Eldritch Horror

    $59.95

    Across the globe, ancient evil is stirring. Now, you and your trusted circle of colleagues must travel around the world, working against all odds to hold back the approaching horror. Foul monsters, brutal encounters, and obscure mysteries will take you to your limit and beyond. All the while, you and your fellow investigators must unravel the otherworldy mysteries scattered around the globe in order to push back the gathering mayhem that threatens to overwhelm humanity. The end draws near! Do you have the courage to prevent global destruction?

    Eldritch Horror is a cooperative game of terror and adventure in which one to eight players take the roles of globetrotting investigators working to solve mysteries, gather clues, and protect the world from an Ancient One – that is, an elder being intent on destroying our world. Each Ancient One comes with its own unique decks of Mystery and Research cards, which draw you deeper into the lore surrounding each loathsome creature. Discover the true name of Azathoth or battle Cthulhu on the high seas.

    While you adventure, the arrival of the Ancient One approaches. Its malign influence is manifested in Eldritch Horror as you draw Mythos Cards, which govern the appearance of otherworldly gates, fearsome monsters, and other ominous elements. Mythos cards keep your investigators under pressure, introducing new threats, even as the arrival of the Great Old One draws nearer! Since the investigators draw a new Mythos card each round, they’re certain to have their hands full battling foul creatures and following up on strange rumors, even as they work to solve their three all-important mysteries.

    With twelve unique investigators, two hundred-fifty tokens, and over three hundred cards, Eldritch Horror presents an epic, world-spanning adventure with each and every game.

    Eldritch Horror is recommended for 1-8 players ages 14 and up, and takes an estimated 180 minutes to play.

    (67 customer reviews)

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    Eldritch Horror
    Eldritch Horror $59.95
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    GTIN: 9781616617660 SKU: 38295 Category:

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    67 reviews for Eldritch Horror

    1. David Reed

      New to “Complex” Board Games? Worth It!!

      I found this game on sale a couple weeks ago. I had never played any board games which I’d consider to be complex like this one, so I was nervous to buy it – I only play games with a few people and this is a longer game that I was afraid would be overwhelming and turn everyone off to it. The most difficult game we played before was pandemic.Im very glad to have made the leap – I’ve probably played the game around 6 or 7 times (losing at least half of them). I have only played with 3 players at most, but more often with 2. So far everyone who has played it really enjoyed themselves! It takes about 2 hours with 2 players, adding players will increase playtime approximately linearly.The story text on the cards is really fun and immersive. The way things can quickly go from smooth sailing to abandon ship keeps the game intense. The dice rolling can get really frustrating sometimes, and I’m not used to luck being such a big role in games I play… but it does keep things fresh and add to the uncertainty of every encounter. I’ve had a couple games which were basically one turn from winning or losing.. and the rest were either easy victory or crushing defeat.All in all I would say this is a great way to get your feet wet if you are considering exploring what I would consider more complex board games. This was my first and it has been a great experience! Once one person learns the rules, it isn’t too terrible to teach to a new player – just explain the surface level basics and then explain the rest as you play rather than cover every detail at the beginning. Otherwise you can just watch the attention of the new player fade away. Before playing yourself I recommend watching youtube videos explaining gameplay, as well as some actual gameplay.I hope this is helpful especially to people who, like me, are new to intimidating board games with 1000 pieces. It can look overwhelming, but this kind of game offers a new level of difficulty and immersion. It also gives those moments where people are high-fiving and gasping at the narrow margin of success. Well worth it 🙂

      8 people found this helpful

    2. KAS90

      Perfect condition and detailed

      This is for my husband for his birthday. He has wanted this game for 4 years. Finally I had the money to buy him it. He is so excited to play this with our group of friends.As well the box came quickly and no damage or missing items.Learned about this game from a series we watch together. I’m also looking forward to playing.

    3. R. Alaniz

      Cthulhu fans enjoy!

      We can’t stop playing this game. If you like Lovecraft and 1930’s style pulp fiction you won’t be disappointed. Not really for beginning gamers however, the game mechanics are intricate and if you are new to board gaming this will be a challenge. It works better with 4 players, at 5+ it can run long and if you are having a game night this will be the only box you’ll crack open. Also it seems to be a bigger hit among the ladies, at least within our gaming group, so if you’ve been looking at trying to get your wife or girlfriend into tabletop this may do the trick.

      2 people found this helpful

    4. Brandon McCrory

      Well done Fantasy Flight Games.

      I purchased Eldritch Horror strictly out of excitement. I own Arkham Horror, Mansions of Madness, and Elder Sign and I enjoy them all for what they are. With that, Eldritch Horror really is an excellent renovation of Arkham Horror, they’ve changed so much while giving you the same experience.Monsters seem less diabolical in Eldritch than they do in Arkham but that isn’t quite right. More often than not when a monster is spawned they sit at the gate in which they were spawned. While this leaves your city mostly free to roam it makes the gates immensely hard to deal with if you leave it alone for too long. They feel more like festering wounds that will cause you to die if you don’t treat them. Because each time the Omen track reaches a new symbol, (There are 4 total. A comet, a Sun, and 2 star formations which are the same.) you check the board for any gates that have the symbol the Omen track is now on. If there are any move the doom token 1 for each. So once you finally decide to fight that gate you now have to deal with 4-5 monsters because you neglected it for so long.If monsters are on your space you can’t have an encounter unless you kill each monster there. You can have an encounter on the same turn you kill every monster if you manage to kill them all. The game also disables many actions if there are monsters on your space, you can’t acquire assets or rest or trade. You can move away though, no need for an evasion test. Some monsters have spawning conditions such as, ‘When this monster spawns move it to specific location.’ There are also reckoning effects on monsters that you resolve whenever a mythos displays a reckoning icon which can cause the monsters to do other actions such as move the doom token one, or pull the nearest investigator a space closer.There have been complaints that the game feels too random compared to Arkham Horror to which I can’t agree at all. At worst, it is equally as random. In reality it is much less random overall, not only do most places say what kind of specific encounter you will have (not always true there is still some randomness to it.) You can permanently upgrade your skills on top of getting items. Also many investigators have built in actions/skills that let them influence their dice further. You get a somewhat better semblance of control, not that you are now fully in control but it seems as if you have a little more power in most situations.Now that investigators can no longer use focus to change their stats, each investigator really fills more of a role. The new static stats combined with each investigator having their own skills makes each investigator feel a lot more varied. We played a game where we had one friend playing as the astronomer and he was excellent at closing most gates but couldn’t fight to save his life. He also had the ability to give up 1 sanity to use as a clue token which was really interesting, I was the soldier and could choose to damage myself and a monster by 1 if they were on my space. I also couldn’t be delayed or detained unless I chose too which was infinitely useful. Reading through most of the investigators they feel more useful this time around, each of them. Previously you would almost always run Joe Diamond because his ability was so great but now you want to run everyone because they’re all so good. (At least now, I’ve only played 3 games so far I imagine I might find an issue as I play more but so far everyone has had a very good use.)Another point to make is the game is much easier to learn and quicker to teach. It took me a good hour to really flesh out, explain and teach Arkham to two different sets of non-board gamers. I taught Edritch and setup the board for us all to play in less than 40 minutes. The game has a very natural progression of handling everything. The two actions you get to use a turn feels like a better way to handle the game similar to how Mansions gave you actions you could do. My friends really enjoyed Arkham despite it being harder to teach to them but they enjoyed Eldritch even more (Surprisingly enough to me, it’s hard to get them to like a new game.) They enjoyed the fact that we were traveling the world this time (Mostly flavor and theme it’s not too different from just moving city locations on Arkham’s board.)Mentioning monsters again there are now Epic monster that spawn with specific events and mythos that can be cataclysmic to your game if you don’t handle them. Even if you try to handle them though they will likely ruin your lives, they’re often very strong and can put down even the toughest investigator. I tried to cover a yeti in kerosine while being blessed on top of my 6 strength thanks to skill improvements and he just rolled in the snow and didn’t care. (I rolled 10 dice with the help of a nearby allied investigator’s skill to let me roll 1 additional die in combat tests and only passed on 2.) It creates a lot of tension having these new epic encounters.Initially you feel like the game is going to be easier than Arkham but it really isn’t. It stacks the odds against you very quickly if you aren’t on top of your threats. I had a few friends really dead set on upgrading their characters and getting new weapons as opposed to helping us close early gates. Things spiraled out of control in two turns and it didn’t matter how strong they were when they ended up cursed messing around with all their encounters.They’ve also done away with money and instead strictly use a stat called influence to gain assets (common items.) You test your influence against the cost of an item. So if you had 4 influence you get to roll 4 dice and if you succeeded on all 4 (A 5 or a 6) you would get to draw items up to your value from the reserve pile. So two 2 cost items, one 4 cost item, etc. This feels like a much better way of handling money instead of having another item to stock up on for use in the game.While Eldritch Horror is a new game and people are complaining about the lack of encounters and not quite enough variety in items and such. This is only natural as this is the first box for the game. Arkham Horror’s base game had the same issues. Fantasy Flight has already acknowledged everyone’s disdain with the lack of cards (not that there really is a lack, its just mostly comparison to Arkham and it’s expansions.) They’re working on a small box expansion that is adding something like 200+ cards and Yig as another great old one to fight. It’s gonna be a fun ride with this board game and I can’t wait for the new expansions.

