Arkham Horror: The Dunwich Horror Review

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(More customer reviews)I should say that my wife and I chose basic Arkham as our "gateway" for boardgames based largely on the theme and the promise of coop gameplay. We were extremely pleased with the results, despite what many people cite as serious flaws of the game...its length, the rules complexity, the length of time it took to set up and put away, etc. If you are one of those people, Dunwich will likely not address any of your concerns. It takes a long, complicated game and gives you even more options, capable of being added incrementally or all at once.
What it does do, even implemented piecemeal, is significantly alter the game balance, in our opinion for the better. We tried it in "touring mode" first where you put all of the Dunwich cards on top of their decks to maximize the experience, and while we did ultimately get crushed in that session, it was easily one of the top plays we've had of the game. Since then it's become a fully integrated part of our routine, because we find what most of what it adds indispensable now and after one or two plays, really not much more to keep track of if you could handle the original.
Its strengths: new encounters, new characters, new mythos, new old ones, new monsters, new items and allies. I look up on those as a real improvement to the game that I can unequivocally recommend to someone that already likes the base set. The game does get harder, but the experience overall is a much higher quality one, if that makes sense. I never got to the point where I was seeing a lot of repetition with the core set, but this virtually guarantees that won't be an issue for a very long time.
Its less well rounded additions: the additional board, the Horror itself, the vortex mechanic. I like these but I can't say they work as smoothly as I'd like, at least within the context of our mostly two player games. I haven't dropped them from gameplay as we've continued, but I could see myself phasing out the board and those two parts in the future, especially when the upcoming Kingsport Horror is released. I will still be pleased to have the rest of its additions and consider them well worth the price of admission.

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Dunwich Horror adds 8 Investigators, 4 Ancient Ones, 15 Item cards, 25 Unique Item cards, 21 Spell cards, 11 Skill cards, 5 Ally cards, 4 Condition cards, 28 Monster tokens, 36 Mythos cards and 32 Gate cards to the base set. It also adds new location cards, for a total of 14 cards at each location instead of 7. Dunwich Horror also adds many new mechanics. Players can take a train to Dunwich (a new board that is placed on the end of the Arkham board), which adds 9 new locations and 2 new outer worlds to the game. Players reduced to 0 stamina or sanity have the option of drawing from the Injury or Madness deck, acquiring permanent handicaps, rather than losing half their items and clue tokens. Gates are no longer permanently sealed (a popular house rule in the base game). Condition cards provide benefits to all players may be activated. And, of course, the Dunwich Horror itself - not as strong as the Ancient Ones, yet far stronger than any other monster in the game.This expansion also features revised rules and an FAQ that addresses many of the perceived faults of the base game. Replacement cards are provided for items and spells that are subject to errata.

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Arkham Horror: Black Goat of the Woods Review

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(More customer reviews)If your games of Arkham Horror have become predictable and easy, this expansion will cure what ails you. The addition of the Black Goat herald makes the game easily twice as hard. You can use the new goodies without the herald, though, if you don't want to be on the edge of your seat all game. Also, there are rules for adjusting game difficulty, which is nice.
It'll take about one game to get the new rules down. Certainly it's worth the money and time to get new cards and items that make the game more interesting and versatile.

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A dangerous cult has risen in Arkham! Meeting in secret, these heretics and madmen consort with dark powers and offer up sacrifices to the Ancient One, while hordes of vicious monsters descend on the thetown. It's up to a small band of investigators to infiltrate the cult and learn from these dark rituals, yet even the most pure-hearted may find himself corrupted in the process. Will their efforts be enough tostop the Ancient One from awakening, or will the investigators succumb, one by one, to the blasphemous seduction of its Herald, the Black Goat of the Woods?The Black Goat of the Woods is an small expansion for the Arkham Horror board game. This expansion features 88 new Ancient One cards, 9 new monster markers, 1 Herald Sheet, and 76 new Investigatorcards including new items, new spells, and the dangerous lure of corruption...

