These are just a few of the things I notice that Eldritch Horror does better. I still like Arkham, don't get me wrong, but there are certain areas where Eldritch shines, and I think it might be worth house-ruling or modifying Arkham to be more like it in some respects. Some of the big ones:

Bank Loans

The great thing about bank loans in Eldritch is that they are both easy to take, and have interesting consequences. if you want to take the loan in Arkham, you have to trundle all the way to the bank and then all the way back to wherever you actually wanted to spend the money. With monsters to kill and gates to close, I don't have time for paperwork at Miskatonic Credit Union.The consequences of failing an Arkham bank loan also aren't really all that interesting. Bank loans in Eldritch are easy to take, and Debt provides a host of interesting consequences. You can even find yourself embroiled in a Dark Pact due to Debt, which seems much more thematic than just having your stuff repo'ed.It's also a lot harder to weasel out of in the meta-game, which I like. It's just very well done. Really, the best part is that Eldritch really encourages you to engage with the bank loan mechanic, while Arkham seems to punish you more for it, and it's always better to have a mechanic you want to engage in.

Combat

I think I really prefer Eldritch combat. It's just as fast as Arkham combat, but it actually allows for teamwork, which is a good thing in a co-op game, it allows weaker characters to be some use since they can at least contribute to defeating the monster, and it doesn't become a death cycle for characters who get attacked by a monster they aren't prepared for. It's also nice that successes mean something even if I don't roll enough.

Difficulty

First, almost all rolls in Eldritch are made unmodified. In Arkham, almost every roll is -2. -2, -2, -1, -2...it gives a false impression of character abilities, and it is very frustrating. For several characters you might set a slider at 2/2 thinking it's an okay balance, when really you've just screwed yourself out of being able to roll either stat. It's an annoying newbie trap that favors pushing sliders to extremes rather than trying to carefully balance stats. For the most part your skill is how many dice you have to roll in Eldritch.

Secondly, Eldritch always gives you a die. A good number of encounters in Arkham will result in you just not being able to pass them without clue tokens, and frequently you just don't have clue tokens. Nothing is more frustrating than having an encounter card come up at random that you know you have no chance at even passing because you didn't manage to guess the right skill or have extra clue tokens.

Encounters

The real heart of it as far as I'm concerned is that Eldritch encourages encounters, Arkham doesn't. That's it. Encounters in Eldritch are normally positive, and you don't need to lose out on doing important things like acquiring items or healing to do so. Encounters in Arkham tend to be risky and unrewarding. Strategically you want to get through Arkham with as few encounters as possible, and this is a shame because that is where the narrative meat lies. Eldritch is really good about not just making encounters worthwhile, but forcing you into them. I'm convinced one of the reasons my group initially struggled with Eldritch is because we had become conditioned by Arkham to run screaming from encounters, so that we lost out on several opportunities later on in the game.

No Sliders

While I don't mind skill sliders mechanically, physically I find them troublesome as they keep sticking to my hand and getting knocked off or blown off the table. For all those crafty people making monster holders or gate holders or card trays or whatever, some custom sliders with more weight to them would be the biggest boon at my table.

Rarity of Items

I have to say I really like how unique items (artifacts) are, well, actually unique in Eldritch. Getting an Artifact requires an Expedition or occasionally a lucky Other World encounter. You don't just pop down to the local Magic Item Shop and pick up what you need. It makes them feel special and for OP as they are the fact you need to go out of the way to get them makes them feel special and rare, as opposed to something every character at the table will have.

Spells

Most spells are just better than there Arkham counterparts. I also like that most spells get some kind of additional effect for more successes on the Lore check, as opposed to Arkham where there is almost never any difference between getting one success and getting three+. Spells in Eldritch feel really useful despite being dangerous, where spells in Arkham tend to feel like a last resort when you don't have anything better. Arkham does have some good spells, but the bulk are frankly terrible.

It does everything better.

I think one of the best things EH does better than AH is put a clock on the game. You have 16 turns to win the game or you lose. This makes EH usually take about 2-3 hours to play. I've been in AH games where the Investigators and the AO were at a stalemate and the game went on for over 5-6 hours. The Mythos deck in EH breaks this stalemate.

I also believe, while sliders are strategic, they took a lot of time away from the game. Every turn, Players would take about 2-5 minutes deciding what to slide; new players would be lost at times. The solid stats are much better.