      5 people found this helpful

    5. Tscarps

      Game is hours of fun.

      Once you get a hung of the game, this is a blast. VERY Challenging. You and your friends honestly have to think through how you can stop the final boss.

    6. Chantel

      Great for game nights!

      There is some set up and reading required for this, but it isn’t bad at all compared to some games. I love playing this with my friends especially since it is cooperative.

    7. Jacob S.

      The game itself has only one real flaw, but with expansions, that should be fixed.

      The game is really solid overall, and I definitely recommend any HP Lovecraft-lovers out there to pick it up, but after a couple months with it, finding the ideal number of players is about 4 (unless you want to make a longer night of it), upcoming expansions will certainly breath some fresh air in to a game that’s still a lot of fun as is. As for other issues, It’s no surprise that a Fantasy Fight game could use a more user-friendly storage system. If you don’t want to fumble around with all those small bags and use rubber bands to keep the cards together, I suggest tossing the cardboard insert the game comes with and doing what one of the customer pics shows. To replace it, get a Plano 23620-01 Stowaway with Adjustable Dividers or something similar to hold all the game pieces and some deck boxes to hold the cards. Also, it only comes with 4 dice, and with bonuses that can boost how many dice you roll to 9 or more, I suggest picking up 12 dice that better fit the theme of the game as well, if you don’t already have extra.

      2 people found this helpful

    8. kccayson

      This cooperative game truly feels like playing out one of H

      This cooperative game truly feels like playing out one of H.P. Lovecraft’s stories. It can be played solo or with up to eight players. There iare a vast number of different characters, items, and enemies that can be encountered, making no two games alike. The base game comes with 4 Ancient Ones to try and stop with your choice of 12 different Investigators.In each game, you choose your Ancient One and set up the Mythos Deck (the deck of things that are going to try and stop you). You then take turns taking two actions each, including moving, acquiring items, and healing. Once everyone has completed their actions, each investigator has an encounter based on where they are on the world map game board. After the encounters, you draw the top of the Mythos Deck and resolve that (usually bad) effect before starting the next round. All the while, gates are opening to allow monsters into our world and the clock is ticking down to the Ancient One’s return.This game can be tough, but it feels appropriate since you are trying to stop an Elder God and builds a great feeling of tension as the world devolves more and more into chaos, making most victories feel like they were a great accomplishment. You can tweak the difficulty by including more easy cards into the mythos deck or vice versa, ramp up the difficulty with more hard cards. My only real complaint is that with all of the different decks and pieces, it can take a little bit to set up and put away, but overall the game is fantastic. There are a ton of expansions, too, that can add more characters, ancient ones, items, and even new locations to further increase the number of options and replay value of the game.

      4 people found this helpful

    9. Jared Wesley Opoien

      Not for beginners but GREAT GAME

      I am a board game rules guy. I can get really nerdy about how rules are written, their clarity, their complexity, etc. However, my wife is the opposite. She just wants to immerse herself in a game with as little struggle as possible. If you are the same type as me, this game is heaven. If you are more like her, you will likely need some more help. After playing quite a few rounds at this point, she and I really love this game and have even bought some expansions. You can play this with anywhere between two and eight people (or even solo if you play as two investigators). Average play time is accurate to the box (between 1.5 and 3 hours).

      One person found this helpful

    10. Marck_Menke

      Game arrived in a timely manner and was in new condition, as described.

      The game was as described and arrived in a timely manner. I am satisfied with my order.Understand that this is a review of the seller, not the game. The two are often confounded on Amazon.

    11. Era

      Great for solo play, challenging but rewarding

      Great for playing solo while stuck at home. Just make sure you play with more than one investigator, even if you’re the only player. Complex, but not overwhelmingly so. It’s challenging but rewarding to win. Only complaint is how much space it takes up–it’s a big board and a lot of stuff needs to go around it as well.

    12. Dan

      Arkham Horror for Gamers Who Don’t LIke Hand-Holding

      Eldritch Horror is very similar to Arkham Horror in that it has a great atmosphere, layers upon layers of depth and complexity, and it has the added benefit of letting you punch Cthulhu in the face. That alone is worth a five star for most.Where this game excels over it’s predecessor is in it’s story. Arkham had the problem of spending way too much time farting around and waiting for things to happen, where as in Eldritch, something is always happening and time is a valuable commodity you have just barely enough of. If you’re not solving an Elder God mystery, you’re attempting to stop some kind of malicious rumor from spreading or on some horrid expedition.Where the game fails is that it can be daunting for beginners. It more or less expects that you have player Arkham Horror before, which is a bit of a turn off. It also has the nasty habit of not holding your hand. There is no easy mode in this game, which can be seen as a plus or minus, depending on your personal tastes.All in all, it’s another Fantasy Flight game that should go into the collection if you enjoyed Arkham Horror enough to play it more than once.

    13. Luna

      Two to four hours for a game, but expect longer for your first

      This game is one of my favourite cooperative board games. It can be absolutely brutal, and careful consideration and cooperation with your fellow players is the only way to win. It’s also an absolute blast with eight players, though I’ve run the game with as low as four with similar results.The game has enough variety between different chosen story modes that it doesn’t get dull. I do suggest (all of) the expansions to further make every run unique, but only *after* running the base game to completion at least once.I also suggest an organizer kit. Having one is the difference between a 5 minute and a 30 minute set up time.

    14. Joey

      Super fun

      I haven’t really gotten to play this with many people yet, mostly as a single player board game, but it is great as single player. The game is pretty brutal and if you do manage to win a solo game or even a game with other people, you will feel like you accomplished something. The flavor of the game is great and does a good job telling a story for each character. A cool aspect of the game is that when your character dies or goes insane, you can still come across their bodies and “encounter” them as a ghost or crazy person. I think that’s a neat idea and it works really well in this game. I’ve never played Arkham Horror, which came before this so I can’t speak how it compares to that, but I really enjoy this game.

      2 people found this helpful

    15. Jeff

      Fantastic Game (If you have the space and time for it.)

      I bought “Eldritch Horror” for my nine-year-old daughter and I to play and we love it. It’s highly cooperative, makes you think carefully about how you use each turn, and has just enough of a random element to keep things from being too predictable.The Good:- The artwork and sheer number of components makes the $40 I paid for it a bargain.- The game’s rules are consistent and presented very well.- It’s replayable in the extreme already, and expansions are on the way.- I’d be hard-pressed to name a game with better flavor text—I think the game designers really nailed the theme and character of the Cthulhu Mythos.The Bad:- This is the largest board game I’ve ever seen. In order to play it comfortably with two people you’ll need around 20 square feet of space (two “card” tables butted up against each other).- There’s a lot of setup work. Taking it out of the box and getting everything ready to play takes us about 40 minutes.- It takes three to four hours to play a single game of “Eldritch Horror” to conclusion. I’m putting this in the Bad list because most of the people I know don’t have the luxury of spending an entire afternoon playing a board game. My daughter and I love this, though.The Good so outweighs the Bad in my book that I’m giving this game five stars and we’ll be picking up the expansions just as soon as Fantasy Flight starts releasing them.EDIT:My daughter and I had the opportunity to play this game with a friend recently, so I have a few things to add/clarify/emphasize.The space this game requires is insane. We played a game of it on what I consider to be an enormous dining room table and the three of us barely had enough room for our elbows once we’d set the game up. It is the game for which no table is adequate so unless you have an insane amount of surface area at your disposal, you might want to give this game a pass.Next, the game is *hard*. At points it’s crazy hard. Every turn you need to flip a “Mythos” card and pretty much every one of these brings you closer to certain doom. The players *really* need to coordinate their actions and pick their battles in order to have a prayer of winning. If all of the players aren’t used to/extremely comfortable with cooperative games, you’ll find it nigh on impossible to win a game. If even a single player decides to ignore the suggestions of the others and do their own thing, you’re done. Every single action you take *must* be made with the team’s best interest/strategy firmly in mind.Lastly, the setup time I mentioned above doesn’t go away. You’ll spend between 30 and 40 minutes getting the game ready no matter how many games you have already played. And the game itself will take multiple hours to play. If you can’t devote five hours to playing a game, you really shouldn’t bother.All that said, I love this game, and it’s a shame that I’ll probably only get to play it once or twice a year given all I wrote above.

