[Boardgame] Eldritch Horror

[hepcat]

I didn't realize that Fantasy Flight Games Arkham Horror style Eldritch Horror was coming out this week until my FLGS informed about that Saturday. Hopefully they'll get their copies today and I'll grab one. This is the perfect game for our annual Ohio holiday gaming event.

I'm on vacation this week so I think this is the perfect time to grab a copy and run a solo game beforehand (it plays with 1 to 8). I'll post opinions after I get it on the table.

[baelthazar]

I didn't realize that Fantasy Flight Games Arkham Horror style Eldritch Horror was coming out this week until my FLGS informed about that Saturday. Hopefully they'll get their copies today and I'll grab one. This is the perfect game for our annual Ohio holiday gaming event.

I'm on vacation this week so I think this is the perfect time to grab a copy and run a solo game beforehand (it plays with 1 to 8). I'll post opinions after I get it on the table.

Ohio gaming event???!!! Got room for one more?

Yeah, I'm pretty excited about this one. The CSI ship date says the 27th, which makes very little sense given the holiday.

EDIT: I STAND CORRECTED! CSI now says "IN STOCK!" But I still likely won't get it before Thanksgiving.

[SpaceLord]

Played it this weekend. It's essentially Arkham Horror, streamlined. A 3-player game took 2.5 hours, and was pretty much max length, with us winning while near death. It definitely has more control of what happens to you. If you like AH, I recommend it. I like AH, and have fun, but I realize it's not "good."

[hepcat]

If it's "like Arkham Horror" that much, I don't see how it couldn't be good. I love AH. But I can't play it anymore due to how top heavy it's become with expansions...expansions I shouldn't have bought, but did. And now can't possibly separate out to get to the base game without devoting hours of my time. Plus, they're now releasing "revised" editions of the expansions, which just annoys me.

So, streamlined AH? Sounds great to me.

[baelthazar]

If it's "like Arkham Horror" that much, I don't see how it couldn't be good. I love AH. But I can't play it anymore due to how top heavy it's become with expansions...expansions I shouldn't have bought, but did. And now can't possibly separate out to get to the base game without devoting hours of my time. Plus, they're now releasing "revised" editions of the expansions, which just annoys me.

So, streamlined AH? Sounds great to me.

Totally agree, although I never integrated my AH expansions into the base game. The EH rules seem to be far easier to grasp, which is very very good. I should have my copy on Wednesday!

[hepcat]

Ohio gaming event???!!! Got room for one more?

One more probably. Beyond that and we'd have an odd man out. If you want to drive to New Philadelphia for the day, you're welcome to join us. It's just a group of people who I grew up with or know well enough to trust that they won't trash my dad's place while I'm visiting him for the holidays. This year it's happening on the Monday before Christmas Eve.

[baelthazar]

Ohio gaming event???!!! Got room for one more?

One more probably. Beyond that and we'd have an odd man out. If you want to drive to New Philadelphia for the day, you're welcome to join us. It's just a group of people who I grew up with or know well enough to trust that they won't trash my dad's place while I'm visiting him for the holidays. This year it's happening on the Monday before Christmas Eve.

I appreciate that Hep, but I wouldn't impose. I got one game of EH in so far and it seems mighty good. Will play more today!

[Fishbelly]

I got one game of EH in so far and it seems mighty good. Will play more today!

Please post your thoughts on the game when you get a chance. This is most definitely at the top of my want list.

[baelthazar]

I got one game of EH in so far and it seems mighty good. Will play more today!

Please post your thoughts on the game when you get a chance. This is most definitely at the top of my want list.

Played two games, both two players/investigators, and I have to say that I think EH is quite fantastic! It plays far quicker and easier than Arkham Horror. In fact, I am constantly looking in the EH rules to clarify things, not because they are unclear, but because AH taught be to doubt every mechanic - and when I do I find that I had clearly understood the EH rule in the first place! Not to mention, FFG decided to create a little "compendium" for EH that is nice for a quick consultation to clarify a mechanic or rule.

