Arkham Horror, the Lovecraftian boardgame by Fantasy Flight Games, does not have an insane number of plastic bits like many of their other games (World of Warcraft, War of the Ring, etc.) No, instead, Arkham Horror has an insane number of cardboard pieces: cards, tokens and counters. It's a very attractive game.
I have the revised version of the FFG game, which clarifies the rules, corrects errata, and provides a lighter version of the gameboard than the original FFG edition; strangely, I rather prefer the lighter version.
Arkham Horror is designed for 1-8 players who work co-operatively to win the game. Most of the games I've played have tended to have 1-4 players, and, since I bought the game for myself, by far the majority of games I've played are for one player: me. This is because I'm a gamer who lives 30 km from the next nearest gamer, and the time I can spend on the internet at home is very limited. So, having a game that I can play by myself and that retains my interest is very important.
The game's theme revolves around gates opening to different worlds and letting monsters into ours. You are an investigator trying to close the gates, and ultimately defeat the Ancient One that is responsible for the chaos.
Arkham Horror is not an easy game to win by yourself. There are three basic ways of winning the game:
1) Close all gates on the table. This is very unlikely. A gate opens every turn, and it normally takes at least two turns to close a gate (although some cards may reduce this time). Barring exceptional circumstances, it won't happen. That said, my friend Sarah has done it. Turn 1, the gate opened and she entered. Turn 2, the gate was in the same place. Turn 3, the gate was in the same place again... she closed the gate and had won! Don't count on this happening to you.
2) Seal six gate locations. More likely, but very difficult. I haven't been able to do it yet after about 30 solo games. (I've reached five sealed locations, but not six!) To seal a gate you must close a gate *and* discard 5 Clue tokens. Finishing the game this way remains one of my goals.
If you can accomplish neither of those tasks, at some point Arkham gets over run and the Ancient One arises, leading to the third victory condition:
3) Fight and Defeat the Ancient One when he arises. Difficult, but not impossible. I've won 10 or more games in this manner. Not against Azeroth, however (who destroys the world when he awakens) - I was reduced to #1 or #2, and they didn't occur.
The basic game contains 8 different Ancient Ones and 16 different Investigators, each with their own abilities. The difficulty of a game played solo can change dramatically depending on the combination of Ancient One/Investigator.
There is a moderate level of randomness in the game, which actually works fairly well for a solo game; winning it once won't take away the challenge of winning it again. The game is also helped by a basic analysis of how it works, particularly in the effects of the Mythos cards.
A basic overview of a game turn (I know this isn't the strict order in the book) is:
1) Draw a Mythos card and follow its effects - open a gate, place monsters, move monsters, place a clue
2) Move your Investigator and fight monsters
3) Have an Encounter
Repeat.
There are eleven locations where Gates may open, and 67 cards in the Mythos deck (including one "Shuffle this deck and draw another card" card). So, that's 66 actual Mythos cards. So, each Gate has an equal chance of opening, right? No. That's part of the beauty of the game: some locations are more common to have gates than others.
Thus, if you *seal* the common gates first, you gain turns where nothing bad happens (or at least, not much). However, if you seal the rare gate location first, you're wasting resources.
That's part of the basic strategy of the game. It gets more involved, as you try to manage Clue tokens, items (Unique and Common), Spells and Allies. As I play, I want to seal the gates, but I also have to prepare to fight the Old One if (when) he awakens.
The game is written so that it scales in difficulty - if not perfectly - depending on the number of players. The requirements for the Old One to awaken are different. The more players, the more monsters can be around, but the fewer gates are allowed to be open.
One thing that does not scale is the difficulty of the Rumour Mythos cards. This can be a problem: the wrong rumour at the wrong time can derail your plans entirely, and you have little recourse. Still, it's also possible that a bad run of Mythos cards can bring the endgame on much quicker than expected... this is a horror-themed game, and the difficulty in completing it successfully when playing solo is an attraction.
I have found that, once the game is set up - and I leave the game out for several games in a row - it takes me about 30 minutes, rarely up to an hour, to complete a game. I find this a very acceptable game time. In fact, I prefer it solo to games with 3-4 players or more if simply because it takes less time, and I'm always doing something.
My main complaint against the game is the amount of space it takes. Thankfully I don't need quite as much for solo play, but, like many FFG games, it eats space. (Read another way, it seems appropriate for the subject matter...)
The thing I like most about the game is its variety: each location has a number of different encounters; the Outer Worlds likely. No two games play exactly the same, and even with a basic understanding of what you're meant to do, the path to victory will be different each game.
If you were looking for a relatively complex game that could be played solitaire, straight out of the box, Arkham Horror should fit the bill.
I don't want to deceive you: there are a lot of bits and quite a few rules, and it is likely you're going to get things wrong at first. FFG also has an excellent site with a FAQ and messageboards if you get confused.