      2 people found this helpful

    16. YureiNeko

      perfect

      It came in perfect condition, and actually arrived a bit early.I would say this game is probably not for beginners, just because there is a lot of mechanics at play throughout the entire game. This is definitely a game that would probably perform better if being played through a different medium–But it’s still an amazing board game. Would definitely recommend if you’re looking for some variety in your games, because you won’t play the same game twice with this one.

      One person found this helpful

    17. Badpork

      I Never Would Have Thunk It!

      I’ve never really had a desire to play Arkham Horror, which many people claim this game is similar to, but with all the reviews saying game playing was streamlined a bit I figured I’d give it a try. What a pleasant surprise! My wife and I sat down to figure out the game which really wasn’t all that difficult after having read the rule book. Yes, we missed a few things on our first play through but we were hooked! Traveling around the globe, solving mysteries, fighting back monsters and improving skills in a cooperative setting really seemed to appeal to my wife who doesn’t care for confrontational games. Yes, this game is tough, but for some strange reason we always felt like there was at least some chance we might be able to win– right up to the point where the monsters end up eating the whole planet. We played this game every night the first week we had it and maybe won 2 out of 7 games but still kept coming back for more. Basically, it’s a roller coaster in game form that we can’t wait to get back on.Who will like it: If you don’t mind dice and the fact that things can go horribly wrong but love a good immersive story and good character interaction you will most likely enjoy this game.Who won’t like it: If you’re a real strategist and hate losing because of some bad rolls of the dice avoid this game. It will cause you to lose your mind and get gobbled up by Cyclopean Beings from an alternate non-Euclidean universe (or at the very least you will become seriously miffed!)

      4 people found this helpful

    18. Amazon Customer

      This is my daughter’s and my favorite game right now

      This is a cooperative game and it is a blast! This is my daughter’s and my favorite game right now. We have only beaten is once (against Cthulhu no less). The game does a nice job of simulating the tension and atmosphere of the Lovecraft stories. From the midpoint of the game to the end, there is always more you will want to do than you have the resources to complete. (I believe I have read most of his stories.) The game is somewhat complex, but the rule book is very accessible. In fact there are two rule books one with a narrative summary of the game, with excellent examples and a second reference rule book that is in an alphabetical format. A game for 2 or 3 players takes us about 2 hours. (Both of my daughters have ADD, and one moves so slowly she will probably be late to her own funeral, so it may not take you that long.) I think you will love this game if you don’t mind a little complexity. If you like Lovecraft, science fiction – suspense – fantasy – horror, and/or you like cooperative games check this out.

      One person found this helpful

    19. Micah C Kenfield

      Another Classic from Fantasy Flight Games

      Eldritch Horror is the Lovecraft game I never knew I needed until I played it for the first time. I’ve been a long-time fan of Arkham Horror (from the same creators), but that game suffers from lengthy setup and lengthier gaming sessions. To top it off, AH has a rule book just a hair shorter than Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Once you know what you’re doing it’s great, but it’s hard to initiate new players into its joy.Eldritch Horror, on the other hand, simplifies the more arcane aspects of Arkham Horror while keeping the great mechanics that made AH so great. Like opportunities for immersive storytelling and roleplaying? You got it. Love the combat mechanics of Arkham Horror? They’re still here, just a smidge simpler. Love the feeling of being one turn away from winning when all of a sudden everyone fails their skill checks and the Elder God awakens? You got it. That happens a lot.The mechanics are simpler but the difficulty is still weighted toward “we’re all gonna die” with a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. The mechanic of a worldwide map instead of a claustrophobic city map also makes the game feel a lot more sweeping and epic in scope. Gameplay only takes about two hours from opening the box to grumbling about how unfair the dice were while packing it all up.If I have any complaint, it’s the usual for Fantasy Flight Games that there are a heck of a lot of pieces. Buy a crafts organizer or some other way to keep everything separate and it will make your life so much easier.

      2 people found this helpful

    20. John Young

      This has proved to be a fantastic party game

      This has proved to be a fantastic party game. The rules are a bit complex, but once you’ve played through once they become quite intuitive and easy to keep track of. The game difficulty varies significantly based on which Ancient One you’re up against, and there’s enough randomness to add significant replayability without being frustrating. In addition, my group has found the cooperative gameplay to be extremely fun, and the objectives are difficult enough that it’s a genuine challenge and a feeling of accomplishment when you do win.Highly recommend if you enjoy more complex board games.

      2 people found this helpful

    21. Alexander saenz

      Es un increible juego!

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       El transporte, el envio, el cuidado y la entrega solo hay que decir que amazon es excelente, lo compre junto con pandemic y todo llego perfecto, en una caja que los protegia bien, creo que falto un par de pequeñas bolsas de aire o papel burbuja para protegerlos mas, afortunadamente toda la logistica escogida para este envio en el exterior y la local realizaron un trabajo excelente e impecable, por ello muchas gracias.Es un gran juego, no es facil de aprender pues tiene su curva de aprendizaje.Desde la caja y todo su contenido es excelente, cada componente de cada mazo de cartas, cada troquel esta muy bien hecho, todo esta cuidado al detalle, las cartas son preciosas el tablero es increible realmente si se tuviera que criticar algo es que deberia incluir las figuras de los investigadores en figuras 3D (todas estan en carton troquelado), cada caja deberia incluir ademas uno o dos de los primigenios en figuras 3D (no trae figuras troqueladas, solo estan las tarjetas) esto lo haria increiblemente coleccionable.La tematica y el modo de juego es muy muy buena, pero require que los jugadores se apropien del rol, que sean muy imaginativos y sean capaces de ponerse en el lugar de cada investigador, que sean capaces de sumergirse en el mundo del juego (por lo menos en cada partida), de esta manera se disfruta muchisimo.Cada carta de las mas de 100 que contiene esta en ingles al igual que las tarjetas de los primigenios, las de los investigadores y los dos manuales, sin embargo estos ultimos se pueden descargar desde la pagina oficial del juego en varios idiomas, esto se agradece y me recuerda que seria muy bueno contar con recursos adicionales como musica, imagenes y videos, esto haria que cada partida fuera inolvidable (ojala y lo tengan en cuenta).Como cada tarjeta de cada mazo de cartas esta en ingles, tiene una muy alta dependencia del idioma, existe y se puede coseguir la version en español (spanish) pero amazon no ayuda para nada.Es un grandioso juego, no es para principiantes o para ser un primer juego, pero en la web y youtube hay demasiado material en varios idiomas que dejaran listo en un par de horas a la gran mayoria.

      One person found this helpful

    22. Michael

      Great addition to the Cthulhu Mythos game line

      After gathering up Arkham Horror and its many expansions, I was unsure at first (as were other people I had heard from) about whether Eldritch Horror was different enough from Arkham Horror to warrant investing in. A friend of mine got to play it at Arkham Nights, and I was convinced to order myself a copy. While it does have roots in the Arkham Horror game, Eldritch Horror is very much its own game, and a really fun addition to any board game shelf.Eldritch Horror takes the investigators on a globe trotting journey to prevent the rise of an Ancient One. The Mythos deck is built out of a random assortment of three types of cards, the number of each determined by the Ancient One, with unique Mysteries that are specific to that Ancient One which must be solved to prevent its awakening. Whereas Arkham allows for detailed exploration of places, events and people in “Lovecraft County”, Eldritch is about travelling the world investigating events specific to a particular Ancient One. The “story” feel of the game feels more cohesive, and gamers who enjoy the story aspect of a game, or role-playing game enthusiasts who like to include a little RP at their board games, will really like this game.Eldritch Horror is different enough from the other Fantasy Flight Games Cthulhu Mythos lineup to be worth adding to your collection, while still staying true to the stories of H. P. Lovecraft and his successors and protégés.

      4 people found this helpful

    23. Shawn Ray R Mulder

      The Best of The Arkham Files Game Series To Date!

      I eagerly awaited delivery of Fantasy Flight’s latest in their Arkham Files series of boardgames and it did not disappoint! I love Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness and Eldritch Horror is very similar to Arkham Horror in its execution, however the rules are more streamlined to create a faster paced game than Arkham Horror and you get a better feel of an overarching story in each game rather than the abstract “bad s*** happening until the Old One awakens” that drives Arkham. The inclusion of mystery cards and token encounters adds to this feel and makes players earn their clues rather than just going to a space and collecting the tokens because they are there. It’s hard to tell where the sweet spot is for number of players as I’ve played many 2 player games and it either feels like not a lot is going on or you’re quickly overwhelmed and I’ve played several 4 player games where it feels like a LOT is going on. The one 5 player game I played was almost pure chaos but in such a fun way that you always had something to do and it forced our group to work together right from the first round. And we still lost, though just barely. And that’s the thing with the Arkham Files games: you will lose a LOT! But it’s always fun. As with the majority of Fantasy Flight games (and the Arkham Files games, in particular) there is a very lengthy setup time the first few times you play and you really need ample room for the board and all the cards and components, both of which may turn off some players. Otherwise, the setup time and area of play is minuscule to the amount of fun you can have playing this game!

