I'm really into board games, and I talk about them every now and again here on my blog. I wanted to talk about one that I enjoy. There is a game called Arkham Horror, and no, it's not a Batman game. Arkham Horror is a board game based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and although I find his writing more dull than a staring at a pure white wall with his world building, his writings are where the whole Cthulu Mythos originated. The mythos is very dark and creepy. Basically, the stories are about these huge, giant monsters from another dimension are awaking and ready to invade Earth and end all life as we know it while they devour the whole world, and then move on to other worlds and dimensions.
Arkham Horror is a pretty cool game, but it's hard to play because there are a lot of rules, and it takes a minimum of three hours to play, and that's if you are lucky. Most of the time, between explaining all of the rules to everyone in your group, and then playing, it's usually around a five hour experience. I have the original version, but there is a new, third edition. Basically, the giant board is a map of the fictional town of Arkham, Massachusetts, with different locations and streets. During the game, you choose one lead monster, and you and your friends and family are investigators trying to find spells and items to close off doorways to the other dimensions where monsters are coming through. It up to you to and your group to find enough clues, spells and weapons and travel between dimensional locations. However, other monsters are coming through the dimensions before they are closed up, and fighting them can be very difficult.
You get to choose a fictional character as your investigator, they are given some tokens that look like human hearts for staminal, and tokens that look like human brains. All of the investigators have different levers of each, and they also have a special ability that only the person playing the investigator can do that will help the whole group seal off the doorways and stop the monsters from coming in. It's a very difficult game, and it is pretty upsetting when you play your whole Saturday and end up losing in the end. It's a great co-op horror genre that is pretty cool, however, the second edition isn't selling much because Fantasy Flight Games made a sort of sequel game called Eldrich Horror.
Eldrich Horror plays faster and more streamlined, which means everything is very well thought out, and less confusing. The game is basically the same, but with newer rules that speed everything up and instead of the game taking place in a little town, it now takes place all over the planet. It still takes three or so hours to play, but it really is easier and faster.
There is also another Arkham Horror game from Fantasy Flight Games called Elder Sign. Elder Sign scratches that same co-op horror genre, and even though you can play any of the games solo, Elder Sign is a great solo game or co-op game. If you play alone, it might take half an hour, if you have a small group, an hour, or if you have a big group, up to eight people, then it can take two hours, but I've never played it where it lasted more than an hour. I actually prefer Elder Sign over the other two. It's fun, fast, and easy to learn.
In Elder Sign, you and your fellow investigators are all drawn to an old museum with a lot of creepy exhibits. You learn that there is a monster that is trying to break through, using the museum as a portal to break through and devour the Earth. There are lots of cards that give you tons of replay games. There are eight lead monsters, and tons of different investigators with different abilities. The hearts and brains are still there, like the others. Basically, there are tons of museum room cards, but you only have six locations at a time. Using dice, each location has certain icons you need to roll in order to seal off that room. If you are lucky and roll the right location icons, you get an item, or weapon, or spell, or if you are lucky, and Elder Sign. The Elder Sign looks like a misshapen pentagram, by the way, the game isn't evil or contain devil worshipping at all. I figured I better make that known. The location card lets you see what you need to roll, and what the rewards are. There are six normal green dice with icons on them, and then there is one yellow and one red die. The yellow and red dice are there if you have a special item or weapon, giving you more dice to roll what you need to close off the location. If you don't roll what is needed, there is a penalty, where you lose your hearts or brains.
Investigators also get trophies when they seal off a location. On top of items or Elder Signs, there is a number on each location. That number allows you to buy things from the museum to help. Usually they are used to refill your hearts and brains, but let you buy items or even Elder Signs. Elder Signs are kind of hard to get. Each lead Monster also has what they call a doom track. It's basically a countdown. Elder Sign tokens are what closes the doorway between the dimensions, there are some lead monsters that are kind of easy to beat, but there are several of lead bosses included with the game. There are also a ton of different museum location cards. The odds of you getting the exact same mix of location cards, investigators and their abilities, lead monsters and items/weapons will pretty much never happen, unless you purposely set up everything exactly the same, but even then, monsters you have to fight are put into a cup, and drawn at random, only when the game tells you to, and the order you visit the location cards , you are never going to have the same game experience, which is something I love about newer board games starting to come out. It's not like Monopoly that feels like the exact same game every time you play, you are faced with different options, difficulty of play, interactions with other players, there is a ton of replay value in Elder Sign, and it's pretty cool. I think it's great playing with friends, but since I know all of the rules, I can set up a game in five minutes and play it by myself, and it's still a lot of fun.
A lot of the apps I have on my Kindle Fire and iPhone are digital versions of board games. Both of ones I own, and those I don't. I like them because I can play by myself with the artificial intelligence playing as co-op partners or opponents. Elder Sign has one called Elder Sign Omens, which is great. It available on mostly every phone or tablet, and through Steam on your PC or Mac. I like it, but there are a few differences from the board game. The AI is also hard to beat because the dice rolls are controlled by the AI. I have had it for a few years now, and I have probably actually won three times, and all three were against the easiest lead monster. It also has removed a few things from the board game. It's fun, and I think the most expensive price for it is $8.00. It's fun to turn on while I am winding down for the night and getting ready for sleep. It plays really fast, and you pick and play as four of the investigators.
There are also four expansion packs which add four to five new lead monsters, new weapons and items. Like I said, even if you just have the base game, and how it has tons of replay value and probably don't really need expansions for the game, it's fun that they are there. I only have one, The Dark Pharoh, but in all honesty, I bought it because I love anything about ancient Egypt, and not because I have played everything in the base game. Three of the expansion packs are also available for the app and DLC.
There is also an Arkham Horror card game, but it's pretty expensive, and once you play it, you know the whole story and how to play everything the right way, and while it has expansion packs, it's not worth the investment, although, people do like it a lot.
Anyway, it's a pretty fun game, and I have been enjoying it during the pandemic. A lot of my friends and I decided not to get together too often until the serious pandemic issues are gone, so playing board and card games with my friends in person aren't happening as much.
Speaking of which, I hope you are all safe and healthy. Get your shots. It's driving me crazy when I see news reports of people protesting the vaccine. Just get the shots. They are free, they are available almost anywhere and it will give you piece of mind. Plus, it doesn't really hurt. It's way worse when a doctor orders a blood sample. The needle is super small, it's in, and within literally two seconds, it's out, and you are good to go. If you haven't had your shots, both of them, then you really need to get it. I made a joke that I got my "V-Card", that I lost in 2007, back after I got my second shot.
Well that's it from me. If you are interested in the games I talked about, follow the links I left, or you can download the cheap app and play Elder Sign Omens, and if you like it, you can buy Elder Sign later. I'll blog you all soon.
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