The gameplay is similar to Arkham Horror, but perhaps with far more choices. IMHO, Arkham Horror is driven by the random mechanic of where the gates and monsters are spawned - in many AH games, if you aren't actively trying to close/seal gates every turn, then you will likely fail in the long term. So you basically go where the gates spawn. But in Eldritch Horror, the gates are far less of a constant problem and more of a long-term "time bomb," because gates only advance the doom track when there are gates matching the omen symbol out on the board. Monsters are also a bit less of an every present pain, since many of them don't move. Some of them create havoc, like the Mi-Go who gobbles up clue tokens or the Star Spawn that threatens to advance doom on the roll of a 1 or 2. But you can either avoid them or prepare adequately before taking them on.

With some of the pressure taken off of the gates and monsters, EH turns up the pressure in the cards and encounters. We found the Other World encounters to be more challenging than AH and most of them require multiple skill test successes to close the gates. Regular encounters can also be fairly problematic. It is also nice to have themed general encounters (used everywhere), expedition encounters (only at a specific location, like the Amazon or the Pyramids), and special encounters. All encounters seem a tad more dangerous (but also provide more useful rewards). The Mythos cards seem far more dire in EH as well, inexorably increasing danger, creating devastating debilitation, or setting up a highly painful and problematic "rumor" (one rumor we had would instantly advance the doom to 0 if we did not deal with it in time, for instance).

The game also "feels" very different depending upon which Old One you are fighting and which characters you pick. Yog-Sothoth was a dramatically different experience from Azathoth, partially due to the different powers but largely due to the specialized research and mystery cards for each old one. Also, the effect that occurs when the doom track hits 0 is also very very different (predictably, for Azathoth, the game is over, but for the others - you still have a chance to win, albeit under much harder circumstances). Gone is the "confront the Old One" roll-a-thon for a much better system of final challenges and clearer "lose game" conditions. That kind of mutable experience makes the game very compelling. With Yog-Sothoth gates and spells are key and for Azathoth doom prevention and clue retrieval is key, so you get a different focus and almost a different game (or at least a different story playing out in the game).

You are limited to two actions per turn and only one action of each type per turn. So you can rest once, move once (and add additional movement by "spending" train and ship tickets), get one ticket, or attempt to acquire one asset per turn. The game also scales very well, with the number of gates, clues, and monsters spawned changing depending upon player numbers (also the victory conditions on each mystery change depending upon the number of players).

My favorite aspect of the game are the new condition cards. Probably, once we have encountered all of them, they will be less neat and surprising, but when you first play they offer a nice looming threat of doom. I highly suggest NOT reading the backs of the cards when you first get the game and even when you are playing the game and manage to discard them without them taking effect. ONLY read the back when you are actually resolving one, so that you don't spoil the surprise. For instance, I was given the choice today of getting a clue token AND the Necronomicon artifact card in exchange for taking a "Dark Bargain" Condition (indicating I had made a "deal with the devil" in exchange for gain). The very next turn I ran out of luck and rolled a 1, activating my Dark Bargain (i.e. flipping it over and reading the back). I won't tell you what it did, but suffice to say we have seen two of those cards activate and both were... well.. problematic to say the least. There are quite a few conditions - Paranoia, Hallucinations, Amnesia, Leg Injuries, Back Injuries, Blessings, Curses, Debts, and being Detained. This is a very cool mechanic, and a huge difference than getting a condition in AH. Here, your condition may never activate, you may rest up and manage to lose the condition, or (like me) you might get the condition to "pop" immediately after it was inflicted upon you. I love this, as it adds tension to the game.

We did win both the games we played, so it is possibly that EH is less challenging than AH. We also managed to finish in about 2-3 hours (I suspect it would be shorter with practice, but longer with more players).

[Fishbelly]

baelthazar wrote:
Played two games, both two players/investigators, and I have to say that I think EH is quite fantastic! It plays far quicker and easier than Arkham Horror. In fact, I am constantly looking in the EH rules to clarify things, not because they are unclear, but because AH taught be to doubt every mechanic - and when I do I find that I had clearly understood the EH rule in the first place! Not to mention, FFG decided to create a little "compendium" for EH that is nice for a quick consultation to clarify a mechanic or rule.

