I am considering getting Arkham Horror as is says for 1 to 4 players. Can anyone tell me how well this plays solitaire?

Arkham will play up to 8 players.

It is a terrific game, and not easy to beat with 1 to 4 players, but will get easier with more players.

If you add in the expansions you have a great variety in the scope of the game and some variations that make the game even tougher (or easier, depending on which elements from the expansions you incorporate).

When playing solo it is often wise to play two characters, so you have more actions per turn to stand up against the spreading evil.

Playing solo can really let you hone in on the story of your character, or characters, as they save the world or descend into inevitable madness.

All my friends are Eurogamers and my girlfriend has no attention span. 98% of my games are played alone, with four investigators. I enjoy it (though it takes more time to set up than a video game) but even with my years of experience managing the game, it can be a little difficult keeping track of all the strategies with more than two investigators when you use all the expansions.

But, a 2-investigator session with just the base game is still very fun.

I've played a few solitaire games of AH, but I used two investigators, instead of one. I'm not convinced one investigator can consistently keep up with the doom track to avoid a final battle, and, when the final battle occurs, he will most likely be devoured. At least with two investigators, if one gets hung up (lost in time and space/arrested/insane/vomiting repeatedly because of noxious fumes in the Abyss), another investigator is possibly making some progress.

With two investigators in a solitaire game, I would also recommend picking at least one of the investigators (ideally, Mandy Thompson or Darrell Simmons). You can randomly draw the other.

As far as the game mechanics, it makes no difference to the Great Old One if there is one or more investigators. As long as he gets to eat dinner...you.

I run AH solitaire with 4 investigators. You can usually count on being able kill a couple of hours. At least in solitaire, you only have yourself to blame for a loss or you can do weird stuff, like have all 4 investigators working together to complete Join the Winning Team .

I usually play three investigator solitaire. Back when there was only the base set, I would often do two player solitaire, but occasionally one player for a challenge (with the expansions, one player is no longer doable). Base set with CotDP 2 players is doable. With DH also, it's a challenge. With KiY and KH I started adding in a fourth character for a while, but then I got a better hang of it, and went back to 3. So, yeah, most of my games with AH have been solitaire, and I've been playing it for nearly three years? I actually get kindof annoyed when I play with other people :') because I'm used to the other investigators playing smart and cooperatively ;'D

Doc Savage said:

Also, it's 1-8, although personally, I hate games with more than 3-4 other live players. I prefer games with 2-3 other humans, max.

I think more players is more fun, but others tend to get bored waiting for there turn.

And if you only have the base game, expect to win a lot with only 1 investigator (my personal experiance) if you have any of the small card expansions exepct to lose a lot. (when your using herald)

This game plays great solitaire. I don't usually play games alon but Arkham is my one major exception.

The game plays best with 4 so I usually run 4 characters. You don't have to play this way, you can certainly play with just 1 and still have a challenging game. With less, the main game will be harder but the final battle easier. the opposite is true with more players. With more, you can get an opportunity to explore a bit more and see the sdventure game within Arkham. That's why I prefer mulitple characters. And they aren't hard to run or keep straight.

If playing with others, we aim for four investigators as well and have always had really knife edge games that way. Playing solitaire is a great way to get the turn order figured out along with a few of the other rules that take a while to get just right. It's a great game but I don't think I played everything correctly until about 5 games or so.... . If playing solo I tend to use 3 or 4 investigators. Tried it with just one. Never again.

It does play well Solo,even with just 1 Inv.(especially in the Base game) .I often play

a solo game for a couple of weeks (a lot of times 20 minutes a night is all I can wotk in)

even if you never get to the GOO it an interesting ride.

OD

I have a pretty steady Arkham group, but we have not had the time to get together lately so I have been trying out Black Goat solo. Arkham works great as a solo game and I agree with the previous posters that 2 investigators when playing alone is best (I think 3 is my limit as I start forgetting things, after all working the board is almost like another "player").

Playing alone also give you a chance to workout different plans of attack and different game mechanics. For instance when playing the Black Goat I always took corruption cards just to see the effect. If I was playing in a group I might have avoided them.