      One person found this helpful

    24. M. Lopez

      Adds more to the Lovecraft Mythos board games

      Coming from Arkham Horror, this game improves greatly from the Arkham series. Rules are a easier to follow. There isn’t too many “crazy rng” messing with plays. Set up doesn’t take as long. To me, this seems a little more balanced than the original Arkham Horror. And it’s just as fun.I just did a solo run and I plan on writing a more in-dept review when I play this game with my friends to see how it really compares to Arkham Horror and the expansions.

    25. D. Haas

      FFG has done an amazing thing – they took the basic premise of Arkham …

      FFG has done an amazing thing – they took the basic premise of Arkham Horror, blew it up from the one town of Arkham to encompass the entire globe, added story-driven mysteries to be solved, making the basic idea of the game more complex than that of Arkham Horror, and yet the game somehow has a smoother and more streamlined game-play.Not a game for somebody who just wants to unfold a board and start playing, because it is still quite involved in the set-up, and requires an investment of time to really play a full game, but those who have the interest and patience for this sort of thing will be rewarded by a terrific experience.

      One person found this helpful

    26. Steven Thomas

      I own both Arkham and Eldritch Horror…Eldritch wins

      I’ve got to admit that I was very hesitant to buy Eldritch Horror as I own Arkham Horror with a couple of the expansions and heard this was a watered down version of the original game. I can firmly say that I was wrong and that I would highly recommend this game.Firstly, this game takes place all over the globe versus AH which only takes place in the town of Arkham. Now I’ve been a fan of Lovecrafts work since I was a teenager which is saying a lot as some of his works can be a challenge to some because of his style of writing. Now if you haven’t read any of his work before, that is in no way something to take into consideration since it doesn’t hinder any gameplay; this can be played by anyone regardless of knowing the origin of this creature or this place. But in the cthulhu mythos, many different things happen over different areas of the world and not just in one town. I will say a lot does happen in Arkham but not everything.Secondly, this games mechanics and rules are easier to learn. Don’t take this for granted though, because it still has a more difficult learning curve than most board games out there. I’m saying opposed to AH, the rules are organized better, the rulebook is not a jumbled mess where one will have to constantly scour the book for this rule or that and that the rulebook goes more in order of the gameplay and doesn’t jump around a lot; ie the scouring. There is one massive rulebook in AH and there are two books in EH; one is the primary rulebook and the second is mad for quick references and makes gameplay smoother.Third, gameplay is enhanced and makes the experience better. There’s no messing around with stats on character cards as the characters have set stats that can be improved upon as you progress. The monsters aren’t constantly moving about the board so the crowd control is easier to handle. Understand that they will move from time to time but that depends on the draw of the mythos cards. Also, there’s no sneaking around monsters. Now it’s more or less fight or move on. There’s also several stages to players turns between moving, fighting monsters, etc.Fourth, the ancients ones seem to fit the mythos better. AH basically had it that if the ancient one awakens you had to fight the monster head on in an impossible battle that more time than not your are going to fail unless you spent the entire game only preparing for the final encounter. In EH, it fit more with the way the ancient ones are supposed to be like according to the Lovecraftian way. One cannot fight nor defeat such an evil in the conventional sense like with weapons and whatnot. Whenever I played AH I basically stated that if the ancient one would wake up, the game was over…period. EH made it so that you didn’t fight the ancient one head on, but instead you continued playing and completing mysteries to end the horror and basically have them go away and go back to sleep. However, the conditions would escalate and make it a lot harder to complete this task. I’ll leave that for you to see for yourself. Azathoth was my favorite because should he awaken, true with his lore as the destroyer, the game is over as he destroys the universe…basically.While there are other points I could add I’m going to end it with this final point. The expansions are more seemless than with AH. The expansions with AH added to the game and made a very difficult game into a horribly difficult game depending on the circumstances but my issue was that they just didn’t blend into the game as easily as with EH. For example, the AH Innsmouth Horror expansion was fun but it felt like what was going on was it’s own entity in itself. It was like trying to focus on two separate tasks with one goal being more important than the other, but even to ignore the secondary goal can make everything go to hell and make life miserable for you in an instant. Not to mention reaching the other game boards was more of a hassle than it needed to be where you made your way to a specific spot and had to pay for a ticket to get there and if you had no money left you were stuck there or couldn’t even reach the location. With EH, the expansions will add to the gameplay a lot better by melding with the game without sticking out like a sore thumb. Reaching the new game boards is better as they are integrated to the original by just reaching this specific space or another and, look at that, I can just move right on into the new game board. If you do buy this game or already own it, then I do recommend adding an expansion or two at some point.All in all, this game is so much fun, even if I lose I have fun with this. My games last longer too than AH since I’ve had some conditions almost literally end my game within ten rounds (not kidding). I still love AH for what it is but this has pretty much replaced it when I’m in my Lovecraft mindset. I hope this helps if you’re interested and believe me, this isn’t a watered down version of AH…it is the refined version that it was always meant to be.

      95 people found this helpful

    27. owen freeman

      Perfect with 3-4 people

      Solid Co-op game. Perfect with 3-4 people. When I play with 2 I find the game can get pretty challenging. I suppose you could play 2 characters each to remedy that. A solid game to bring beginner-novice board gamers into the fold. Gamers looking to advance past Catan or Ticket to Ride. Your first play through will take an hour or more to get all the rules down. If someone is well versed in the rules new comers may not take as long to learn the rules.Tip: because its a co-op game, try to avoid quarterbacking new players. In other words. Allow people to make their own decisions. It is cool to make plans with everyone playing. But allow new players to do most of the planning even if their plans aren’t the best and you may loose.

      2 people found this helpful

    28. Todd M. Slocum

      Prepare to die!!!!

      It is great where the others playing are sitting there praying to the dice gods not to kill you this round. Actually thrilled to watch family members have to work together instead of causing each other’s demise!

    29. Jesse

      Shipping speed was fine though.

      This is a very sweet game! The mechanics are smooth and the encounters give you a real sense that doom and mystery lurk behind every corner. The artwork is beautiful, but the folding board design feels poorly made. (I don’t like the cardboard figures which you have to jam into the plastic stands to make them stand up either). You already know how the game compares to Arkham Horror based on other reviews, so I shan’t comment on that. This game will take 2 people 2 hours to play (easily)–longer if it’s your first time playing/ learning it. After about 5 games or so, I haven’t won 1 game! But I know that when I do it will feel like a big accomplishment. Perhaps one disadvantage of this game–at least with the base set–is that the game does not offer too many opportunities to feel a sense of accomplishment or lasting hope; continual doom and horror is the name of this game, so brace yourself for the onslaught. This game may be difficult to convince a casual player to commit 2+ hours to, but for those who are committed the experience will be a memorable one.

      One person found this helpful

    30. Board Gamer Fanatic

      An improved Arkham Horror!

      I have played Arkham horror a lot and it was my favorite board game (So many fond memories, so many late nights of play!).Every time I wanted to play it however, there was a long set up time and I would have to brush up on the rules. As a result, I did not play it very often.Eldritch Horror is essentially an improved Arkham Horror. It is much quicker to set up and the rules are much easier to remember.Spell cards are much more awesome. They are double sided. You cast a spell and then flip it over to resolve it’s unknown effect!Condition cards add a lot to the game. If you gain a condition, you had better worry about what’s on the back of that card! It could be a minor effect or something down right disastrous.Buying items is improved too. No more dirt poor investigators that can’t afford weapons of some type.A lot of thought has gone into this game, and it has replaced Arkham Horror as my favorite!

      2 people found this helpful

    31. CCrystals121

      Love Eldritch Horror!

      Played Eldritch Horror with my gaming group recently, and we all had a blast. The variety of monsters, the mythos cards, and the lucky rolling of dice will have players giggling.I originally purchased this game due to its solo player replayability. I have games for playing with others, but wanted this for myself due to the cool Lovecraftian theming. I’m glad to have this game in my collection–gaming components are top notch, the script written on the cards is engaging and fun, and the mechanics are complex enough that you’ll always feel you earned solving your three mysteries.With a group, there is more of a focus on strategy and game mechanics. Playing solo allows me to role play my chosen character, allowing me to visualize the horrorsof the Ancient Ones.Eldritch Horror is well worth the money, and belongs in every board gamer’s collection.