Wolfgar,

thanks for the interesting and sound analysis. Even though our view of the games could be different (mostly the part about skills / modifiers / sliders), I must say you hit some good points. I do like combats in Eldritch more than in Arkham, even if we have to consider that monsters in Eldritch are different from those coming with Arkham, so that comparing the two systems could not be so easy as it seems. But if I have to choose between the two, with the idea of "choosing a way to deal with monsters, with weapons and monsters calibrated on that system", I'd go for Eldritch myself. Plus the idea of having a max of one Asset boosting that check makes combat a lot easier to balance.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts

JULIA

Another thing that EH does better is clues. Specifically:

1. You need to actually do something to acquire a clue in EH, whereas in AH you just need to end your movement on the location with the clue. In the world of the mythos, nothing should be free (except maybe Dark Pacts?).
2. The fact that clues can be traded synergizes well with the prior item. This helps boost the cooperation in the game, especially when you need multiple clues to resolve a rumor/make progress on a mystery. It tells a good story - separate investigators race around the world to gather the necessary information which is then passed on to one investigator.
3. Last, clues don't add dice to roll in EH, instead they just allow you a reroll (this was likely borrowed from Elder Sign?). Once you know the number of dice you are going to roll for a test, you also know the maximum possible value you will get for a test result. Clues can help you reach this value, but not exceed it. Contrast with AH, where each clue spent added a dice roll - so if you save enough you can get incredible results if needed in a pinch.

Honestly i don't like how clues are handled in Eldritch. That's one of my least favorite things about the system. The game requires clues way too often, and they are too rare of a resource. In Arkham, you primarily need clues for sealing gates, but if you can't get clues, you have other means of winning. If you can't get clues in Eldritch, you cannot resolve rumors, solve mysteries, and can't pass several encounters. You just can't win. I find that acquiring clues in Eldritch is in fact really difficult with the standard model, as you have to have the right person with the right skill in the right place, and while the bulk of research encounters are Observation based, at least half are not, It's too easy to spend multiple turns just trying to acquire one clue. You can mitigate this somewhat with Jacqueline and Trish, and to a lesser extent Norman, but the fact you need to rely on special powers to really even consider getting clues with any surety seems bad to me.

Clue tokens are not gotten without cost in Arkham. Since clues usually only appear at unstable locations, if you get a clue you are going to have to have an encounter at a dangerous location, which has a high likelihood of hurting your character. That's not nothing. There are ways to avoid it, like by playing Wilson Richards, but that's the exception.

I do prefer the ability to trade Clue tokens though, as being unable to never really seemed to make sense. Eldritch is good about keeping things tradeable that should actually be tradeable.

Wolfgar,

thanks for the interesting and sound analysis. Even though our view of the games could be different (mostly the part about skills / modifiers / sliders), I must say you hit some good points. I do like combats in Eldritch more than in Arkham, even if we have to consider that monsters in Eldritch are different from those coming with Arkham, so that comparing the two systems could not be so easy as it seems. But if I have to choose between the two, with the idea of "choosing a way to deal with monsters, with weapons and monsters calibrated on that system", I'd go for Eldritch myself. Plus the idea of having a max of one Asset boosting that check makes combat a lot easier to balance.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts

JULIA

I will say I like the skill sliders conceptually. I just wish they preferred to stick to the investigator sheet rather than my forearm.

No money. Can shop anywhere. Can recover sanity/stamina anywhere. No not being able to do anything because you're broke, because you can't reach a space, because a monster you can't possibly beat is blocking the way, or because you have to spend half the game at the asylum.

The encounters and monsters especially are better designed. No one thing can kill an investigator at full health. That, coupled with rest or shop anywhere, makes Eldritch more about long term strategic planning than Arkham's more luck based "this one sudden thing killed you or ruined your game out of nowhere".

But actually EH is second generation of AH. Is doomed to be bettee otherwise whatva point. Great job Ffg. King is dead, long live the king!!!