The gameplay is similar to Arkham Horror, but perhaps with far more choices. IMHO, Arkham Horror is driven by the random mechanic of where the gates and monsters are spawned - in many AH games, if you aren't actively trying to close/seal gates every turn, then you will likely fail in the long term. So you basically go where the gates spawn. But in Eldritch Horror, the gates are far less of a constant problem and more of a long-term "time bomb," because gates only advance the doom track when there are gates matching the omen symbol out on the board. Monsters are also a bit less of an every present pain, since many of them don't move. Some of them create havoc, like the Mi-Go who gobbles up clue tokens or the Star Spawn that threatens to advance doom on the roll of a 1 or 2. But you can either avoid them or prepare adequately before taking them on.

With some of the pressure taken off of the gates and monsters, EH turns up the pressure in the cards and encounters. We found the Other World encounters to be more challenging than AH and most of them require multiple skill test successes to close the gates. Regular encounters can also be fairly problematic. It is also nice to have themed general encounters (used everywhere), expedition encounters (only at a specific location, like the Amazon or the Pyramids), and special encounters. All encounters seem a tad more dangerous (but also provide more useful rewards). The Mythos cards seem far more dire in EH as well, inexorably increasing danger, creating devastating debilitation, or setting up a highly painful and problematic "rumor" (one rumor we had would instantly advance the doom to 0 if we did not deal with it in time, for instance).

The game also "feels" very different depending upon which Old One you are fighting and which characters you pick. Yog-Sothoth was a dramatically different experience from Azathoth, partially due to the different powers but largely due to the specialized research and mystery cards for each old one. Also, the effect that occurs when the doom track hits 0 is also very very different (predictably, for Azathoth, the game is over, but for the others - you still have a chance to win, albeit under much harder circumstances). Gone is the "confront the Old One" roll-a-thon for a much better system of final challenges and clearer "lose game" conditions. That kind of mutable experience makes the game very compelling. With Yog-Sothoth gates and spells are key and for Azathoth doom prevention and clue retrieval is key, so you get a different focus and almost a different game (or at least a different story playing out in the game).

You are limited to two actions per turn and only one action of each type per turn. So you can rest once, move once (and add additional movement by "spending" train and ship tickets), get one ticket, or attempt to acquire one asset per turn. The game also scales very well, with the number of gates, clues, and monsters spawned changing depending upon player numbers (also the victory conditions on each mystery change depending upon the number of players).

My favorite aspect of the game are the new condition cards. Probably, once we have encountered all of them, they will be less neat and surprising, but when you first play they offer a nice looming threat of doom. I highly suggest NOT reading the backs of the cards when you first get the game and even when you are playing the game and manage to discard them without them taking effect. ONLY read the back when you are actually resolving one, so that you don't spoil the surprise. For instance, I was given the choice today of getting a clue token AND the Necronomicon artifact card in exchange for taking a "Dark Bargain" Condition (indicating I had made a "deal with the devil" in exchange for gain). The very next turn I ran out of luck and rolled a 1, activating my Dark Bargain (i.e. flipping it over and reading the back). I won't tell you what it did, but suffice to say we have seen two of those cards activate and both were... well.. problematic to say the least. There are quite a few conditions - Paranoia, Hallucinations, Amnesia, Leg Injuries, Back Injuries, Blessings, Curses, Debts, and being Detained. This is a very cool mechanic, and a huge difference than getting a condition in AH. Here, your condition may never activate, you may rest up and manage to lose the condition, or (like me) you might get the condition to "pop" immediately after it was inflicted upon you. I love this, as it adds tension to the game.

We did win both the games we played, so it is possibly that EH is less challenging than AH. We also managed to finish in about 2-3 hours (I suspect it would be shorter with practice, but longer with more players).

Yowza, I was expecting a "Played it some more, it's good, buy it" type of response. Thanks so much for the nicely detailed report.

Now to figure out some way to convince my wife that buying a new game during the holidays does NOT mean I should wait until Christmas to rip it open. I suspect she will be less than receptive.

[MonkeyFinger]

Dagnabbit baelthazar... boughted.

[IceBear]

Can't afford it right now (plus I can't see it hitting the table until sometime in 2014 so no rush), but will be buying it as soon as I can based on baelthazar's post

[Smoove_B]

Thanks for the feedback - much appreciated.