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Arkham Horror: Innsmouth Horror Expansion Review

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(More customer reviews)My son and I have purchased all the Arkham Horror expansions. This is the latest one. It is a big expansion, with lots of materials and an additional game board.
A person needs the base Arkham Horror set to go with this expansion, in order to play it.
We set up the game with the base set and this new expansion, but put away materials from other, earlier expansions. This gives the new expansion more of an opportunity to be fully appreciated.
Generally, this may be the toughest expansion yet. Every game has players battling a Great Old One, as is always the case. The new Great Old Ones that come with this set are very challenging. New features include a private challenge for each investigator, which adds interest. There are also about 275 new cards to be added to the original game deck. The price for this expansion is a bit stiff, but Amazon prices it with a major discount compared to other sources. And you do get "lots more stuff."
Anyway, we have been having great fun with the new Innsmouth Expansion. We only win about half the time -- that adds to the fun.
The art work and creative imagination of the game designers have paid off in a terrific game.
Note: The website associated with this game encourages that players create "house rules." In other words, players can get together and agree to modify the official game rules in various ways. So if the game seems too difficult, it is easy to make a few adjustments, thereby ensuring success at least part of the time.
Those who own the original Arkham Horror game will probably get great fun and entertainment out of the new set.
For any interested, the new Innsmouth Horror expansion is based on a novelette by H.P. Lovecraft, entitled "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." Some of you may enjoy checking this out of the library and reading it. It is included in most collections of Lovecraft's short fiction. This reading will enrich the game experience for you.
As I write this, Halloween is only a week away. What a great fun project for Halloween! ! !

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Of all the cities found in H.P. Lovecraft's vision of Massachusetts, perhaps none is quite so deadly as the small fishing village of Innsmouth. Decrepit and dying, Innsmouth is being consumed from within by an ancient pact once made to save the town. The investigators will find every hand turned against them as they explore its rotting docks and fetid beaches. In the end, perhaps the only way to save Innsmouth is by destroying it along with the terrible creatures that haunt its waters near Devil Reef.Innsmouth Horror introduces several new game concepts to the Arkham Horror board game, including Personal Stories unique to each investigator as well as the Innsmouth Look. The town of Innsmouth is hostile to the investigators, and they may well find themselves thrown in jail and fed to a Shoggoth while they search the town for evidence to call in the Feds. However, leaving Innsmouth to fester is a bad idea, since the Deep Ones will gather and rise, bringing with them the Ancient One. Innsmouth Horror also adds 16 new investigators, eight new Ancient Ones, two new Heralds, Epic Battle cards for the new Ancient Ones, over 30 new monster markers, plenty of new encounters, and an expansion board featuring the town of Innsmouth. Over all, this expansion adds over 300 new cards to the base game.Innsmouth Horror requires a copy of Arkham Horror to play.

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Arkham Horror: The King in Yellow Expansion Review

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(More customer reviews)The King in Yellow is my favorite horror story, so when I got into playing Arkham Horror, it didn't take long for a well-meaning friend to give me this expansion.
Objectively, The King in Yellow keeps to the high standards of the Arkham Horror game. The good & the bad are well-balanced. There are lots of new horrible things that can happen (events, etc) and lots of wonderful new spells and items to use in battling them. Two major new mechanics are introduced: the Herald (kind of a mini-Great Old One that makes the game a LOT harder) and the 'Acts' of the King in Yellow play. Essentially, at points in the game, you draw 'Act' cards. Either you react immediately (by taking a stiff penalty of some sort) or you move one step closer to losing the game.
Like with the other expansions, there are various ways to use the expansion. My preference is to mix the cards right in, but if you're finding the game too easy (which means you're a strategic genius the likes of Sun Tzu), you can highlight the expansion elements in a way that's guaranteed to make the game a LOT harder.
Subjectively, I'm madly fond of the content of this expansion. The King in Yellow is a mystical play (like the Necronomicon on stage!), and the expansion does a great job capturing the tone & fluff of the story created by Robert Chambers.
A lot of fun - highly recommended.

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Anew play is coming to Miskatonic University, and anyone who's anyonewill be there for the opening performance. However, there's somethingsinister about this play, and the people who see it come back alittle...different. As if the investigators didn't have enough to worryabout before, now they must deal with the mind-warping effects of theKing in Yellow, a play that tells a tale of madness and horror, openinga door for the Tattered King to enter through. This expansionintroduces a major new mechanic to Arkham Horror - Heralds, who preparethe way for the Ancient One to arrive. In addition, old familiar faceswill be turned against the investigators in ways they never expected.Featuring over 160 new cards, the King in Yellow heralds a darker agefor Arkham Horror fans.Product DescriptionThe infamous theatrical play "The King in Yellow," has come to Arkhamto steal the sanity of those who watch it. With it come artists whopaint things that cannot be, writers who dream of black stars, andmadmen who wish to drag the rest of humanity into the dark abyss.Lording over all of them is the King in Yellow himself. With thetownsfolk being corrupted by the baleful yellow signs, can a fewcourageous investigators stop the King in Yellow before madness takesits toll? THE KING IN YELLOW is an expansion for the ARKHAM HORRORboard game by Fantasy Flight Games. This expansion features 1 HeraldSheet, 1 sheet of tokens, 90 new Ancient One cards, and 76 newInvestigator cards, including new Items, new Spells, and the terribleblighted Allies.