However, I think Arkham Horror is a great game, with a suitably atmospheric theme, and some very solid mechanics. That you can play it with more than one person, and very effectively too, is just icing on the cake.
I have the revised version of the FFG game, which clarifies the rules, corrects errata, and provides a lighter version of the gameboard than the original FFG edition; strangely, I rather prefer the lighter version.
Arkham Horror is designed for 1-8 players who work co-operatively to win the game. Most of the games I've played have tended to have 1-4 players, and, since I bought the game for myself, by far the majority of games I've played are for one player: me. This is because I'm a gamer who lives 30 km from the next nearest gamer, and the time I can spend on the internet at home is very limited. So, having a game that I can play by myself and that retains my interest is very important.
The game's theme revolves around gates opening to different worlds and letting monsters into ours. You are an investigator trying to close the gates, and ultimately defeat the Ancient One that is responsible for the chaos.
Arkham Horror is not an easy game to win by yourself. There are three basic ways of winning the game:
1) Close all gates on the table. This is very unlikely. A gate opens every turn, and it normally takes at least two turns to close a gate (although some cards may reduce this time). Barring exceptional circumstances, it won't happen. That said, my friend Sarah has done it. Turn 1, the gate opened and she entered. Turn 2, the gate was in the same place. Turn 3, the gate was in the same place again... she closed the gate and had won! Don't count on this happening to you.
2) Seal six gate locations. More likely, but very difficult. I haven't been able to do it yet after about 30 solo games. (I've reached five sealed locations, but not six!) To seal a gate you must close a gate *and* discard 5 Clue tokens. Finishing the game this way remains one of my goals.
If you can accomplish neither of those tasks, at some point Arkham gets over run and the Ancient One arises, leading to the third victory condition:
3) Fight and Defeat the Ancient One when he arises. Difficult, but not impossible. I've won 10 or more games in this manner. Not against Azeroth, however (who destroys the world when he awakens) - I was reduced to #1 or #2, and they didn't occur.
The basic game contains 8 different Ancient Ones and 16 different Investigators, each with their own abilities. The difficulty of a game played solo can change dramatically depending on the combination of Ancient One/Investigator.
There is a moderate level of randomness in the game, which actually works fairly well for a solo game; winning it once won't take away the challenge of winning it again. The game is also helped by a basic analysis of how it works, particularly in the effects of the Mythos cards.
A basic overview of a game turn (I know this isn't the strict order in the book) is:
1) Draw a Mythos card and follow its effects - open a gate, place monsters, move monsters, place a clue
2) Move your Investigator and fight monsters
3) Have an Encounter
Repeat.
There are eleven locations where Gates may open, and 67 cards in the Mythos deck (including one "Shuffle this deck and draw another card" card). So, that's 66 actual Mythos cards. So, each Gate has an equal chance of opening, right? No. That's part of the beauty of the game: some locations are more common to have gates than others.
Thus, if you *seal* the common gates first, you gain turns where nothing bad happens (or at least, not much). However, if you seal the rare gate location first, you're wasting resources.
That's part of the basic strategy of the game. It gets more involved, as you try to manage Clue tokens, items (Unique and Common), Spells and Allies. As I play, I want to seal the gates, but I also have to prepare to fight the Old One if (when) he awakens.
The game is written so that it scales in difficulty - if not perfectly - depending on the number of players. The requirements for the Old One to awaken are different. The more players, the more monsters can be around, but the fewer gates are allowed to be open.
One thing that does not scale is the difficulty of the Rumour Mythos cards. This can be a problem: the wrong rumour at the wrong time can derail your plans entirely, and you have little recourse. Still, it's also possible that a bad run of Mythos cards can bring the endgame on much quicker than expected... this is a horror-themed game, and the difficulty in completing it successfully when playing solo is an attraction.
I have found that, once the game is set up - and I leave the game out for several games in a row - it takes me about 30 minutes, rarely up to an hour, to complete a game. I find this a very acceptable game time. In fact, I prefer it solo to games with 3-4 players or more if simply because it takes less time, and I'm always doing something.
My main complaint against the game is the amount of space it takes. Thankfully I don't need quite as much for solo play, but, like many FFG games, it eats space. (Read another way, it seems appropriate for the subject matter...)
The thing I like most about the game is its variety: each location has a number of different encounters; the Outer Worlds likely. No two games play exactly the same, and even with a basic understanding of what you're meant to do, the path to victory will be different each game.
If you were looking for a relatively complex game that could be played solitaire, straight out of the box, Arkham Horror should fit the bill.
I don't want to deceive you: there are a lot of bits and quite a few rules, and it is likely you're going to get things wrong at first. FFG also has an excellent site with a FAQ and messageboards if you get confused.
However, I think Arkham Horror is a great game, with a suitably atmospheric theme, and some very solid mechanics. That you can play it with more than one person, and very effectively too, is just icing on the cake.