My biggest concerns with this game (and why I think I cooled off with Zombicide) is that as a player, you must control multiple investigators to win. With Cthulhu Yahtzee Elder Sign, the game is certainly more difficult with one or two people playing two investigators, but I think it scales nicely and it's something I've absolutely played solo with a single investigator. If you need to have a minimum number of investigators for Eldritch Horror (regardless of players), I'd probably end up skipping it.

[baelthazar]

Can't afford it right now (plus I can't see it hitting the table until sometime in 2014 so no rush), but will be buying it as soon as I can based on baelthazar's post

Just FYI, Funagaingames was having a Black Friday sale that included EH. I have no idea if it is still going on.

Yowza, I was expecting a "Played it some more, it's good, buy it" type of response. Thanks so much for the nicely detailed report.

You clearly don't know me well... Ask the guys around here if I can type only one or two sentences about a game.

Thanks for the feedback - much appreciated.

My biggest concerns with this game (and why I think I cooled off with Zombicide) is that as a player, you must control multiple investigators to win. With Cthulhu Yahtzee Elder Sign, the game is certainly more difficult with one or two people playing two investigators, but I think it scales nicely and it's something I've absolutely played solo with a single investigator. If you need to have a minimum number of investigators for Eldritch Horror (regardless of players), I'd probably end up skipping it.

Smoove, I intend to test this today or tomorrow in a solo game. I will play with just one investigator and see how that goes. My thought is, because victory conditions scale to player number, it will probably be all right. That being said, when it says, for example, "when the number of clue tokens on the card is equal to half the number of players...," that will certainly hurt the solo playing investigator (given that it will be one with either one player or two players).

That being said, I would not skip it if the minimum number of investigators was two. Investigator turns go so quickly and are so low impact (two actions, combat encounter, then location encounter) that it would be way easier than most other games to play two characters. Further, you only draw one mythos card at the end of all investigators turn, so number of players only ups the number of gates, monsters, and clue tokens on the board but not the number of disastrous events.

I posted these impressions to BGG, but also added two things. 1. This is the game that I wanted Fortune and Glory (by Flying Frog) to be. 2. You should sleeve your cards, as you will be shuffling quite a bit.

[IceBear]

I am in Canada so I don't usually look at US stores as shipping costs tend to be too high. Thecultofthenew.com has it for a similar price and is local, but really I am trying to learn some restraint... No point in spending +$50 on a game when it will be months before I get to play it with Christmas around the corner

[hentzau]

1. This is the game that I wanted Fortune and Glory (by Flying Frog) to be.

This statement suddenly got me interested.

[Fishbelly]

1. This is the game that I wanted Fortune and Glory (by Flying Frog) to be.

This statement suddenly got me interested.

I had the same reaction. Fortune and Glory was one of my larger board game disappointments of the past few years.

[hepcat]

My copy of EH should be here tomorrow. I went with online to save a bit of cash.

[hepcat]

Just started a solo game about an hour ago. I can already see mechanics from Tales of the Arabian Nights (conditions and encounters), CDG's (creating an "event deck" that's unique to each game), the State of Siege games from VPG (actions on a point to point map) and a ton of stuff from the old Arkham Horror.

So far, it works. And it works well. I'm having a blast. Can't wait to get this on the table at Christmas time with old friends.

[hepcat]

Man, I am lovin' this one. I really hope expansions are coming soon though. I can seem myself running through all the cards within the next few months (weeks if I don't stop playing). And I hope the expansions are characters and cards only for a while. I don't see a need for a new board for quite some time. They can just release card packs for this one for a while and I'd be happy.

...now I'm thinkin' about lookin' up some of the Arkham Horror minis they released a while back.

[hentzau]

Man, I am lovin' this one. I really hope expansions are coming soon though. I can seem myself running through all the cards within the next few months (weeks if I don't stop playing). And I hope the expansions are characters and cards only for a while. I don't see a need for a new board for quite some time. They can just release card packs for this one for a while and I'd be happy.

...now I'm thinkin' about lookin' up some of the Arkham Horror minis they released a while back.