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Betrayal at House on the Hill Review

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(More customer reviews)This game is really great. Someone in my gaming group has the 1st edition, so we were all really excited when we found out this was being reprinted.
For those of you who have played the first edition, the gameplay is the same. Some rules have been clarified, and there is more text on some of the room tiles for ease of use.
For those of you who haven't played: you should. You are a group of explorers going through a haunted house. Up to 6 people can play, and each of the 6 character cards has a front and a back, each with different stats to add variation. Other people have posted more on how the game works, so I won't go too much into it right now.
This reprint added some new haunts, which is really fun. I haven't had a chance to play many of the new ones, but I did get to play one with hidden traitors, and I enjoyed it. Some of the haunts can also be unbalanced. I was the traitor for one haunt where I didn't get to do a single damage to any of the heroes. The next week, I was the traitor for the same haunt and I absolutely obliterated the heroes. It all depends on how the house is set up, and dice luck.
My only complaint about this reprint is the quality of the components of this game. Something about the cardboard they used this time around just doesn't work. The first print had good, thick cardboard that felt high-quality. When I took this reprint out of the box, all of the cardboard components started to warp. The room tile stack can easily be compressed an inch or two because of this warping. Some people have prevented this by immediately placing the cardboard pieces under a book for a day or two after opening them, but I'm not sure if that works all of the time or not. Another component they didn't quite get right are the black plastic clips. In the first printing, they clips were too tight on the cardboard, and ended up scratching whatever part they were placed on. In the reprint, they are too loose. We have had some slide off completely because they are so loose they have no traction. The 5 spare clips can sometimes be enough to give you clips that fit on all the pieces you need, but it's not a guarantee.
The low quality of the pieces do detract from gameplay a little bit (when the room tiles slide under each other on the table, or your stat slider goes to the minimum and you die) but this is still a great game with a fun theme and lots of replayability. I would certainly recommend it, especially if they fix the game components.

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New spooky nights await you and your friends!The creak of footsteps on the stairs, the smell of something foul and dead, the feel of something crawling down your back - this and more can be found in the exciting refresh of the Avalon Hill favorite Betrayal at House on the Hill. This fun and suspenseful game is a new experience almost every time you play - you and your friends explore "that creepy old place on the hill" until enough mystic misadventures happen that one of the players turns on all of the others! Hours of fun for all your friends and family.Designed for 3-6 players aged 12 and up, this boardgame features multiple scenarios, a different lay-out with every game, and enough chills to freeze the heart of any horror fan.This new release features:* The Haunt books have been refreshed with 8 new haunts - some of which feature a new "hidden traitor" game mechanic.* The Item cards have been updated with 5 new items!* The die-cut game play tokens have been redesigned making them easier to identify.* Exciting and compelling new art and design on the box.

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Arkham Horror: Kingsport Horror Expansion Review

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(More customer reviews)Kingsport Horror, the second "big box" expansion for Arkham Horror, is a must purchase for fans of the board game. It adds new elements to pretty much every aspect of the base set: new investigators, new gates, new items, new encounters, new monsters, and (last but not least) the Epic Battle variation which adds a significant and challenging twist to your last stand against the Ancient One. But this expansion is more than just markers and mechanics: it also introduces characters and locations from a wide variety of Lovecraft's writings into the game, making his world larger - and more frightening - whether you play with all of Kingsport or just mix a few extra cards into the standard game.
4 1/2 stars, rounded down because I find the rift progress mechanic unwieldy (but still fun).

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Kingsport Horror introduces new game concepts to the Arkham Horror board game, including wandering dimensional rifts, Epic Battle cards, Guardians, and elusive monsters that must be tracked down before they can be fought. Kingsport Horror also adds eight new investigators, four new Ancient Ones, two new Heralds, over 20 new monsters markers, dozens of new items and skills, plenty of new encounters, and an expansion board featuring the city of Kingsport.