    32. VisibleNinja5674

      Eldritch Horror is a great co-op adventure board game

      Eldritch Horror is a great co-op adventure board game. It’s become a hit at my board game group and has a very good amount of replayability. While I wouldn’t recommend it for everyone, the game is exactly what I wanted when I saw it and was well worth the purchase.The game does a lot of things really well. The aesthetics of the setting are really well done and give a pretty good sense of immersion. There are a variety of characters you can choose that each come with their own stats, abilities, and backstories. The gameplay is solid and fun, giving you a lot of choice between trying to gather items, travel to where monsters are leaking into the world, or just exploring the different cities/wilderness/seas. The encounters you face have more varied flavor text than I expected and are all great reads. The game gives a fun experience that I would compare to roleplaying-lite but in a good way.That being said, it’s not perfect. There are a ton of rules that come with this game, and it is not for the faint of heart. There are two rulebooks to read (one is general, the other is more of a glossary), and I’d recommend giving them a read before bringing it to your group. The games also last a while (around 3-4 hours). It’s also pretty challenging. I’ve only played it two times, but my group hasn’t even gotten close to winning. And (a slightly less game-related complaint) the box the game comes with is a poor way to store the objects since it is essentially a giant well that everything goes into. The simplest method would be to bag components separately, but it looks terrible and is a pain to figure out what goes where.Despite the negatives, the game was a fantastic purchase in my opinion. For me, the positives far outweighed the negatives. I personally like the length, rule complexity, and enjoy losing when the experience was satisfying. If you’re interested in an elder-god themed adventure game and I didn’t scare you away with the list of negatives, pick this game up. It’s great and a fun way to burn a lot of time with friends.

    33. Allyson Brackett

      Great game!

      My husband and I play this all the time, just the two of us. We love the complexity of the game and how you can replay it over and over without it getting repetitive. There aren’t a lot of 2 player games that can achieve something like that, so we love it and have purchased a few expansion packs as well! If you don’t want to invest a lot of time into each game, I would say this is not the game for you. Your first time the game also takes longer to go through. But once you’ve played it a couple of times, it takes less than 2 minutes to set-up, and it’s only like an hour and half game for 2 players. The more players you add, the longer the game gets. The first time you set the game up it can take 30-45minutes alone. But we think it’s worth it! Completely different game mechanics than any other game we’ve played before.

      8 people found this helpful

    34. AP

      Terrific cooperative game.

      Terrific game. Others have described it as “Arkham Horror Lite”, but I’d think of it as “Arkham Horror, Streamlined”. It’s become one of my gaming group’s go-to titles, for not only is it rich in atmosphere and setting, but it is a cooperative game– everyone against the board. So it allows for some terrific strategic planning, discussion, and that great feeling at the end when you just, somehow, by the grace of the (new) God manage to pull off a win against bleak odds.If your group loves a cohesive session where no one is sitting bored, waiting for other players to finish their turns and progress the action, this is a great choice. Add in the Lovecraft-ian setting, and it’s near perfect. Just be sure to set aside 3-5 hours to play. Our group consists of five players– it may go faster with fewer, and the game scales in difficulty based on the number of players.

    35. Daren Anderson

      Indiana Jones meets Cthulhu

      I played and enjoyed Arkham Horror and since no one I know had Eldritch Horror I thought I would see how they compared.I was pleased with the high quality game board, cards, and various pieces. The only small gripe I had with the actual game pieces was that I feel like they should have included more dice.The actual game play was pretty easy to pick up but I did enjoy having the reference guide for quick rule clarifications. I really liked that even on multiple play throughs against the same Ancient One the game could take a completely different feel depending on how the cards fall. One game could be a monster slug fest whereas the next could involve racing all over the globe collecting clues. I think the designers did a good job of scaling the game, making it fun for any number of players. It is pretty rare that a game like this works, and is fun, as a single player experience.Overall I enjoyed the game just as much, if not more, than Arkham Horror. I really like the Indiana Jones sense of adventure that was instilled into the game compared to the more dour and dire feel of Arkham Horror.

      One person found this helpful

    36. Toaster

      LOVE this GAME!

      And you really can play it with 1, yes 1, to 8 players.Very well written, thought through, and definitely challenging. I would call it at least an intermediate board game:- It does take a while to play though it never gets boring- the complexity can be a bit daunting for a first timer that’s more into simple and fast games- Winning is difficult but there are instructions for making it easierLots of replayability and expansions are available.My one complaint would be the stinginess of storage bags and it’s difficult to fit all the pieces, cards, board, and parts back in the box once you’ve removed them from their punchouts.

      2 people found this helpful

    37. George Husted

      Don’t Accidentally Throw Away the Omen Track Marker

      I’ve played this before and liked it. The quality is excellent and I am pretty happy with this purchase. One thing, the Omen Track marker is a ring of cardboard. I didn’t know this, and when I was punching out the pieces of the game, I punched out the center of the ring and kept it, thinking it was the marker, not realizing there was an outer ring I was supposed to keep. It got thrown away. I ordered a Litko replacement for it. 

      Cthulhu, Omen Indicator, Grey (1)

      2 people found this helpful

    38. BravoEcho

      Awesome game: Very elaborate, well designed and highly entertaining

      My wife and I were looking for a sophisticated board game to keep us entertained, and Eldritch Horror came to be the best game we ever played.First of all, the game is very elaborate, and full of details. To play our first game, we spent about 30min just trying to setup the game board and another 1h to understand the rules and play our first game.Things we like about this game: – The level of details and sophistication involved. Also, the ongoing story is lots of fun. – The game has a great balance between luck and strategy. – At every step in the game, a test has to be resolved by a die roll or picking a random card, or random item: this makes the game highly randomized and unpredictable, resulting in a fresh experience with each new game. – In each round, the players got to make critical decisions, which makes the game also strategic. Full coordination and cooperation between the players is essential. – The game has more than 10 different card decks as well as many other item pools (all of them are used during the game), which gives a great deal of randomization and makes the game hard to predict. – Winning or losing is almost always very close, which means the game has just the right difficulty and all numbers/items/possible actions are brilliantly designed.- I also like the idea of having a cooperative game, where we all play against the game instead of against each other. The game requires a great deal of cooperation and coordination among the players in order to win, which makes it a great team building activity. – The game is scalable: possible actions and number of items changes depending on the number of players involved. – A typical game will last about 2 hours. Which is a reasonable time for usThings we did not like: – The game has a very steep learning curve and it requires several hours before one starts to enjoy it. – The game feels great for even number of players, but becomes a bit unbalanced for odd number of players (lots of events are concerned about half the number of players, rounding this for odd number either makes the game too difficult or too easy).

      7 people found this helpful

    39. Darren

      Giant Thematic Cooperative Game Against the Ancient Ones

      The board consists of a map of the world in old parchment color tones. Once you setup the board with your character standees, other world gates, monsters, and clue tokens, you get a sense of the adventure you’re about to embark on. If you can get behind the below, this game is perfect for your gaming group:- Cthulhu / Lovecraft enthusiasts, or Arkham Horror board game enthusiasts- A small amount of setup but thematic rules make it easy to learn how to play- No plastic miniatures and few dice, but a lot of cards which contain the meat of your adventure- Ultimately a storytelling game through card play and strategy discussion amongst the players- Lots of fun and immersive mechanisms in the game such as having your investigators go insane or defeated, fighting monsters, going to other worlds, encountering and dealing with personal conditions/setbacks, improving skills and gaining items and allies.- Long game of about 3 hours with 4 players and even longer with the full 8 player game

      One person found this helpful

    40. Jarrod King

      The Most fun I’ve ever had losing!

      The most fun I’ve ever had losing. If you like to “win” constantly do NOT buy this game. It’s a co-operative game, so the goal is to not beat the other players, but for the players to beat the scenario. That’s easier said than done. I’ve played this about 5 times now and a few times I even took out the “harder” cards to make it a little easier. Come close a few times, but lost every time. Having said that…I still FELT like a winner! Because my friends/family and I still had several hours of game together where we fought and tried together only to fall a little short and wanting to play again. Beautiful pieces and a great atmospheric game. It seems complicated, but its got great examples and a simple to follow rulebook that will keep you from guessing and after a turn or two you will be on your way to (attempting to) defeating and Eldritch Horror!

      9 people found this helpful

    41. rach

      Can’t say I really prefer one over the other but what I loved was that they are different enough that I feel …

      I finally caved and bought this after being an Arkham horror fan for a while. Can’t say I really prefer one over the other but what I loved was that they are different enough that I feel like I am playing two different games and not an original and light version.I generally play this game solo with two characters and have found that very manageable. I would highly recommend getting a planko box for all the pieces and cards – it just makes setup and cleanup so much easier. I also use index card boxes to manage the larger cards.

    42. Dezi

      Give the game a fair chance!