Arkham Horror Figure: Jim Culver
$3.99

Arkham Horror Figure: Jacqueline Fine
ISBN:9781-58994-879-2 Product: AH18
$3.99

Arkham Horror Figure: Diana Stanley
ISBN:9781-58994-880-8 Product: AH19
$3.99

Arkham Horror Figure: Mark Harrigan
ISBN:9781-58994-881-5 Product: AH20
$3.99

Arkham Horror Figure: Leo Anderson
ISBN:9781-58994-884-6 Product: AH23
$3.99

Arkham Horror Figure: Charlie Kane
ISBN:9781589949959 Product: AH25
$3.99

Arkham Horror Figure: Lola Hayes
ISBN:9781-58994-541-8 Product: AH28
$3.99

Arkham Horror Figure: Lily Chen
ISBN:9781-58994-546-3 Product: AH30
$3.99

Arkham Horror Figure: Akachi Onyele
ISBN:9781-58994-580-7 Product: AH36
$3.99

Arkham Horror Figure: Silias Marsh
ISBN:9781-58994-581-4 Product: AH37
$3.99

Arkham Horror Figure: Norman Withers
ISBN:9781-58994-571-5 Product: AH45
$3.99

Arkham Horror Figure: Trish Scarbough
ISBN:9781-58994-570-8 Product: AH46
$3.99


Subtotal: $47.88

[MythicalMino]

so, my copy arrived today, and was waiting for me on my desk when I walked in the door tonight. I broke it open, punched out all the chits, and set up my first game...and now for the awesome...the very first gate spawned? Arkham. Completely random, and Arkham was where the first gate spawned...with a Cultist (playing vs. Azathoth).

The game looks great, can't wait to play it...unlucky for me, I have to go into work early tomorrow, so I won't really be able to get to it until tomorrow night at around midnight (boo!! hiss!!)

Looking forward to it, though. Will probably play it a few times this weekend, also with the wife and kids.

[baelthazar]

Man, I am lovin' this one. I really hope expansions are coming soon though. I can seem myself running through all the cards within the next few months (weeks if I don't stop playing). And I hope the expansions are characters and cards only for a while. I don't see a need for a new board for quite some time. They can just release card packs for this one for a while and I'd be happy.

...now I'm thinkin' about lookin' up some of the Arkham Horror minis they released a while back.

This, exactly. They can offer some "mini expansions" with a new Old One and some more cards. No new boards for some time. I'm not sure what I new board would be, likely the Dreamlands (and the city's and locales there). But, ATM, just cards please.

Hmm... $48 for some paintable minis... that just might be something I might do. I'm also thinking about getting a pack of AH dice.

I'll be honest, I'm happier about EH than any other game I got this year. There is something about the way it plays that just "clicks" with me.

[hepcat]

This year has seen some great games for me. But I'd put this up there against most of them. I think Robinson Crusoe still takes the lead, but the COIN games, Navajo Wars, Pax Porfiriana and Duel of Ages II are all great, great games.

However, I think my Christmas gaming gang is going to go gaga over EH. They're all hardcore Lovecraft fans like myself.

[hentzau]

Man, I am lovin' this one. I really hope expansions are coming soon though. I can seem myself running through all the cards within the next few months (weeks if I don't stop playing). And I hope the expansions are characters and cards only for a while. I don't see a need for a new board for quite some time. They can just release card packs for this one for a while and I'd be happy.

...now I'm thinkin' about lookin' up some of the Arkham Horror minis they released a while back.

This, exactly. They can offer some "mini expansions" with a new Old One and some more cards. No new boards for some time. I'm not sure what I new board would be, likely the Dreamlands (and the city's and locales there). But, ATM, just cards please.

Hmm... $48 for some paintable minis... that just might be something I might do. I'm also thinking about getting a pack of AH dice.

I'll be honest, I'm happier about EH than any other game I got this year. There is something about the way it plays that just "clicks" with me.

Those minis are pre-paints, Bael. No painting needed.

[hepcat]

Yup, that's what makes them hard to resist. I may pick up a few here and there at my FLGS.

[baelthazar]

OH NOES! I actually wanted them unpainted. Although $4 for a painted mini is actually quite reasonable.

I am so close to pulling the trigger on those. It looks like my only option, however, is to get them from the FFG webstore.

[Smoove_B]

Man, I am lovin' this one. I really hope expansions are coming soon though.

Since this is a FF game, I need to ask -- how are the misprints? Is there already a 37 page errata sheet somewhere?