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Arkham Horror Review

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(More customer reviews)I bought this game when it came out. Since then, i have purchased the Black Pharaoh and Dunwich expansions, and we (a group of 5 of us) easily say this is one of our favorite board games ever. The game assumes that you already know something about Lovecraft and the Cthulu Mythos, although if you don't, it does not mean you can't enjoy the game. It just means you might not really understand why a Hound of Tindalos drives you so insane, or what exactly an Elder Thing is.
The unique aspect of the game is its cooperative play. With 2-8 players (with 4-5 being the sweet spot) you work together to defeat one of many Great Old Ones that are intent on destroying Arkham and possibly the entire world. Each game changes the GOO you fight, and there are multiple investigators to pick from, so you aren't playing the same hero each time either. Add to this mix hundreds of common item cards, unique items, spells, and encounters for dozens of locations, and you have a game with practically unlimited replayability.
The object of the game is to move around the board, either fighting or evading monsters that spawn from gates, while collecting clues and having encounters. You can try to seal the gates and prevent monsters from coming through them, but if you don't act fast enough, the GOO will eventually awaken and it comes down to a final combat that is sometimes impossible to win.
One thing dissenters say about this game is that you have to manage lots of "fiddly" bits. And true, you have a ton of playing pieces to arrange and manage throughout the game: your health, Sanity, clues, cards, skill sliders. But once you get into rhythm of the game it all comes naturally (although it will take around 3-5 games to get used to it).
[...]
Note however, that the game becomes increasingly harder with each expansion you add. As of this writing, The King in Yellow comes out this month, and it is going to add a whole new level of difficulty to an already hard game. But the key to AH is this:
THE FUN IS NOT IN THE WINNING.
It is just in the playing, even if you lose horribly (and you will) it is fun seeing just HOW bad you lose. Sometimes the game seems to be alive and is plotting against your every move.
Ok, that's enough ranting. I can't say enough good things about Arkham Horror. Buy the base game, and then slowly integrate the expansions to keep the options coming. It only gets better.

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The town of Arkham, Massachusetts is in a panic. Horrific and bizarre events have begun to occur with increasing frequency -- all seeming to point towards some cataclysmic event in the near future that may spell disaster for everyone. Only one small band of investigators can save Arkham from the Great Old Ones and destruction. This new, updated edition features stunning new artwork and graphical design as well as revised and expanded rules. No fan of the Cthulhu Mythos will want to miss this opportunity to acquire this classic Call of Cthulhu boardgame! The game contains the usual high-quality components used by Fantasy Flight Games. For 1 to 8 players, the game takes 2-3 hours to play.

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Arkham Horror: the Lurker at the Threshold Expansion Review

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(More customer reviews)The Lurker at the Threshold is an excellent expansion for intermediate and advanced players of Arkham Horror, offering a variety of subtle - and not so subtle - changes to game play which make it less predictable and more challenging. Most obvious is the eponymous evil himself who tempts all players with Faustian bargains. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to refuse his assistance, and all must pay the price when the Devil comes to collect.
Like all heralds, playing with the Lurker increases the game's difficulty and adds more minutiae to Mythos, but for me the new gates are the real challenge. As if gates that move around or randomly eat you were not bad enough, the inclusion of split gates (portals to two worlds) reduces the total number of gates in the game; never before had my play group feared the Ancient One's awakening because there were no markers left in the stack.
As I have come to expect from Fantasy Flight, the artwork and build quality of The Lurker at the Threshold are both top notch... and, as always, choking and sanity hazards make it unsuitable for young children.
For forcing me to use different strategies, and for devouring my investigators without warning, I will give the Devil his due: five stars.


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The Lurker at the Threshold is the newest boxed expansion set for Arkham Horror is set in a world of gothic horror created by author H. P. Lovecraft. This expansion will bring new levels of dread to your table top, with the addition of a brand new Herald Sheet for "The Lurker at the Threshold" - a powerful and malevolent being that has appeared to prepare the way for the Ancient One, plus more than 200 components and some extraordinary new game mechanics to boot.One of the highlights is the full set of 18 Gate markers that are designed to replace those from the Arkham Horror core set, as well as those from The Dunwich Horror and The Kingsport Horror. They are treated exactly the same as the previous Gate markers, except that each Gate now has an additional characteristic. For example, the "Gate of Madness" will cause an investigator to lose one Sanity when they fail to close the Gate, and a "Moving Gate" that can move along with monsters during the Mythos phase.Brand new to The Lurker at the Threshold are Relationship Cards for use in games with two or more players. Each player draws one Relationship Card at the start of the game, which describes some advantage gained due to how the investigator to your left is related to you. Perhaps you are business associates and mutually reap the benefits of income, or both are Students of the Arcane and gain more frequent access to the Spell deck. No matter how you're related, these will bring a more interesting back-story to your game, involving your characters in more interesting ways than ever before.Finally, The Lurker at the Threshold introduces the Dark Pact deck which will tempt foolish investigators to enter into a terrible arrangement with the Lurker itself. Although these Dark Pacts may grant your investigator enhanced abilities, there is sure to be a cost. What happens when the price is too high?Of course with over 100 new Location cards, Mythos, Gate cards and Spells, plus more Common and Unique Items,

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