *never* happen.

Sounds like you've had some bad luck, Elbi.

AH suffers the same as any game in the same vein (poet!), wherein randomized decks play a large part in determining the overall flow of the session. I've struggled through some heinous games of BSG for similar reasons. The thing with Arkham though, it's such a beast. A wasted game of AH feels like a massive disappointment with so much time invested.

The base game of AH isn't great, on it's own. Add at least K*******t H****r [EDIT] DUNWICH HORROR [/EDIT] and suddenly things open up.

If and when you DO decide to introduce a few expansions, the best thing you can do is practice some Mythos management. I own every expansion to date, and prepping the deck has really improved the experience compared to playing all-in. I have a detailed system in place, one that allows me (the unofficial GM) to choose a single big box and single small box to include in the session (usually randomized). I then spend 10-15 minutes "preparing" the Mythos deck to include a specific number of random Headline, Environment and Rumor cards from the base game and the chosen expansions, a number that best represents the ratio first introduced by the base game (headline:environment:rumor), also taking into account how large the expansion decks are compared to the base game deck. The result is a small Mythos deck, about 30 cards, which is usually twice as large as we actually need.

It should be noted, I've also gone through the location decks and permanently removed cards that seem out of place when played without their respective expansion ... to be honest, there's not that many. Mostly Black Goat of the Woods cult-related cards and the like. The rest fit in nicely with the overall theme of the game, regardless of which expansions you're actually playing.

It takes a few minutes to prep the Mythos deck, but it's ALWAYS well worth it. It eliminates the bloat and focuses the experience. Suddenly (for example), gates are opening in Innsmouth with regularity and the King in Yellow Act III is a constant threat. Spending those 15 minutes pre-game **** near guarantees the next several hours are time well spent.

Deek said:

I should hope that by now my hatred of KH is (or should be) legendary, but innocents here in the MoM forums might not know of it, so I'll put out that preface. KH adds no unstable locations, so you won't be seeing any more gates on another board, just more in Arkham. Leaving KH last or not getting it at all is my advice for AH expansions.

Deek said:

Whereas I never cull my decks and as a result, am packing away after 90-120 minutes of intense action, racing against the doom track, sometimes in desperate hopes of stopping the GOO from waking up.

Holy sh*tballs, did I say KH? Noooo! I meant Dunwich. DUNWICH!!!

My fingers, faster than my brain.

Kingsport never sees my table. I'm not sure why I even bother packing the board, anymore.

That said, I'm still a staunch supporter of culling the deck.

Deek said:

Keeper played UU on you, made you do something you didn't want to do ?