[hepcat]

I've come across a few grammatical issues, but nothing glaringly bad so far. One thing they did right this time was the manual. They broke it into two booklets. The first is a walkthrough of a sorts with the rules laid out simply and plainly. The other, a reference booklet, is an alphabetical listing of all the major/minor concepts with fuller explanations. I've yet to spend more than 2 minutes finding the exact answer to a rules question so far. It's a thing of beauty.

Just finished my first solo game...and it was a loss. You have to pay attention to the rumor cards as there are a few with a "go there, do this or lose before these run out" instructions. They're not grievously difficult, but if you don't pay attention you can accidentally let one of them run out of control and before you know, it's die time.

I can't recommend this one enough though. It really does feel like they took a bunch of really great mechanics from other games and put them in a blender with the old Arkham Horror and out came a smoothie of delicious terror.

[Smoove_B]

Spelling errors annoy me, but cards that have major errors that impact game play are the ones I really have trouble with. Thanks.

[hepcat]

The only complaint I have is that they included a very small number of research encounter cards. Research encounters net you the clue tokens so you're going to go through that deck once, maybe twice or even more in a game, depending on the number of players. It can be fixed easily enough through expansions, but it's a bit annoying that the base game has so few.

[MythicalMino]

I cannot find any reference to this symbol (though, I could be looking for the wrong word), but there is a small black-colored symbol in the upper (almost) left corner on SOME of the Mythos cards. Not all of them. When they do appear on a Mythos card, they are next to the italicized "flavor" text of the card. What is the symbol, and what, if anything, does the symbol mean/do?

Chris

[hepcat]

I just assumed it was background art on the card.

[IceBear]

Could be something planned for an expansion, like some cards in Legendary have Spider Friends symbol for an upcoming expansion

[baelthazar]

I just got my butt handed to me by Shub-Niggurath. Royally. I hadn't even solved the second mystery when she woke up. But then again, I had some terrible rolls, terrible monster draws, and terrible rumors that plagued me the entire time. I also picked a bad combo for investigators (I think 2 is the sweet spot here for solo-play, and it really is super simple to manage two investigators solo). I really look forward to pulling this out with some of my friends during the Holiday.

I think I will take Duel of Ages II and this home for the holidays. I would love to play Ogre, but... yeah... a bit hard to travel with that box.

[MythicalMino]

Man, this game just keeps shoving me in its mouth, chews me up, then spits me out. I have played 5 games so far (2 vs. Azathoth, 3 vs. Cthulu), and I have lost each one...although, I thought I might have had a shot in my game last night vs. Cthulu...that is, until Cthylla showed up. Silas Marsh went crazy when he confronted her...and in that same turn, the jazz player, too, went crazy, waking up Cthulu, causing both characters to be eliminated (I am assuming I played that correctly, since you bring in a new investigator at the end of the Mythos Phase, which Cthulu was awake before that point in the turn...but honestly, that doesn't matter, I would have lost regardless within a turn or so).

The game is truly awesome, and has this epic feeling each time I have played it. Very tense, and sometimes, it is very difficult to decide exactly where to go and what to do (rest? or should I risk it and try to shut down that gate that is going to cause the doom tracker to advance? Or maybe I need to try to get that weapon? Or I really need to get to that clue...what to do, what to do?)

Just a great boardgame.

[Chaz]

I've been planning on getting Robinson Crusoe for a while now, but if this printing of it doesn't make copies readily available (preferably from Amazon), I may just say screw it and get this instead.

[hepcat]

If you check out the BGG forum on this, there's the usual crowd of people who are kvetching about one card being game breaking, how to "fix" the game through a series of game changing variants, and the other usual crap from the power gamers. For those of us who must be too stupid to see flaws in everything, it's a fun game.

I still recommend Robinson Crusoe highly. But if you can't get it, you'll enjoy EH.

[Chaz]

At this point, I treat BGG about the same as I do AVS: only go there if looking for specific information, and always remember that the people who post the most on there mostly want something very, very specific from their hobby that may or may not exist, and certainly doesn't include "having fun".

I'd prefer Crusoe, but I'm still not convinced copies will be available to be bought when this printing finally ships. I hope I'm wrong.

[El Guapo]

I also enjoy laughing at the BGG expected playtime numbers.