Front Page

Content

Authors

Game Index

Forums

Site Tools

Submissions

About

KK
Kevin Klemme
March 09, 2020
35151 2
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
January 27, 2020
20832 0
Hot
KK
Kevin Klemme
August 12, 2019
7420 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 19, 2023
3978 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
December 14, 2023
3502 0
Hot

Mycelia Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 12, 2023
2077 0
O
oliverkinne
December 07, 2023
2584 0

River Wild Board Game Review

Board Game Reviews
O
oliverkinne
December 05, 2023
2255 0
O
oliverkinne
November 30, 2023
2498 0
J
Jackwraith
November 29, 2023
3018 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
November 28, 2023
1973 0
S
Spitfireixa
October 24, 2023
3694 0
Hot
O
oliverkinne
October 17, 2023
2625 0
O
oliverkinne
October 10, 2023
2461 0
O
oliverkinne
October 09, 2023
2290 0
O
oliverkinne
October 06, 2023
2507 0

Outback Crossing Review

Board Game Reviews
×
Bugs: Recent Topics Paging, Uploading Images & Preview (11 Dec 2020)

Recent Topics paging, uploading images and preview bugs require a patch which has not yet been released.

× Talk about the latest and greatest AT, and the Classics.

Arkham Horror: Board Game - thoughts?

More
22 Oct 2017 11:32 #256161 by Egg Shen
If you own Arkham Horror the Card Game there is no reason to own Arkham Horror the Board Game. The card game is a much better experience both narratively and in terms of fun gameplay choices.

I'll come out and say it...Arkham Horror is dated and it's time of relevancy has passed. The fact that everyone here says you need a fucking FLOWCHART just to be able to play tells you everything you need to know. AH came out in 2005 and it FEELS like a game of that era. In 2017 game design is far more refined and only makes the flaws of AH more unforgivable. Eldritch Horror is more of "Pulp Adventure" game with Lovecraftian horror beats...but I'd ALWAYS choose to play it over AH.

The only time I'll play AH at this point is if the game is already set up when I get there, and the person running the game knows the rules inside and out. Also, like many old FFG games the game experience is enhanced greatly by many of the expansions. The caveat is that only certain portions of certain expansions are worth inserting into the game. So again, the person running the game needs to know what needs to be added to the base game to really make it shine. For me, it's just not worth the effort.

Since you're interested in Eldritch Horror just go ahead and get that instead. It offers a much different experience than the LCG and while it's still a big semi-complex game...it's child's play compared to AH. Not to mention EH is also way more fun. The cards that have secret effects that MIGHT trigger at some point in the game are a stroke of genius. Everything from turn actions to combat has been streamlined in a way that makes sense. After a you do something once in the game you will immediately commit the rule to memory and move on. It's simple to understand and digest...especially for people who don't typically play these types of games.

If you're going to get Eldritch the only thing I would recommend is purchasing one of the small box expansions and immediately throwing it in with the base game. Forsaken Lore is a great option.
The following user(s) said Thank You: hotseatgames, Motorik, __

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Oct 2017 12:45 #256167 by Motorik
I never really liked Arkham Horror and always found it super goddamn clunky, but Eldritch Horror has (to my surprise) become one of my favorite games. At this point, I'd rather play a horrible clunky contemporary Euro or some Stefan Feld cardboard afterbirth than waste a night with AH.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Msample, __

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Oct 2017 13:46 #256171 by __
I think I am going to get Eldritch Horror but damn do these guys know how to work expansions, I see there is already 8 of which 3 or 4 are almost as expensive as the base game, and 4 seem to be smaller expansions. Are these akin to campaigns and side missions, or are they all supposed to be integrated at some point into one epic experience, or are they all completely independent

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Oct 2017 14:31 #256173 by ThirstyMan
I'd buy the small expansions for Eldritch Horror and just chuck all the cards together minimising the chances of you having repeat encounters in consecutive games. The big box expansions add side boards which increase the space required for the game. The small box expansions are great. All expansions work independently so you can just buy some, in no particular order. Recommend base + Forsaken Lore. Forsaken Lore doesn't have any extra rules and just bumps up the number of cards you have in all decks.

Other expansions add exciting shit to the base game like cities exploding around you and a mechanism to track it. It's well play tested though so it never gets out of balance.

Far more streamlined process than Arkham Horror.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Cranberries, __

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
22 Oct 2017 23:51 - 23 Oct 2017 01:38 #256186 by jeb
You don't need any expansions. EH is a a great title, and one of the best little Lovecraftian things for folks to do. It's not the same as AH, and doesn't purport to be, but it's still a lot of fun. Again, don't sweat the expansions. Get and enjoy the game. Add expansions if it gets tired.

Contrast with AH, which is really fun, but gets like, really REALLY fun with DH exp.
Last edit: 23 Oct 2017 01:38 by jeb.
The following user(s) said Thank You: __

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Oct 2017 00:58 #256189 by SuperflyPete
It was better when Eldritch Horror didn't exist. It's too fiddly with monster movement and requires a good memory with upkeep. It's one of those games that was fully bad ass when it was the only one of its kind, but Eldritch streamlined the concept so much that I would never play it again unless it was being run by someone else. I'd NEVER run it for a group again. Just too much extraneous bollocks, especially in light of Eldritch.

