Hello,

I just purchased this game a few days ago. Ive played the game atleast once a day and have yet to win a game. Iam definately getting better but I was wondering if any veterans had any type of strategies they would like to share to help everyone new to the game out. Thanks everyone.

I don't want to reveal lots of stuff cause that's a big part of the fun. When playing, check how the board reacts to the mythos phases. Also, don't fight every monster on the board. Evading is usually the better option.

How many investigators have you been using?

With one investigator it is very difficult to win.

With two investigators it's still difficult but possible with a bit of experience.

Three or four investigators probably make for the easiest game.

The choice of the Ancient One also has a major influence on the difficulty of the game. Which ones have you been fighting?

My random thoughts in no particular order:

• 4 Investigators is the sweet spot so if you are playing with less than 4 players, take on multiple investigators to get back to about 4.
• Sealing a gate is better than closing a gate, but ....
• ... Not all locations are created equal so knowing in what order to seal gates is a key lesson in the game and ...
• ... Leaving gates open is sometimes a wise thing to do.
• Don't distribute Clue tokens evenly among your investigators. It is more wise to let one investigator get the chuynk of 5 (or so depending on the conditions) Clues so he can go off and seal the first gate. Then let the next investigator grab 5 and so on. As stated above, not all locations are created equal so it is good to grab Clues from certain locations before they are gone
• Some investigators are better at doing different things, so consider assigning a primary role to each investigator - Monster-slayer, Gate-closer, Item-purchaser, etc.
• The game is like climbing a mountain. The first half is a strenuous uphill battle but once a few locations have been sealed, than it is a downhill jog to the finish line. Try to reach "the top" as quickly as possible so you can breathe a little easier again.
• Maybe the first 2/3 ~ 3/4 of the game (based on doom tokens on the GOO) should be spent on sealing the gates and trying to win in that way. If you reach that point and don't have 4 or so gates sealed, switch gears and start preparing for the final battle by getting your weapons and spells stock piled.
• There are lots of things to manage in the game: open gates, terror track, monsters, etc. You don't need to conquer everyone but try to maintain each of them. The terror track going up a few levels isn't a big deal and it is usually hard to lose by this way if you evenly remotely manage it. Gates are the quickest thing to screw you so spend most of your time on that.
• I was always afraid of going insane or getting knocked out. It's no big deal and is bound to happen ... multiple times per game. So just go with the flow, try to keep at least $3 on you (when you getting knocked down, you lose half rounded down so you would be left with $2) so you can pay your recovery fee and get back in the game.
• Time is of the essence so don't daudle. Know what you want and make every move count. With more investigators (say 3+), you have more room to wiggle and can explore a bit more.
• Do your best to find this stuff out on your own and don't get tempted to look up in depth strategy guides on BGG. 82.3% of the fun is finding stuff out on your own. The game is meant o be hard so a series of losses shouldn't be disheartening. The game will become too easy soon enough.

ColtsFan76 said:

I've seen several people on these boards state that you lose half your money when you turn insane or get knocked unconcious, yet I haven't seen this in the rules?

I'm looking at the "Unconcious in Arkham" rule in the revised printing... is it stated somewhere else? Has it been changed in the revised printing? Just curious is all, want to play the game "correctly". (At least until we start trying out the "official" house rules )

As another related question... the same rule states that you move to the asylum/hospital, and have no further encounters this turn, this means that you have to wait until the next turn to pay your $2 to recover, correct?

Thanks for the help!

/Rickard

A bit of investigative piecing together.

The rules state on page 16 (which you reference) that you loose half of your items and Clue tokens rounded down. On page 23 under "Trading Items" it defines what an item is: which is Money, Common Items, Unique Items, and Spells. So if you can trade it, you can loose it. Put them together and when you get knocked unconcious or go insane, you lose half your Clues, Money, Common Item, Unique Items and Spells. The expansions add a few other things like Exhibit Items are also Items.

Yes, when you are knocked unconsious or go insane, you are moved to the hospital or asylum respectively. No more encounters this turn. However, the next turn, you can spend your $2 and recover to your max in the respective category. You in essence lose a turn since you have to stay there and take the printed encounter. But if you don't have the money, then you need to spend multiple turns there recovering 1 stamina/sanity at a time. Or attempt the random encounters hoping they help you for free. Or just go back into the world "wounded."

Brian, by your interpretation if an investigator had $20 and 5 items, he could go insane and just toss $13 ?

Also, p. 16 has this notice:

" Important : When adding up items before discarding
them, count all Common Items, Unique Items, and
Spells. In addition, the Deputy’s Revolver and the Patrol
Wagon both count as items. Allies, Skills, and other
cards do not count towards this total."

Note, no mention of money.