      I like this game a lot. At first, the mechanics drove me nuts because it’s so reliant on dice rolls, but after giving the game a fair chance of several run throughs, my husband and I have better learned strategies to use the characters special abilities to their full advantage, and to not ignore the assets in the reserve to greatly help out with the game play.The flavor text is awesome, the design of the game, both visually and mechanic wise, is amazing. Co-operative games in general are what my husband and I like, as we can each play multiple characters to up the game difficulty. I highly recommend this game to anyone who likes board games in general. And I’m sure after several more months of play, we’ll end up picking up an expansion for even more options, but for now, we’re very satisfied with the varied possibilities of ancient ones to defeat.

      3 people found this helpful

    43. Veronica

      Great game, with a learning curve

      Played a few times now, having a lot of fun. The first time we played it took about two hours to figure out setup and 7 hours altogether to play through, so expect it to take a while the first time unless you have someone who’s played before.

    44. Nine Cords

      one of my favorite co-operative games

      This is, by far, one of my favorite co-operative games. Even with the base game, there is a high level of playability with the four included evil ones and current character set. I have yet to purchase any expansions, but have played them with friends and continue to enjoy the base game, even after playing with expansions that my friends have. This co-op game shares similarities to the Pandemic board game series mixed with Dead of Winter. If you’re between Elder Sign (the mini game) and this one, I highly recommend splurging for Eldritch Horror and skipping on Elder Sign.

      One person found this helpful

    45. Jaidyn Casey

      Losing my sanity over this excellent game!

      Warning, slightly long review and other comments follow.As a long-time fan of the actual Lovecraft stories, I was excited to hear about this game. I had first been introduced to Lovecraftian gaming through the Call of Cthulhu RPG, but never could get a group to play. I had then heard of Arkham Horror, but I never seemed to have the money at the right time to buy it. Then I just recently heard about Eldritch Horror.I must say, I LOVE this game! If you are brand new to Lovecraftian gaming but are familiar with the stories, you will love this game even more as you will “get” the references used and likely why somethings happen the way they do.The quality of everything from the game-board, the individual (thick and sturdy!) pieces to the game box itself is just a joy to touch in your hands. Apparently Fantasy Flight Games has a reputation for this. As my first FFG game, they have made me into a loyal customer.On my first game playing it, as suggested in the manual for beginners, I chose to go against Azathoth. My partner and I had done pretty well at first thinking the game was pretty easy so far. But then when the doom track hit 8 or so, things went downhill fast. I was hit with a couple different madness conditions such as paranoia and amnesia on top of being cursed. Finally the doom track had hit 1 we had almost solved our 3rd and final mystery to defeat Azathoth, and we had only 1 mythos card left. If that doom hit 0, Azathoth would wake up and devour the world. Well we used that last mythos card. Lucky there was no doom advancement. Still only at 1… but that means our mythos deck is all gone. We continue anyway just to see how it plays out expecting that we will lose. After all… if you can’t draw a mythos card when you need to, the mythos phase ends and the investigators lose. Well in that turn, we solved the 3rd mystery but can’t claim it until the end of the mythos phase. Closed an other-world gate that was open and continued on to the mythos phase. No card to flip, game over. We thought we had lost.HOWEVER… according to the games reference guide under “Winning” pg 12, “If a mythos card cannot be drawn during the Mythos Phase, the Mythos Phase ends and investigators lose the game.”To win a game, you must solve 3 of 4 mysteries before Azathoth wakes up (doom track hits 0). Since we couldn’t draw a new mythos card, according to the above rule, the mythos phase ends, and the 3rd mystery is solved… therefore we win. It’s a conflict. Do we win, or lose?According to the reference guide under “Conflicts” pg 4, “If multiple effects would be resolved at the same time, [my 3rd mystery solved therefore win, mythos deck empty therefore we lose] the active player decides the order in which they are resolved.” So it looks like I could choose that the mystery was solved before I had to flip the next card, therefore I win. In addition to that, the section on “Winning” on pg 12 again also says “The game immediately ends when an effect specifies that ‘Investigators win the game,’ or ‘Investigators lose the game.’ In the rare circumstances that both these effects happen at the same time, investigators win the game.” THEREFORE WE ACTUALLY WON!!!It was so intense of a game, even when we thought we had lost, I was on the edge of my seat. We had a blast!For confirmation, this scenario has happened to others with this game. If you go to boardgamegeek and check the forums on this game, there is a thread called “Last second loss against Azathoth”. Not my post, but pretty much the same thing happened. The info from there sealed it for me. I won my first game with my partner… barely.Now as I said, this is my first Lovecraftian game so yes, that means I have NOT played Arkham Horror which according to many… this is a sister game. This is NOT intended to be an easier or harder version nor an expansion. As such, I cannot comment on how good, bad, long or epic of a game it may be. I hear allot of people who bicker about which is better, or should they drop AH since they now have this one? People being defensive about AH because they have spent SO much money, time and effort into that game including its vast number of expansions. I will say however that I would LOVE to play and learn AH someday. But until then, this game does it for me. Yes, there desperately needs to be more cards which thankfully an expansion is on its way sometime soon with a at about 88 new research cards and over 100-150 new encounter cards among other things. (likely within the next couple months from what I am hearing). So this is going to be a temporary issue.Allow me to digress a moment. I don’t think one needs to BE better than the other. Each one is designed for a different kind of player in my opinion. AH is very lengthy, has more things to deal with such as skill sliders, much more as far as decks and such. EH, tends to be much quicker of a game with a built in “timer” via the mythos deck and (from what I have heard from Arkham veterans) more streamlined and easier to follow rules for beginners among some other nifty changes. Also some negative ones most likely. Some will be drawn to AH, others will be drawn to EH. EH is (I think) not meant to replace AH at all. AH has many expansions, it continues to be in print with many, many loyal fans. I can’t imagine FFG just shutting that down. I think that for actual fans of the Lovecraft stories among others, it is great there is this diversity. Someday I hope to even pick up Elder Sign which is much more luck based as it is very much a dice-rolling game. There are fans of that kind of thing who want to get into Lovecraft games but don’t have any interest in AH or EH because of time or table space.All in all, if you don’t have Arkham Horror, but want to try out Lovecraftian games, get this game. If you own and love Arkham Horror, you should get this game. It is shorter to play and likely just as fun. If you want to know if you should keep Arkham Horror after buying this game, I would say yes. This is not intended to replace Arkham Horror unless you want it to.

      3 people found this helpful

    46. Monique HMonique H

      Great game

      Not the easiest game to learn because there’s a bit of a learning curve but once you get it down, it’s fun and challenging. We had to watch a few YouTube videos to get the grasp of it. That aside, I really enjoyed the co-op nature of the game.

    47. gene

      Choices to be had

      What I really like about this game is the amount of choices a player can encounter on his/her turn. I appreciate a game that gives you more than, “Oh, this is where my character landed, I guess that’s what I’ll do”. For the most part, there could be multiple ‘encounters’ to be had wherever it is that your character landed. Occasionally, you also have the option to assist other players when it’s not your turn. A great co op game. Communication between players is a must as you plot to prevent the return of an Ancient One. Not recommended for the purely casual gamers.

    48. matthew

      Great game!

      A lot like the original FFG Arkham Horror game though much more streamlined. It does loose a bit of character due to the streamlining, but it’s worth if for the useability and much shorter play time. Set up also isn’t the monster that the original Arkham Horror was. Eldritch really is a very fun “story adventure” game full of triumphs and failures and is a terrifically fun time with the right group. There is a great mix of hilarious failures and triumphant succeses to make for a terrific gaming experience. I’d suggest it to any group that like a fun story driven Lovecraftian experience.

      2 people found this helpful

    49. Lyssa Graves

      One of my all time favorite board games!

      I have been playing this game for years now, and finally decided to add it to my own game library.It is best to play your first few times with someone who is familiar with the game. However, after a few rounds, you’ll be playing like a pro.

    50. Sammich

      Ridiculously Fun – Ridiculously Long

      If you think setting up a game of Monopoly is too long, you are not ready for this. Make sure your banker (sorry, Game Master) is caffeinated and that the bong is out of their reach. Cause somebody needs to be awake to make sure that everything is running.That said, after the first few games of “Uh, did we remember the thing?” “Oh man, we were supposed to be spawning those,” “I told you it was BYOB, dude,” you’ll have it down and it’ll go like clockwork. You will need a BIG table. Pretend you’re about to have a Thanksgiving dinner because this board and it’s plethora of pieces is on a cosmic scale. Sedate your cat, cause there’s a lot of stuff that can be slapped around.I’ve yet to win a game after 5 tries but I still have loads of fun playing it solo or with friends. If you find yourself losing just remember: you’re kinda supposed to lose. The stories this game is based on rarely had happy endings.