Wolfgar,

thanks for the interesting and sound analysis. Even though our view of the games could be different (mostly the part about skills / modifiers / sliders), I must say you hit some good points. I do like combats in Eldritch more than in Arkham, even if we have to consider that monsters in Eldritch are different from those coming with Arkham, so that comparing the two systems could not be so easy as it seems. But if I have to choose between the two, with the idea of "choosing a way to deal with monsters, with weapons and monsters calibrated on that system", I'd go for Eldritch myself. Plus the idea of having a max of one Asset boosting that check makes combat a lot easier to balance.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts

JULIA

I will say I like the skill sliders conceptually. I just wish they preferred to stick to the investigator sheet rather than my forearm.

:laughter: one of my friend Simone's Golden Retrievers is now known as "Chube, the slider killer"... guess why...

Strange eons allow us to create rules cards which would allow taking many of these ideas over to AH.

• The always one dice thing is nice and could easily be transferred to AH.
• Combat is definitely better in EH. A simple way of doing this is to multiple monster toughness by two and subtract one, then let damage persist.
• It wouldn't be hard to SE up some Bank loan cards for AH which players have to take when they default on a loan. chances are, most players won't take loans anyhow, so it's not a big improvement. Likewise, curses and blessings - whcih could trigger if you are double-cursed or double blessed.
• Re encounters. They are the nub of the game. In AH try having encounters at green locations rather than red ones. They're usually more beneficial. You could also play so that alternative encounters are triggered during the OW Phase, not the AE phase. this way, if you go to the Church, Hospital or the General Store you have to have an encounter. (Ursula can still skip encounters by expending a clue)
• Sliders. Certainly the game is simpler, without em, but I do like the trade-off they impose.
• Timing - stalemates are an issue in AH. The game will *eventually* end, but I'm not sure how we can get round this one.

I have done calculations on Arkham's encounters, and while stable locations are normally better than unstable, this isn't always the case. Many of the encounters at the Graveyard, the Science Building, and the Lodge are beneficial to neutral, while in the base game at least half of the encounters at South Church are bad. I've even found the problem gets worse with expansions as now almost any trip to the Newspaper which used to generate mostly good encounters results in me being driven insane by ink stains and beaten up by fish men more than ever providing anything helpful. It seems to me that the "lose something, no roll" style of encounters just aren't appropriate for stable (green) locations. I'm fine with risks, I'm fine with choices, but random kick-to-the-lowlands cards that appear in those locations aren't doing the game any favors.

Wolfgar,

While I've not played ES , I'm fascinated by your comments. They are cogent and clear, which is to sharp contrast from much of what I've read over at BGG . As I've been one of the more ubiquitous AH players and interpreter of the rules, I greatly appreciate any contribution grounded in a reasonable approach. I must, however, provide some response to each of the items mentioned in your original post

Bank Loans

As money is a necessary tool for the Investigator , a Bank Loan provides immediate cash in hand for those purchases, and fortunately, for your intrepid Investigators , both the General Store and Curiosittie Shoppe are within walking distance from Bank of Arkham . As an AH player, I appreciate the tactile mechanic of both money and the Bank Loan .

Combat

This is truly one of the more thoughtful ideas to come out of EH . I will play-test this one myself, using the similar mechanic in AH and see if it remains balanced. I, too, found it a bit peculiar that while the monster could punish the Investigator bit-by-bit, the Investigator needed to fell the creature with one roll!

Difficulty

Well, in fairness, your skill in AH also determines how many dice are rolled for a particular check. One of the things that's true about AH after a number of plays...you tend to know what skills are needed where on the board. That provides the player the necessary information to make tactical decisions which fit into the broader strategy for the game.

Encounters

I would disagree that that the encounters in Arkham tend to be "risky and unrewarding" as a review of the cards reveals a rough parity between those which "help" and those which "harm" the Investigator . Besides, even if one's further analysis points to more significant harm...we're talking about dealing with the Mythos . Thus, it should not be easy.

No Sliders

I agree with you wholeheartedly on this point...I love the sliders for what they do, but not the execution.

Rarity of Items

Again, that's why it is the Curiosittie Shoppe , ostensibly run by an expert in obtaining rare items from some trusted vendors located around the globe. Besides, there are a number of Arkham and Other World encounters which yield Unique Items .

Spells

While I can't speak with any fluency regarding the EH spells, I will say the panoply of available Spells in AH makes for some great games. I'll grant you that more than 90% of the Spells require but 1 success and multiple successes only impact a small number of them, the variety of Spells is fantastic in AH.