ColtsFan76 said:

Hm, I'm not sure I agree with you

The "Important:" notification right under the going insane and unconcious rules states that : "When adding up items before discarding them, count all Common Items, Unqiue Items, and Spells. In addition, the Deputy's Revolver and the Patrol Wagon both count as items. Allies, Skills, and other cards do not count towards this total.", there's no mention of money being part of items here?

And the trading items actually says "Trading Equipment" in the new print, and just states that you may trade money, it doesn't state that money counts as items specifically.

I might still be wrong, but I'm not convinced yet!

/Rickard

Edit - I'm slow :'(

Dam said:

That is not what I am saying (nor am I sure how you got that math from anything I said). If you had $20 and 5 items, you would discard $10 and 2 items. I am just saying make sure you had a minimum of $3 on you in case it happens. If you have $3, you would end up with $2 and enough to pay medical bills. If you had more than $4, you would have more than $2.

As far as the interpretation, I see that being arrested is what calls fo you to lose half your money. Perhaps we mixed the two together and we have been handicapping ourselves this whole time. I thought though that we had clarification on this. I'll have to dig a little deeper.

If it is just an investigator that loses money and not those committed, then my interpretation is out anyway.

ColtsFan76 said:

The math actually makes sense, he's saying that if money counts as items, you'd have a total of 25 items in that example ($20 + 5 items), half of that rounded up is 13 (It most certainly says discard half your items, if money counts as items, this would be the logical way of doing it.)

If you'd play as your example, then money can't be items, because you haven't discarded half of your total number of items.

Pretty sure you've been playing on hard mode

/Rickard

edit - uh, no, misread, dang it I'm tired... it should be $12 in Dams example, not 13, and in your example you discard half items rounded down :-x

Anyway, I still find your way of doing it weird, because you treat money and items seperately? Dams example would make sense if you discarded $12 straight out, since that would be half of your total items. (As I said above, it only says discard half of your items, if money counts as items that must be valid logically)

As I said, I might have mixed the knocked out and arrested penalties. You keep your Clues separate from the Item count when you discard. So that is why I was not mixing money and items. I saw it as half your money (which appears to be only when you are arrested), half your items, and half your clue tokens.

So I see now how Dam came up with his math but that was not what I was advocating.

I've been having trouble with this too...Money vs. Item? During the final battle you can trade items but says nothing about money also there are a few cards that refer to items for example a Mythos card that lets players trade items without being in that same place then could they trade money?

That one BGotW corruption card, "Jealous Guardian" refers to items not being tradable so would that include money? There also another one "Endless Greed" that clear says yo cannot trade/loss money?

so does items=money, sometime, all the time...dpends?

I simply don't see money as being the same as Items. The FAQ doesn't offer direct support for this (read the question on Ithaqua, and one question on whether you can discard Spells when an encounter states you must discard an item). Money is a tradeable item, but this choice of wording does not mean that it is treated as an item for purposes of discard. Items, as best I can tell, are cards (Common Items, Unique Items, Spells and a few other special cards), NOT money. You cannot discard $1 when a GOO makes you discard an item, nor can you pay money when a Servant of Glaaki comes into play that requires you to discard an item.

The second printing rules clearly also exclude considering money as a discardable item (look under Insane or Unconscious in an Other World, as posted earlier):

"Important: When adding up items before discarding them, count all Common Items, Unique Items, and Spells. In addition the Deputy's Revolver and the Patrol Wagon both count as items. Allies, Skills, and other cards do not count towards this total."

As pointed out, when you are arrested, you lose half your money; you do not lose items.

Thanks for all the pointers guys. Its mainly been me and two friends playing so its easy to get a fighter and healer but nobody wants to sit and buy the items the whole game, that should work for when i play alone. When i play alone I usually use 4. Ive tried fighting most of the people so far. Yig seemed the easiest so Ive been working with him. Also I agree that the fun of the game is figuring out your own strategies. I mainly play strategy games like rts's for the computer but the rules seem misleading or flawed in some parts, could just be me misunderstanding though. So I was just looking for a few pointers. We just got done playing tonight and got real close to beating Yig so we are getting better.

I don't know if I'm looking at the same version of the PDF Manual, but the subheading I see is actually "Trading Equipment ". (ColtsFan, do you have an older manual?) Money has never been an "item" as far as I can remember, and I can't find anywhere in the manual that it is considered so. I think, ColtsFan, that you outsmarted yourself somewhere, and built a bridge of logic unnecessarily.

Which kinda makes me feel better about all the screwups I've made.

jgt7771 said:

I priobably mistyped it as I have 2nd edition rules and have a copy of 2nd edition on my computer that I reference. I think you are right that I outsmarted myself on this one a long time ago and never was called on it. So I just kept going with it.

ColtsFan76 said:

Arkham Rule Book strikes again! Lose two sanity.