      One person found this helpful

    51. Edward

      Ring Side Report- Board Game Review of Eldritch Horror

      Originally posted on [url][…][/url], a new idea everyday![b]Game[/b]-Eldritch Horror[b]Producer[/b]-Fantasy Flight[b]Price[/b]- $60[b]Set-up/Play/Clean-up[/b]- 3 Hours[b]TL;DR[/b]-An awesome addition to the FF Cthulhu line 92.5%[b]Basics[/b]- The world is under attack! Creatures from beyond are striking out at our world and bringing the apocalypse with them. Based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft, each player takes the role of an investigator traveling the globe trying to close portals to other worlds, foil fiendish evil plots, and fighting monsters beyond mortal ken. This game is a world spanning epic sequel to Arkham Horror.[b]Mechanics[/b]- The game move somewhat quickly. Each turn, character get two action that among other things can be moving, resting, shopping, or trading. After that each character encounters events, monsters, or clues on their location. Each location has its own special deck of cards strengthening then theme of the encounter there. Finally, a card indicating what events happen next turn is read from the mythos deck. When the mythos deck runs out, the world is doomed! To resolve shopping, combat, or encounters, characters start by checking their sheet and look for the appropriate icons to find the number of dice to roll. After the roll, 5’s and 6’s count as successes. For most encounters, one success is needed, but for monsters, you’re successes inflict damage as well as prevent damage to yourself. Monsters also have an additional roll where you must see if your character goes insane from the shear mental trauma of the beyond. The game moves very quickly as the basic conflict resolution is fast, and the rules a pretty intuitive. The game does flatten out some of the dice numbers from Arkham Horror, so that was a shock. I did think some item prices were somewhat high, but all and all the game was fun and that came a lot from the mechanics involved. 4.5/5[b]Theme[/b]- The theme of cosmic horror comes out pretty well. Each monster has a deck of events/quests you have to solve to prevent the end of the world. If enough bad things happen, the ancient one awakens and then there is another event to deal with on the back of the ancient one. This deck specific for each ancient evil really does make the game that much more focused. The general mythos deck that makes bad things happen/timer is a little to general, but all and all I really did feel like I was working against one specific cosmic horror. The monsters are a bit of a mix. Monsters are still random, which isn’t bad, but it does mean you will fight stuff that by the Lovecraft mythos really doesn’t belong when you are fighting a different ancient evil. That does take away from a bit of the focus. However, I did that some monsters are special. We had a zombie that became the special zombie hoard. That little touch made the game that much more memorable. The same goes for the mix of encounter cards you get. Instead of a focused game against one cosmic being, you get a bit of a mix. However, it’s not bad, just not the game I hoped for. 4/5[b]Instructions[/b]- The instructions are well written. I had no questions on how to play. I did have some minor questions regarding specific in game events, but POOF FAQ up before I even opened the box. High quality too. I hate when a FAQ doesn’t look like it belongs with the game. Also, the instructions are ONLINE in pdf BEFORE the game was released! 5/5[b]Execution[/b]- This is Fantasy Flight, so instant 5/5 The parts of the game are amazing.[b]Summary[/b]- This game wasn’t the exact game I wanted, but it is close enough. Arkham Horror had a bit of a focus problem. This game fixes a lot of that but not completely. I did have a great time and can’t wait to play again. I want cosmic specific encounters across the board (mythos deck, region encounter decks etc), but I know that would have made this game that much more expensive and would have required about five times as many parts. I’ve liked what I saw and can easily recommend this to anyone who’s looking for a world spanning Lovecraft adventure. 92.5%

      4 people found this helpful

    52. Shawn Jones

      We love this game!

      Thrilling!My wife and I bought this game because of it’s co-op nature. We have played at least 10 total plays with groups varying from 2-5 people. WE LOVE IT.Pros:1. Detailed game play (flavor text/story text on the cards is fantastic)2. High replay value. With the different ancient ones, different monsters and the variation in character abilities, this game will last you a long time.3. Easy to learn (for a game of this magnitude). We understood almost everything with one full read through of the manual/rule book.4. Awesome reference guide. As stated in 3. we understood ALMOST everything after reading the manual/rule book. The things that were confusing or not 100% clear is very well explained in the reference guide.5. Visually appealing6. FUNCons:1. Gets lengthy with more players.2. You do have to fully read the rule book. (I know people who like to try and learn as you go, I wouldn’t recommend that for this game)3. Takes up a lot of table space to play. You need a fairly large table to play.I consider myself an intermediate gamer (only have 10 or so board games) and I would strongly recommend this to people in my same situation as well as people who are buying this as their first board game.Also, I would recommend checking out some sample playthroughs on YouTube. This is another good way to see if you will like the game.I hoped this review helped!Cheers,Shawn

      55 people found this helpful

    53. Dane M. Brackvitch Jr.

      My Favorite Role Playing Board Game of All Time!

      I was torn between buying Eldritch Horror and its predecessor Arkham Horror since both were so appealing to me. After watching many instructional videos online about gameplay, rules, etc I decided to go with Eldritch Horror for many reasons and am so glad that I did. One of the main reasons I went with Eldritch is because there are just way too many rules, exceptions to rules, and “bookeeping duties” in the Arkham series that take away from the fun and which interrupt the flow of the game. For example, there are too many rounds in Arkham Horror such as moving monsters each round. In Eldritch, this only happens due to an effect. In addition, there are no skill sliders to manage, no evading or sneaking around monsters in Eldritch Horror. Arkham is too confining (the city itself) while in Eldritch you have the whole world. I like the idea of being lost in time and space in Arkham which is available for Eldritch if you buy the expansion pack Forsaken Lore. My only complaint is that you cannot move to an otherworld location in Eldritch Horror. However, the game is very rich and complex enough to make the game quite rewarding overall. Another plus is that you do not have to tackle every conflict on the board. Some have argued this is a flaw of the game unlike Arkham where you must tackle every conflict. I disagree. There is a nice mixture of strategy and luck in the game. While you have to solve mysteries to win the game, you still have to close some gates to avoid being overpowered and to prevent the doom counter from reaching zero. A must have for Lovecraft fans/gamers. Get the Mountains of Madness expansion too!

      6 people found this helpful

    54. Cheddar11

      A great move forward for a genre that is within itself addicting

      I thought once I played Arkham Horror they couldn’t top themselves…but then they came out with this much more streamlined and user friendly version of it. Now By no means am I saying this is the same game, the variation they put on this and the simplified rules makes for smoother gameplay all around for everyone at the table. Some fans may not like it as it may feel dummed down without the sliders on character cards or collecting the monster trophies, but let me tell you the emersion of the lovecraft themes are still there and the over all experience is still challenging and tense as in AH. The best part is though I cannot put the 2 next to each other and say they are the exact same this ones niche’ is that it allows 1st time players to the genre an easy streamlined game and spares them the 2hr YouTube videos I had to watch other people playing AH just to get the jist on AH. All around good time can’t wait to fight the next Grand Old One!

      One person found this helpful

    55. Lilly

      Complicated and Long but SUPER FUN!

      A really fun game! Like any new board game the learning curve is a little steep but you can play it while referring to the handy Guide the first few times. There are also some videos on YouTube of people playing it so you can get an idea beforehand or even during.But also they’re not kidding that playing a full game does take hours. This is absolutely an all night event.

      One person found this helpful

    56. Aaron

      One of the best board games in existence!

      Eldritch Horror is one amazing board game. You and up to 7 other player cooperative to stop some ancient being from destroying the world. While I stick by my initial statement, there are a few caveats. If you do purchase Eldritch Horror, you should definitely get the expansions, and try to get them in the order they came out. This means spending quite a bit of money, but in my opinion, it’s worth it. If you get all of the expansions, the replay value of this game is almost infinite. You see, the game relies heavily on having a unpredictable narrative. If you have all of the expansions, not only will there be a large amount of scenarios you can play through (by mixing side boards, ancient ones to defeat, and other stuff), there will be a full box of cards to draw from, meaning you’ll have a hard time remembering them. Every time I play the game, I tend to only remember 1 or 2 cards; all the rest feel new and fresh.The second caveat is that it’s a long game, which I love but it’s not for everyone. I’ve played through a 2 player game in under an hour, but it can take 30 minutes to 1 hour per player to finish a game. In other words, a four player game is usually between 2 and 4 hours.The third and last caveat is that it’s hard. You’ll loose more than you win for sure (unless you only play 2 player games, in which you’ll win mostly). Again, you may or may not like this. In the game the world is falling apart and just a hand full of people are trying to keep it together. Not an easy task, so you should loose most of the games or else it would be unrealistic (which is a funny thing to write given you’re fighting other worldly monsters who’s names you can’t pronounce). Again, you may or may not like this. Personally, I’m neutral on this point, and though I have to admit it make winning very epic and rewarding.