It's interesting to see that while there's a whole new cast of characters on this Forum with few crossovers from the AH Forum (with the notable exception of the fair Julia), the debate has been lively and remained civil. Again, as one who has play-tested a number of games, I'm always curious as to what players value in their games.

Cheers,

Joe

Thanks for the compliment Joe. Honestly I'm amazed i can get across any cogent points at all; something about the board zaps my ability to spell.

On Bank Loans, I wouldn't want to get rid of money in Arkham. For the scale and scope of that game, it's perfect as is. I just feel it would be preferable if the Bank Loan had more interesting ramifications than simply losing items, especially when it is so easy to use the trade mechanic and cheese out of default. Likewise it's just not especially intetesting or risky acquiring the bank loan; it mostly just feels like a dead turn.

On the subject of item rarity, that is actually my point: the uncommon is too common. Characters start with unique items, can easily buy unique items, and frequently trip over unique items. If these legendary artifacts were something you only got as a reward during certain Other World encounters, or for certain particularly risky encounters at unstable locations, I'd be cool with it. As it stands it diminishes the specialness of it. Now I can appreciate walking around the streets as Michael McGlen wielding a Tommy gun in one hand and the Golden Sword of Y'ha-Talla in the other. It's fun. It's pretty funny. I'm not sure that it's something we should be shooting for though if we are working with a Lovecraftian theme.

These are some interesting ideas!

Been thinking about how to recycle Arkham into a more Eldritch type game, mostly by tweaking the rules, without having to create too much new content. Should be possible, and started a thread over at BGG, http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1122990/arkham-eldritch-horror-new-variant-expansion . Either site is a good place to discuss.

The 2 main changes (not rule only, need tiny amount of 'design' (copy some symbols) work for #1 - or just hand draw the gate shapes in a circle!) :

1) Add an Arkham Horror Omen Track

The biggest change to recycle AH is to actually add an Omen Track like Eldritch, containing all the gate symbols in some circular pattern. Thus doom would *only* advance when the omen track is advanced (and advance for the number of matching gates, like EH!), 1st thing before each mythos card. Doom would not advance when a new Gate was placed , unless all the rules below make the game too easy, then you could add doom for new gates as well. The frequency of the AH gate symbols could determine how the AH Omen Track would be made. We still need to play-test this idea! Any takers!?

and

2) Use AH Rumor cards as Mysteries

Basically, pull out all rumor mythos cards, make a pile face down, at the start of game flip one, and when 3 of these are solved, you win. Since some will fail, keep going until 3 are solved, after 6 fail, the investigators lose. Since there are only about 6 in the base game, this is a good test of an AH Omen Track/use Rumor cards for Mythos Cards variant.

Also for expansions, you'll get a better set of OO-rumors (used as mystery) cards. For instance, The Key and the Gate rumor card, from Lurker expansion is a whole lot like something you would be doing in Eldritch Horror as a mystery.

If this works for the AH rumor cards fairly well, a small expansion would be to eventually make OO specific actual AH Mystery cards. I think some of the expansions already do this with 'Acts.' So this is not too much of a stretch.

AH Variants 1 and 2, just like Eldritch, would keep the pressure on, doom advancing, clock is ticking - solve the 3 mysteries(AH rumors!). The only question is:

3) How many mythos cards , limit them or not?

There is no way to answer this without play-testing 1) and 2) to determine how many mythos cards are drawn where it is reasonable (but not always probable!) to solve 3 mysteries, i.e. AH Rumors.

Lead Investigator - Choose (not pass to left)

In AH, change it to 'lead investigator chooses next lead investigator.' This allows much more strategy in who goes when, and is one of the most important tactical decisions in Eldritch. Easy to change. The lead-investigator rules can become like Eldritch. Also this works well with modified combat rules, below (also similar to Eldritch).

Always roll minimum one Dice for a test.

Someone said this before, but it does make for a more fun game, even if it makes it easier. There is always a chance, even if remote. We're going to do this and the combat rule changes (below) next AH game.

Bank Loans - OK for now.

AH loans are OK, not as simple as an 'influence' roll + EH loan condition card, but work well enough.

Combat - slightly modified, subtract successes from damage

This is truly one of the more thoughtful ideas to come out of EH. I will play-test this one myself, using the similar mechanic in AH and see if it remains balanced. I, too, found it a bit peculiar that while the monster could punish the Investigator bit-by-bit, the Investigator needed to fell the creature with one roll!