It is Atari 2600's Adventure to Eldritch Horror's Xbox One Fallout 4.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Cranberries, __

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Oct 2017 16:34 #256210 by __
I guess Im mainly kicking myself for not waiting to decide, since I already shelled out quite a bit on AHCG and wonder if I can really afford to invest in EH (I know I will end up buying many if not all expansions, cos thats just my kind of stoopid). "Different" is one thing, but at the end of the day, most likely to be me and the wife, and its co op, clue hunting, monster fighting, story driven lovecraft so if anyone can convince me REALLY that its worth having both lines, given the costs of buying in (which my kind of stoopid just WILL so no point saying dont do it)

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Oct 2017 16:55 #256213 by ubarose

Egg Shen wrote:
The only time I'll play AH at this point is if the game is already set up when I get there, and the person running the game knows the rules inside and out. Also, like many old FFG games the game experience is enhanced greatly by many of the expansions. The caveat is that only certain portions of certain expansions are worth inserting into the game. So again, the person running the game needs to know what needs to be added to the base game to really make it shine. For me, it's just not worth the effort.


I think you just added this bit so that I won't slap you next time you visit.
The following user(s) said Thank You: jeb, Cranberries

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Oct 2017 17:58 #256217 by Cranberries

Motorik wrote: At this point, I'd rather play a horrible clunky contemporary Euro or some Stefan Feld cardboard afterbirth than waste a night with AH.


This is why I come to this site.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Oct 2017 18:18 #256221 by Michael Barnes
I actually tried to get a game going with my friends a couple of weeks ago. I got it almost set up and everyone- all of whom used to play the game a TON 7-8 years ago- all kind of lost interest before the cards were even sorted. It was going to be base plus Dunwich. I can't say I was disappointed, because I kept thinking "do we really want to get into this..."

Off to eBay it went.

I agree with Motorik at this point about the game. Or Eldritch Horror.

Eldritch Horror is very much an extension of everything in Arkham Horror, but with a massive change in scale and scope that does tremendous favors to the setting, I really like how Arkham creates this contained, "town" environment for the most part with tons of possibilities. However, the reality of it is that it does so in such a scattershot, cluttered way that it becomes almost like a completely randomized paragraph game. Eldritch Horror has a much clearer, much more distinctive narrative through-line with interesting sub-plots and emergent short-term objectives. And its "investigators must save the world" concept makes more sense when they are trotting the globe rather than wandering around Arkham.

Eldritch has become bloated, however, just like Arkham Horror did. I've thought about stripping my set back to the base game, but I like having the wider range of encounter cards. I think the advisement to get just the small box expansions is sound- the big box expansions have been uniformly disappointing and burdensome. We never play with the extra boards.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Cranberries

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
23 Oct 2017 18:39 #256224 by Shellhead
I was ready to get on board with Eldritch Horror when they announced a Dreamlands expansion. Then I saw a preview of the board, and it was so disappointing that it was a dealbreaker.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
24 Oct 2017 07:58 #256237 by Jarvis
I just couldn't get into Eldritch Horror. I like the small town feel of Arkham and the more specific encounter cards. It's bigger and slower, but my friends and I would rather play Arkham any day of the week. In fact, we've slowly been going through the Summer League that FFG out out years ago and really been enjoying it.

I agree with Base + One Wxpansion is best. I will always play with the injuries and I generally mix all the non-board, non-story expansion (like acts) together for more variety.
The following user(s) said Thank You: ubarose, Hex Sinister

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
24 Oct 2017 09:37 #256239 by Shellhead
To clarify my complaint about the lazy design of the Dreamlands expansion for Eldritch Horror, some pictures:

This is the base game board for Eldritch Horror:


This is a color map of the Dreamlands:


This is the Dreamlands expansion board for Eldritch Horror:

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
24 Oct 2017 10:08 #256240 by jeb

Tron wrote: I guess Im mainly kicking myself for not waiting to decide, since I already shelled out quite a bit on AHCG and wonder if I can really afford to invest in EH (I know I will end up buying many if not all expansions, cos thats just my kind of stoopid). "Different" is one thing, but at the end of the day, most likely to be me and the wife, and its co op, clue hunting, monster fighting, story driven lovecraft so if anyone can convince me REALLY that its worth having both lines, given the costs of buying in (which my kind of stoopid just WILL so no point saying dont do it)

Don't do it.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
24 Oct 2017 10:56 #256246 by Egg Shen

ubarose wrote:

Egg Shen wrote:
The only time I'll play AH at this point is if the game is already set up when I get there, and the person running the game knows the rules inside and out. Also, like many old FFG games the game experience is enhanced greatly by many of the expansions. The caveat is that only certain portions of certain expansions are worth inserting into the game. So again, the person running the game needs to know what needs to be added to the base game to really make it shine. For me, it's just not worth the effort.


I think you just added this bit so that I won't slap you next time you visit.


Ha! I better duck or bring a peace offering of some good bourbon!

But seriously...playing AH with you guys is such a breeze. I wish every game of AH was as smooth as playing with you and Al.. You make it look easy and more importantly, super fun!

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: Gary Sax
Time to create page: 0.205 seconds