Thank you all for your detailed answers. I will try to get this as my next game. I'll report back after trying it. That could be after the New Year, though.

Those here that know me will understand this - I'm already wondering how Doc Savage and his men or Hellboy and the BPRD will do against the horrors from out of time and space.

Thanks again for your experiences playing solitaire Arkham Horror.

I love playing solo and I also use 2 investigators, I'm going to try three at the moment, In my last session I always needed a investigator on the Dunwich Board to keep the house clean there, and use the other two for other objectives ;D

But what about truly "lovecroftian" case of one and lonely investigaor stumbling upon dark and sinister secret? Is it possoble to win such game? Does rules need any modifications?

Paladyn said:

It is probably possible (I havent tried) but i must say the game is going to be really harsh on you. Basically yu are losing out on a lot of possible actions to take during a turn. With 4 players you get 4 player turns before a mythos card and with 1 player you only get 1 player turn and then a mythos card. So basically it's ALMOST as hard as drawing 4 mythos cards each turn when playing with 4.

The only tactic i can think off from the top of my head is to stock up on items and fight the GOO. Which isnt that Horrific really. So uhmm to keep the focus on one investigator i'd suggest drawing a mythos card every other turn or maybe every three to get a more standard pacing.

Also it will still be a bit more difficult because you will still have only one investigator and thus are more prone to accidentaly die / get lost in time and space/ go insane etc. I mean it will eff up your plans much quicker without a second investigator as backup to keep things going.

I think its certainly doable and i think i can be lots of fun, i'd just tweak the pacing of the game a little. I'd probably really like the added tension of having only one investigator. So let us now ...

bioball said:

For a one-investigator game, see if this Guardian works: http://boardgamegeek.com/image/352421?size=original

Some decade, I'm going to have to try a one-invesitgator game on *only* the Dunwich Horror board.

With the Corruption cards, I'm thinking an entirely different take on solo play might be possible...

With only the base game of AH, one player is easy in my experiance, since death by gates opening is at 8, and it will be hard even with one for that to happen, so many gates open means a lot of surges, which leads to a lot of monsters in the outskirts, but again the outskirts limit is huge at 7. Once you seal of 1 or 2 high risk areas, the game slows down quite a bit, before you start sealing the rest of the gates.

In my experiance again...only once the AO awaken, and only cause I chose to just skip turns until he did, I was with the psychologist and the AO was Hastur, I figured killing him with my ability to heal 1 sanity a turn was a pretty good shot as long as the terror didn't go up to much. I had a shot gun as my first weapon, so 2 rounds of combat and I win.

How many Investigators would you suggest if I wanted to try a few of the League scenarios in solo?

Richard Saunder's solo rules are well thought out and can be found at http://homepage.mac.com/nephilim/arkham_investigations/ArkhamSinglePlayer.pdf

Playing solo is pretty hard if you use one investigator only. I prefer two investigators til a max of four. The more investigators, the easier the whole game becomes.

I play lots of games solo. Usually with four investigators. Even though the game works OK no matter the number of investigators. the victory conditions change. With one investigator, winning by sealing is very difficult but winning by combat is quite doable with most Old Ones. If I play with less than 4 investigators, I modify the number of Mythos phases. For example, with one investigator, I Play like its a four player game, but only have a mythos phase every four turns. I do this randomly, by rolling and 8 sided die and only having a mythos phase on a 1-2, because I think sealing or closing is a more "realistic". If I play with 3 investigators, I only have a mythos phase on a 1-6 on 8 sided dice.

Since its a four player game (think like its four investigators all having the same characteristics), if I go for a closing I need to have four gates in my possession to win. I play likes its a four player for too many gates being open and for number of monsters in the outskirts and on the board. For final battle, however it reverts to 1 player game.

That's a really cool variant (much more lovecraftian in spirit—truely solitary), now I need to find myself an eight sided die :'D

Avi_dreader said:

You don't have a D8????????????????????????? What kind of a gamer are you? Poser !

Maxime said:

I always play at least 4 even when I solo. it is also a good mid-ground number for the leagues as some scenarios seem to punish the 1-2 investigator teams and others punish the 7-8. Plus, the game hits its sweet spot at 4.