Arkham Horror Review


Arkham Horror is a cooperative board game set in 1920s Arkham, Massachusetts. Arkham is a fictional town that H.P. Lovecraft set a number of his Cthulhu Mythos stories in and around. Arkham is home to a number of institutions including Miskatonic University, where you can study all sorts of forbidden and lost knowledge, and Arkham Asylum, without all of Batman’s villains of course. Both are included as locations in Arkham Horror.

A word of warning about this review; I am writing a detailed article about this game and its history after playing a lot. My group still does not always get every rule right. This game may seem very complex, but do not be intimidated by that. After playing a few games it really does flow well, and I often handle most of the steps that are not related to each player’s Investigator. This quasi game mastering helps the game move smoothly and makes it accessible for beginning players.


A Bit of History

H.P. Lovecraft is sometimes thought of as a successor to Edgar Allen Poe. Both men wrote dark, disturbing stories and were not very successful until after they died. One of Lovecraft’s main themes is that mankind is insignificant on a cosmic scale and a glimpse into the true nature of the universe reveals indescribable horror that can kill you or drive you insane. Lovecraft is unclear whether death or insanity is preferable.

Lovecraft’s works are most often a combination of Horror and Science Fiction where the Elder Gods and Ancient Ones are really incomprehensible creatures from other planets or dimensions. The Cthulhu Mythos is so named because of Lovecraft’s short story, "The Call of Cthulhu". The Mythos is composed of Elder Gods and the monsters and alien races that are descended from or serve these Ancient Ones. If you are interested in reading Lovecraft’s work, check out Dagonbytes or pick up a book from the publishing house most associated with Lovecraft. Many authors have continued to add stories to the Cthulhu Mythos after Lovecraft’s death.


The first Arkham Horror boardgame was released by Chaosium, Inc. in 1987. I actually have owned three copies of the Chaosium version, but was never able to convince others to play it. For the 1980s, Chaosium’s version was a unique and interesting idea of cooperative game play set in H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Fantasy Flight Games built upon this fondly remembered game to create an updated version for the 2000s.


On to the Game


I purchased my copy of Fantasy Flight Games' Arkham Horror shortly after its release more than four years ago. Since that time, I have had the opportunity to play dozens of games ranging from solo play to seven players. Winning and losing ended my games within an hour and after five or more hours of game play. This game is one of my favorite all time games. Having said all of that, Arkham Horror may or may not be ideal for you. To help you decide if it is the game for you, I have prepared a detailed summary of gameplay.

Arkham Horror is playable with 1-8 players. Each player assumes the role of an Investigator in Arkham. The Investigators must take on an Ancient One chosen randomly from a group that includes Cthulhu and Azathoth among others. At the start of the game, the Ancient One slumbers as the Investigators explore Arkham. The Ancient One’s presence is still felt through game effects on its card. As the game progresses, gates from other planes of reality open unleashing monsters and other threats onto the streets of Arkham. Each gate adds a token to the Ancient One’s doom track bringing it one step closer to waking for a final battle against the Investigators.

Investigators are chosen randomly, but we often break this rule and pick our favorites. For the first couple games I recommend picking randomly to learn how different characters play. Each investigator starts the game with a variety of fixed items from one or more of five different decks: Common Items, Unique Items, Spells, Allies and Abilities. These cards vary from weapons like machine guns and whiskey to defensive spells and elder signs. Some Investigators also receive money, retainers (cards that pay you every turn) and/or clue tokens. Investigators also have six traits that affect how well they can handle certain challenges, a health score, a sanity score and a unique special ability.

These traits are divided into three opposing pairs. For example, movement and sneak form a pair and you decrease your sneak to increase your movement. The same mechanic is true for the other two pairs, luck/lore and will/fight. During the upkeep phase you are allowed to adjust your stats based upon your character’s focus score. Each character has values on the card that show how high or low each stat can be for that Investigator.

Each game round begins with the first player drawing a Mythos card from the Mythos deck. The Mythos card reveals what location a gate opens at, what types of monsters move and what event text affects Arkham. After the Mythos phase, players check any upkeep cards to see if they are discarded and then they can explore Arkham. The City of Arkham Game Board consists of a number of locations divided into groups of 2-3 locations by color. Connecting these locations are a number of streets, one for each location color group.


These locations are where most of the activity in Arkham takes place. Also on the game board are Other World locations. These Other Worlds are accessible by gates that open on unstable locations, sucking any unwary investigator at that location through, or by willing investigators moving to and entering a gate to explore the Other World. Gates will only open on unstable locations with a red diamond. When a gate opens monsters are drawn randomly from the monster cup and placed on the gate. These monsters will move in later turns based upon Mythos cards. The stable locations contain a green diamond. Each location also has two symbols indicating what type of encounters you are likely to have at that location. Some of these encounters include chances to gain clue tokens, unique items, common items, allies or money.


After each player has completed their move, encounters occur first for those players in Arkham locations and then for those players in other worlds. Arkham encounters are resolved by drawing the appropriate colored card and reading the text associated with the Investigator’s location and following the instructions. Other World locations are resolved in a similar manner except that cards are drawn from the Other World deck and resolved only if the card color matches one of up to four colors associated with the Other World the Investigator is currently exploring.

The main resolution mechanic in Arkham horror involves rolling a number of dice equal to the relevant character stat plus or minus any modifiers, including weapons or spells in combat. A success is achieved for each 5+ rolled. Certain cards can either curse or bless your ability to roll successes. A blessed character rolls successes on a 4+, and a cursed character only rolls a success on a 6. A roll is made during the upkeep phase for curses and blesses to determine if those cards are discarded.

