Elder Sign

As mentioned in the Top 5 FFG Silver Line thread, I enjoy SH:DA quite a bit. There also seemed to be more than a few of you who dig Elder Sign, so against common sense of just playing more SH:DA, I'm curious to hear more about Elder Sign.

I know Barnes gave it a lukewarm review when it came out, but for those of you that are still playing it, what about it has helped it stick around? Is there any narrative at all? I feel like SH:DA has plenty. How are the expansions? Specifically, what do they add? Is there a decent amount of strategy? Alpha syndrome an issue?

I just traded it last month, but prior to that I played it several dozen times. It's a good game, and it's well designed, but it can be punishing when your dice aren't friendly, which can lead to frustration and burn-out. I think the main detractor to the game is that the iOS version is so spectacular that if you don't mind going solo, it makes everything more awesome. And it's 20$ cheaper, to boot.

I got it to play with my wife, and it's pretty decent for us as a two-player game. I wouldn't be interested in playing it outside of that context though. There is no narrative at all, and it's just not what I would want to play if we had multiple people. Pete's burn-out comment is true to an extent (but doesn't span more than the immediate game session), but we haven't found it to be much of an issue yet.

The first expansion Unseen Forces makes the game more difficult, which is a big plus, since the base game was generally too easy. And it is mostly just more cards. The only new mechanic it adds is the cursed/blessed dice, which is easy to incorporate.

I don't have the second expansion, but I believe it replaces the entire Adventure deck with a new one to give you a different experience. I'm not sure what else it does.

For me the base game of Elder Sign lacks soul. Or maybe it just lacks fun. Not quite sure, but it lacks SOMETHING. The game itself is mechanically sound and it's enjoyable enough. However, it's like eating a plain piece of toast. It will do the trick if you're hungry, but it sure as hell ain't no delicious scone with butter and freshly whipped cream (um...I haven't had breakfast yet).

The big problem for me is that there is too much disconnect between the theme and mechanics. The game feels nothing like a horror game or Lovecraft game. None of the items or spells you get to play really feel cool. They just give you a red or yellow die to roll. It doesn't feel like you're running around a haunted museum or anything. I played it a bunch and really tried to like it, but there are so many games that fit in the same category that are flat out better. I eventually traded it.

Pete is right, if you're curious just get the iOS app if you can.

The new expansion really turns the game into Arkham Horror light. You move around locations in Arkham similar to the board game. You can join the Lodge, a gang, etc. There are gates that open as well.

As for the game as a whole, each card has nice flavor text to apply theme to that specific encounter, and maybe there's no over-arching narrative but I think it's fine. Things can get really tense when some rolls don't go your way, and the last time I played it (2 player), our victory literally came down to the final die roll. It was great. But as with any dice game, some times you can get obliterated within a couple of turns, and other times you stroll through it.

As for recommendations for the iOS version... I've never tried any of the DLC for it, and I've heard they are good. But I feel that playing it on iOS really removes all sense of playing a table top game. You aren't rolling anything, and can only look at one location at a time instead of the whole playing area. It really sterilizes the whole thing for me.