Does anyone know what the Arkham Horror Board game is all about?

Question

I saw this board game on www.dndorks.com and it looks like it could be fun. Can anyone give me some more details on gameplay etc and perhaps where I can buy it in the UK? I live in the London area.

Answer 1

This is a good game based on the works of HP Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. The game revolves around the premise that ancient evil creatures are influencing cultists and insane people eager for power to open gates into this world so they can awaken from their sleep and take over or destroy the world. The Mythos, its creatures and lore are not meant for man to know so to even glimpse this can cause someone to go insane.

The game is based on 1-8 investigators - people from varied walks of life - who for one reason or another are drawn into investigating the strange events in the town of Arkham.

The aim of the game is to close and seal the gates to the other worlds, destroy the monsters that come through the game oh and save the world .... for now. Armed with various weapons, spells, allies and strange items, the investigators must face death or worse to defeat the ancient one.

Can be played solo, but probably works best with between 4-6 players.

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/15987

Where to buy: Gameslore do a mail order service - i've used them before and they are good. Leisure Games in Finchley is a good shop run by people who care about games - both have good websites. Playin' Games in Museum Street is another good shop - all should have this game.

Edit: i've changed my name to match my Board Game Geek name.

Also - i agree with StormKnight's two points - there is a lot of cards, bits and little rules to remember but its worth persevering with and the fact its a cooperative game is a nice touch.

Answer 2

Flapjack covered this pretty well, but I wanted to add one or two things.

First, the really neat feature of Arkham is that its a cooperative game.  Everyone plays as a team against the game, and wins or loses as a group.  I think this is a great feature, but its not to everyone's taste.

Second, Arkham has a lot going on in it.  There are lots of rules, may decks of cards, and a lot of numbers and dice rolling.  If you are only used to 'regular' games like Monopoly, this may be a bit intimidating, though it should all make sense after a play or two.

The game has several expansions, which change the flavor of the game and add more stuff to it.  Using different expansions can drastically change around the difficulty of the game, and gives it a lot of replayability - though even with just the main game, there's so much stuff it would take a long time to see it all!

I think the game is at its best with 2 players playing 2 investigator's each.  The game drags with two many people, and having 2 investigators each makes you less likely to get stuck without much to do.  I think this is a great game for couples in particular, since getting to work together is a fun change of pace!