Agreed! And we're already played AH games and tweaked the combat rules. The main issue is if you are going to subtract successes from horror rating and damage rating, it's (often) good to not do more than one round of combat. In AH - obviously you keep going until someone drops, and in EH - one round). So it becomes more like Eldritch, and multiple investigators can come to a location to try to hit a Gug, or whatever big creature. If toughness needs to be increased, we'll all find it out in play-testing!

Movement is still stopped (combat), so this can slow down investigators somewhat but weaker investigators can try to sneak next turn. One round, like eldritch, subtract success from horror and damage ratings.

Sneak is still completely relevant of course. Doing this, the numbers can be kept the same for Horror and Damage, and it worked well for us while play-testing the variant.

Alternatively, the player could choose to do one round, and stop, or continue, but subtract out successes from the horror test and the fight test (like Eldritch), and the player can continue "one or more rounds." This allows combat to still be fairly Arkham style or an Eldritch / Arkham mash-up. This seemed to work best *and* added the most important decision making during combat - continue another round, or not - this is a meaningful decision to make.

Encounters

I would disagree that that the encounters in Arkham tend to be "risky and unrewarding" as a review of the cards reveals a rough parity between those which "help" and those which "harm" the Investigator. Besides, even if one's further analysis points to more significant harm...we're talking about dealing with the Mythos. Thus, it should not be easy.

Agreed, and remember, you can now role 1 dice (w/ new rule above). If not then buffer w/ items and spells! AH requires investigators to be scared, that's the fun!

Sliders

The sliders are a pain, but they are likely needed for the mechanics of AH to work. So for best results, no real changes needed - yet anyway. Really important to have them for movement and sneak, and they do make sense thematically, especially w/ movement & evade.

Rarity of Items

Again, that's why it is the Curiosittie Shoppe, ostensibly run by an expert in obtaining rare items from some trusted vendors located around the globe. Besides, there are a number of Arkham and Other Worldencounters which yield Unique Items.

True, and combat and encounter in AH are so hard without good items, that they become a bit of a necessity. We figured that because the town Arkham is falling apart, everyone is happy to give / sell you a rare artifact to hope it does something, I mean, the consequences if they didn't sell/give them are, *not* good. Also seems like they are needed to pass the harder tests in AH, with much hope.

Spells

While I can't speak with any fluency regarding the EH spells, I will say the panoply of available Spells in AHmakes for some great games. I'll grant you that more than 90% of the Spells require but 1 success and multiple successes only impact a small number of them, the variety of Spells is fantastic in AH.

Agreed, some work in some situations, some don't. They are pretty fun, just need to know when to use em and what combos work well. AH's Find-Gate for instance is *very* useful, even more so with the above variant, time is important, the clock is now ticking (remember the new AH Omen Track - to be made, right?).

Fighting the OO (doom track filled)

Same as AH. If Cthulhu were physically in downtown Arkham the miniature would fill a good sized room - lol! The abstract OO attacks and final confrontations in AH still work fine - the resulting penalty for not solving 3 rumor(mystery) cards.

Everything Else

Terror track works fine, as do most other things. AH is a great game, and EH would not be here w/o it! Thank you AH!

Everyone who loves AH and EH

Hey, let's all keep brainstorming this and testing different ideas. It would be pretty cool to come up with a sheet of paper rule changes and perhaps, an AH Omen Track, to try to clean up / speed up Arkham (that sounded like Batman).

Let's keep this thread going! Dust off the ol' Arkham Horror boards, we have some time before EH Yig is out! Who is brave enough to play-test some of these ideas? You could lose, or win too easily, or even have fun!

Cheers!

Fighting the OO (doom track filled)

Same as AH. If Cthulhu were physically in downtown Arkham the miniature would fill a good sized room - lol! The abstract OO attacks and final confrontations in AH still work fine - the resulting penalty for not solving 3 rumor(mystery) cards.

If you can find a way to have AO combat like EH in the AH game, that would be great. EH AO combat is less abstract and is a lot more fun then the old "Ok, everyone discard a clue. What, you don't have one? You are devoured. Ok, I will roll my 12 - 5 dice, then you will roil your 10-5 dice, etc...". The battles between all the AOs in EH, except Azathoth of course, have very unique final encounters that add to the tension of some great being awakening.