The Investigators need to pay attention to both the number of gates open as well as how many monsters are loose on the streets of Arkham. Based on the number of players, only a certain number of monsters can be in Arkham before they start filling up the outskirts. Too many monsters in the outskirts and the terror track increases. If the terror track increases too much, shops in Arkham start to close down and other bad things can start happening, including the Ancient One awakening.


Players can choose to either fight a monster or sneak by a monster when entering a space containing one or more monsters. All of the information needed to fight a monster is on the back of the monster token including any special abilities. Because knowledge of the true nature of the cosmos is almost always bad in the Cthulhu Mythos, most monsters require a sanity check before an Investigator can attempt to fight it. This check is based on the Investigator’s Will stat. An Investigator who does not pass the sanity check takes sanity damage before proceeding to combat. The number of dice rolled in combat is determined by the Investigator’s Fight stat plus up to two hands worth of weapons or spells and any other modifiers from allies or traits. Each success rolled deals a damage to the monster. If the damage is enough to kill the monster, the Investigator takes the monster as a trophy. If the Investigator does not kill the monster, he or she takes damage from the monster and combat continues. Monster trophies can be exchanged at various locations for certain game effects.

Some Investigators are better at fighting while others are better at collecting clue tokens from various locations in Arkham and entering a Gate to explore Other Worlds and hopefully close and seal gates. If too many gates are opened, the Ancient One will wake and the final battle will begin whether the Investigators are ready or not! Gates are closed by an investigator after exploring the Other World. Each Other World has two locations that are explored before an Investigator returns to Arkham. After returning to Arkham, the Investigator can attempt to close the gate using either the Will or Fight stat. If the attempt is successful, an Investigator can seal a gate by spending five clue tokens. Elder Sign cards found in the Unique item deck can close a gate without making a skill check. A sealed gate prevents another gate from opening on the same location. A closed, but not sealed, gate location could have another gate open at the same location in the future. When an Investigator closes or seals a gate, that Investigator takes the gate as a trophy. Gate trophies can be used similarly to monster trophies at various Arkham locations or count towards one of the three victory conditions.

A few other rules are necessary to understand Arkham Horror. Clue tokens can also be used to add one die per token spent to any check. These can be spent one at a time after a check is made to try and succeed. At any time an Investigator in Arkham is reduced to zero Health or Sanity, they are sent to the Hospital or Asylum to recover. Of course, those with more money can pay for better service and recover quicker. An investigator reduced to zero Health or Sanity in Another World is lost in time and space for a couple of turns before suddenly returning to any location in Arkham. Certain game effects can cause an Investigator to be devoured and removed from the game. At that point, the player can pick a new Investigator to continue playing.


There are three ways to win Arkham Horror. The first is by sealing six gates. The second is by closing all the gates and having sufficient gate trophies determined by the number of players. Achieving the first two conditions is covered above. The third way is the hardest; the Investigators must defeat the Ancient One in a final battle. The Ancient One has life equal to the number of markers on its doom track. If the Ancient One is woken by too many gates being open in Arkham or running out of monsters in the Monster Cup, the doom track is filled. The Ancient One has specific abilities on its card connected to the final battle. The number of successes needed to wound the Ancient One once is equal to the number of players. If your Ancient One is Azathoth and it awakens, you automatically lose as the world is destroyed!

The game board, cards and tokens live up to Fantasy Flight Games’ reputation for high quality games. I recommend getting a small Plano tackle box available at most department and outdoor stores. Organization will make the setup and take-down time much quicker. Arkham Horror does take a decent amount of time with 45-60 minutes per player to complete. The best number of players for my group is four. Four players allows enough interaction to keep all the players interested. I have had a good time with more than four players, but it requires everyone to get into the spirit of the game. Arkham Horror is also a great game if you do not have a play group, as it can be played with only one Investigator. I have played it by myself, but with at least two Investigators, one for monster management and one for gate sealing.

Arkham Horror is not for people who want complete control over their part of the game. It is an experience game. The Investigators are playing out a story and some luck is involved. Some people contend that the game is nothing but luck, but I strongly disagree. Important decision making is involved in adjusting stats, buying new items, taking risks by exploring unstable locations, gathering clue tokens, moving about the board, choosing when to explore other worlds, deciding to sneak past a monster or fight it and determining what items or spells to use in combat. Dice rolling, while containing an element of luck, does follow probability rules that average out over time. The chance element also adds to the theme that humanity is insignificant and inconsequential to the whims of the universe and greater beings. In the Cthulhu Mythos, random chance is often the only reason that humanity survives.

Fantasy Flight Games has posted the rules for your review online. Additionally FFG has released three small box and three large box expansions which add various other mechanics and Ancient Ones. Fourteen Custom Scenarios were released for league play and are available on their website under Support page. Many of these scenarios require one or more of the expansions, but some are playable with just the base game.

Arkham Horror is both an experience and a game. It is ideal for an evening’s entertainment for those who are willing to get into the spirit of the game. No background knowledge of the Cthulhu Mythos is needed to enjoy the game. The rules may seem daunting at first, but they are really composed of a number of simple mechanics. I recommend that the owner play a few solo games and then act as a GM, running all of the non player specific aspects with new players. Running a game this way will both speed it up and prevent constant reference to the rulebook.

I give Arkham Horror an 9/10 Elder signs for fun.

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