As I've probably made far, far too clear, my options for getting to play Arkham Horror with others is limited. It's tricky because most people in my area (or even in general anymore) just aren't board game types. What's more, AH is super intimidating to look at when it's all set up, even the basic board with all the cards and and pieces and most of the people I ask to join me when I am setting up say that it just looks too 'complicated'.

There are those that do express some interest in playing but aren't sure what to make of it when I try to explain just what it is or they shut down on the phrase 'work together'.

So, here is what I have learned to at least get them to quirk their eyebrows, tilt their heads and at least get some interest from them:

Explaining the concept:

"Ever seen Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Uh--Supernatural maybe? Ah, geeze, the heck you watch on TV anyway? Oh, okay, Ghostbusters, you know Ghostbusters, right? Okay, yeah, so, picture Ghostbusters but during the time of Chicago--no, not the band, the musical. Oh, you should see it, it's really good, it's got Catherine Zeta--don't distract me! Anyway, uh, the 20s, you know? Jazz age, flappers, mobsters, that stuff. Yeah, imagine Ghostbusters, in the 1920s, fighting not just ghosts but also aliens and zombies and vampires and fish-men and even WORSE. Oh yeah, awesome right? You get to play as like, all kinds of different characters fighting these things--and you get to explore alien worlds and all kinds of bad stuff happens to you--nah, it's fun though, really! It's like, kinda the point, to see how screwed up an adventure you have! Trust me, it's a ton of fun!"

Explaining the Gameplay:

"Just watch what I do. Nah, I'm kidding, it's really not hard once you get the hang of it--I'll walk you through it. Most important thing to remember though is that fives and sixes on the dice are good. Everything else is not good'. Second most important thing is that clues are what make the game go 'round."

Explaining Why It Looks So Complicated:

"Don't worry about all the cards and stuff, I'll manage everything. Basically, it's like--this is all the stuff the computer would normally do for you, I'm just doing it manually. Only thing that you need to worry about is staying alive, staying sane and saving the world."

"See? It's not so tricky, right? We'll start small and get you going with some little adventures and then I'll open the flood gates of hades and we can really have fun."

So, that's how I explain it--how about you? How do you rope in new players?

While this may sound trite, I've offered a few people the paragraph from the box, explaining what's going on around the city of Arkham. While I'm only at a 25% rate of success, that's fine for me.

I was lucky enough, my friends are RPG fanatics and my sudden passion for AH proved to be... contagious. Cthulhu fans were sucked into it instantly (I wasn't one until AH), but people in general, who like a bit of complexity and theme in a game also became fans. Now it's just the reputation that gets people turn up on gaming occasions - I can usually gather 6-8 cultist on a weekly basis (except during the summer, people are all scattered now). Honestly, I have no idea how Arkham can pull people in so easily.

Same here, a lot of luck. Most of my friends knew the Mythos and were happy to play a boardgame about Mythos; the others were seduced by the idea of coop games

Every player I've kept interested in the game has been a horror fan. It's been sold to them on those grounds.

I just picked up Arkham Horror this week. Coming from TCG/LCG background. Reasons I picked AH over other board games (well, not over AGoT Board Game, cause I picked that up, too):

1) Wanted a solo-able board game that scales to multi-player and has expansions.

2) The theme.

3) Fantasy Flight quality.

4) The established history and player-base of the game.

taliacich ~ all very good reasons for AH! You will not be disappointed...and of course come back out and post your questions. You will have questions