Wolfgar,

You had me at "trip over unique items" ~ your points are well taken, and the two games have substantially different mechanics at work which does make blending them difficult to implement, which leads me to..

AwakeLand,

Thanks for the close read ~ and as that was your inaugural post ~ Welcome to the Carnival!

I will definitely get back to playing AH ~ at the moment, I'm running a KS Project; I'm in the middle of Air War College (I'm a Lieutenant Colonel in the Air Force); I've scripted two videos for the war game The War: Europe 1939-1945 , and I'm a single-dad, so me-time...Mmm, not so much right now. But, I really want to implement the Combat Variant . For too long AH players have lamented the fact that they can't fight together to defeat a monster... this is a co-op, right? But, at least with the idea of the monster taking some damage, it makes going into battle not such a one-sided affair.

Cheers,

Joe

There appear to be 8 dimensional symbols. The moon is used for movement, but no gate with the moon.

Possible omen tracks:

1[ ] Circle,

2[ ] Diamond,

3[ ] Hexagon,

4[ ] Plus,

5[ ] Diagonal Rectangle,

6[ ] Square,

7[ ] Star,

8[ ] Triangle

for 8 omen track counter locations.

and if this advanced doom too slowly, then double up the symbols for each move of the omen track.

1[ ] Circle or Diamond,

2[ ] Hexagon or Plus,

3[ ] Diagonal Rectangle or Square,

4[ ] Star or Triangle

There should be 2 of each gates

Of course a big difference in Arkham is that gates can be sealed, which still will make the game easier as more gates are sealed. However, it should be harder, because victory conditions are only:

1) Complete 3 rumors (1 at a time, flip next rumor after 1st is solved)

2) Defeat the Old One when the conditions allow for awaken (doom track, number of gates, number of monsters, etc).

Sealing gates will help, but some rumors are pretty hard, which is why it should be OK to fail some rumors, as long as 3 total (out of 6?) are solved. If 6 rumor cards are flipped, awaken the OO also.

If you can find a way to have AO combat like EH in the AH game, that would be great. EH AO combat is less abstract and is a lot more fun then the old "Ok, everyone discard a clue. What, you don't have one? You are devoured. Ok, I will roll my 12 - 5 dice, then you will roil your 10-5 dice, etc...". The battles between all the AOs in EH, except Azathoth of course, have very unique final encounters that add to the tension of some great being awakening.

True! AH's OO combat is actually more like Elder Sign. Hmmm, in some ways it may be good to have an OO "Final Mystery" card, which indicates:

1) Legendary Monster/Avatar appears for instance, defeat it. Could still be abstract, like fighting occurs at sea, off the coast for some of the OOs

2) Or like for Yog, complete some final task, like closing/sealing all gates.

For now, interesting to see how an AH Omen Track / solving rumors to win would change (speed up) the pace of the game, add tension rather than release and create an end point for the game as it gets harder over time.

We'll work on testing this weekend! Anyone else who wants to try the Omen Track and/or modified combat rules, we would love to hear the results!

Cheers!

On thing is cool in AH is allies. EH Assets allies is just a helper without story and names..... I would like to see some those chsracters in EH. Maybe some special ally deck.

When I post what AH does better than Eldritch - probably in the AH forum rather than here - I'm going to mention the lack of characters.

Another thing that I find that EH does better than AH is accessibility. It takes less time to explain to a new player what their Actions are and what they're supposed to do in order to win. Most people can understand and then immediately start playing (i.e. making meaningful choices) because the threats on the board after setup are very clear.

I have not found significant barriers to entry in either game quite frankly; mostly it's a matter of having an experienced player who is familiar with the subtleties of the games.

I have not found significant barriers to entry in either game quite frankly; mostly it's a matter of having an experienced player who is familiar with the subtleties of the games.

I've found the sliders in AH to have a learning curve with new players. At least for the first playthrough, there is a lack of knowledge in how to use them efficiently. Its nothing that isn't overcome, but it does add a lot of time to a first play.

Yes without any doubt EH is very easy to learn….. Game is not casual is really hardcore game but rules and mechanic is really clear….acrually is really unique game about it…… Many novice players just take a hero and start play and in few turns got almost everything about a rules and game play. Amaizng! We love to play this game since is really easy convert new players.