    57. Phil Gagne

      Fantastically exciting.

      This game is fantastic. I’ve seen other reviews by others saying that this is too long for them and complex and unforgiving. But you have to be into these sort of games to like it. Ive never played a game like this before, but I have read a lot of HP Lovecraft novellas and this game definitely nailed the feel of the books. In many ways it creates an intense atmosphere of its own, and for me, I always have a fun and exciting time playing this game. Win or lose. Just playing a scary thrill ride of a game like this with friends was awesome. Even though some times we lose. It’s still really interesting. The events that happen in the game feels more like a story that you craft than a game and I like that. If you are into horror and supernatural stuff and don’t mind spending the time it would take you to watch a full movie, to play a game that’s way better than some crappie thriller movie, this is the game for you. I highly recommend it. You don’t need any prior knowledge of Lovecraft or his works to enjoy this, but if you have read some of his stories, then this game is even cooler because you get the references to events and monsters and why they are where they are. It’s just a very well done game.

      One person found this helpful

    58. Leeds

      Great game to play, difficulty is hard, worth the money!!!

      This game has a really great concept. It is a team game rather than an individual player one vs the rest. I really enjoy playing it. However, the game is very difficult to beat/win. Still trying to figure out maybe there is a trick or a type of play that we are missing. We have come very close with all different numbers of players, but have yet to beat it! Highly suggest the game to others however, as the concept is very interesting and it is a ton of fun to play! Will be buying more games similar to this one.

    59. Lancelot

      Fantastic Game

      I bought this to play with some friends of mine and we love it so much we’ve been buying up the expansions. Game play runs a couple of hours. The very first time took longer due to learning the mechanics but after that initial play through it’s gone smoothly. I have always enjoyed the Lovecraft stories and this is a great way to get immersed in that world.

    60. Kim

      my boyfriend fell in love and wanted to own the game himself

      After playing half a game with friends, my boyfriend fell in love and wanted to own the game himself. We bought it immediately.To be honest, we have yet to actually win while playing traditionally, but it doesn’t make us love the game any less.This game is intricate and complicated, but very eaay to catch on to. I definitely recommend playing with one person who already knows how the game goes, and just jump in and learn as you go, rather than tryin to figure it all out ahead of time – it took our friend 3-4 HOURS to teach herself with the manual. Also, be prepared to lose an entire afternoon to this game. We’ve never had a game that was shorter than 4-6 hours long (and, admittedly, we’ve always quit when it became obvious we’d lose), but you WILL NOT notice the time go by!I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who wants to have lota of fun, and is OK with a game that is deep and involved. It is well worth the time and effort!

    61. A.F. Gonzalez

      My favorite game, enough said.

      The set up for this game ranges between 5 to 30 minutes depending on how new you are with it. Then gameplay takes around 2 to 6 hours depending in the amount of players and how much attention they are paying. The round structure is very simple and the difficulty of the game will make you either play a million times until you defeat all the bosses or throw it out the window. I recommend this game to persistent people that are not discourage by defeat.

    62. Brian Blonski

      I love this game

      I love this game. I’m a big fan of tabletop RPGs, but often don’t have the time to get a group together. This helps capture the same type of feel in a board game format. I never played Arkham Horror personally, but I know some people who have played Arkham Horror and this game and they all have stated they prefer this game. I also own Elder Sign which is fun, but gets a bit repetitive after awhile, even with the expansion. After awhile in Elder Sign you tend to skip all the flavor text and just roll like Yahtzee. You feel disconnected with the atmosphere and it’s all about matching dice. Not with Eldritch Horror. You have to read the narration to find out what skill you have to roll and what the result of the roll is.I actually find the rules are a lot simpler than Elder Sign as well. There are less fiddly rules like terror effects, focusing, assisting, etc. I find most new players get the hang of things by the second round of their first game. It’s very easy to pick up, although I noticed the most common mistake for new players is mixing up action and encounter phase. Reckoning effects are the only rule I find fiddly in Eldritch Horror. It’s very easy to overlook a reckoning effect on a rumor card or something like that.Another advantage over Elder Sign is that each Ancient One plays significantly different. Each Ancient One changes which cards are in the mythos deck which can change the ratio of monsters, gates, or rumors to be in play. Each Ancient One adds unique events and objectives to the game as well, so the strategy to beat the game usually completely changes depending on which Ancient One you are playing against.I find Eldritch Horror significantly harder as well. Elder Sign I could beat 90% of the time. Eldritch Horror I have to play on the easiest setting to even stand a chance. I’ve definitely lost at least as many games that I’ve won. Eldritch Horror is also much less predictable with it’s encounter phase so you never know when you might be thrown into combat or what skills you might need to pass an encounter.The one weakness of Eldritch Horror is that it is a significantly longer game than Elder Sign. I estimate most games take around 4 hours with 4 people. I hear that is not nearly as bad as Arkham Horror or Mansions of Madness, but still a significant time investment.

      3 people found this helpful

    63. Lil C

      Buy this.

      Once you learn the rules this game is quite fun. Nothing bad to say and is a current favorite. Play time can be long but the enjoyment makes the time fly.

    64. Danny

      The game I wish Elder Sign was

      I loved playing Arkham, but I rarely have 6+ hours to spend on a game, so I get to it maybe once or twice a year or so. Elder sign was decent, but far too easy, and we had to alter the rules significantly to make the game challenging. This game is the perfect balance of theme, difficulty, and play time, and we love it. I’ve played three games so far, all in one night, and we lost 1, won another, and questionably won the third (it’s hard to get every rule right at 3:00 AM, and I’m sure we would have lost this if we’d followed the rules strictly). Out of all these games, we had to really work to win it, and we were on the brink of defeat most of the time.There is a pretty clear drawback to the game in that there are very limited numbers of cards for certain types of encounters. If you play this every weekend, it will probably get predictable fairly quickly. This game will need some expansions pretty quickly, to keep the game fresh, but from my experience with other FFG products, an expansion will likely be announced soon.In short, this is a must play if you like co-op games with a frenzied pace, and a touch of horror/mystery. It has moderate replayability (until an expansion comes out), so you may want to pace yourself with the game until then.Edit (9/12/2014) Just as a quick addendum, after about 40 games or so of this, we went back to Arkham horror, and won the game 4/4. The games barely seemed challenging compared to Eldritch Horror. Eldritch is now our go-to game in the series, and we’re eagerly awaiting more expansions.

      13 people found this helpful

    65. Chase

      Lots to learn, but worth it!

      I have a regular DnD group that meets weekly. After we finished our previous campaign, we were in a rut, waiting to figure out what campaign we wanted to do next. So we decided to look into some in depth table top “RPG” style boardgames, and Eldritch Horror was one of the top rated ones. I had previously played this game one other time with some other friends, and it was a blast. It takes a good bit of time and research to set this game up, but once everyone gets into the swing of things, this game rolls by! Its alot of fun, and has so many mechanics that keep the game interesting no matter what ancient evil you and your party might be trying to vanquish! Dont let the difficulty of learning this game, scare you from the purchase. The only hard play through is your first one. Dig in, and you and your friends will love this game in no time! Keep some containers handy, and light a candle for the spooky mood, and get ready for the wildest 2 or 3 hours of your life!

    66. Apollo Melo

      Most Importantly: Better than Arkham Horror.

      Let’s make something clear: this game is not for everyone. It’s likely that if you’re reading this review, you’re already a hobby boardgamer and looking for something a little on the “heavy” side to play. Eldritch Horror fills that roll admirably without becoming cumbersome.Years ago, Fantasy Flight games released “Arkham Horror,” a take on Lovecraftian fiction set in the town of Arkham. The premise of the game was simple – monsters spewing through gates, investigators trying to stop them, and a great ancient evil biding its time until it arrived to destroy the world. If the premise was simple, the actual gameplay was the complete opposite. There was very little intuitive about playing the game. In a way, the fact that players were so hapless and helpless fit the theme of Lovecraft very well. A compelling story could be told… in between the hundreds of time one might stop to clarify something in the rulebook.Eldritch Horror is a much better game than that. In fact, it’s a great game. The theme still shines, and is in fact helped by taking the adventure to a global scale, rather than just the city of Arkham. Starting with the second time I played the game, it takes me between 20 and 35 minutes to set up the game, depending on how many players I have. Perfectly reasonable for a game of this scope and magnitude; it looks big on the table, but trust me when I say you shouldn’t be intimidated. Unlike many heavily themed, hobby-level board games, this one actually makes sense as you play it.Skill checks are handled simplistically through dice rolling. It’s a system that works, and is so accessible you can teach even the most casual gamer to play. Here is where I stopped to consider whether I would give this game only four stars, though. While you’re working on maximizing your character’s stats to roll the maximum number of dice (successes are represented by 5’s and 6’s), something things just *happen* to your character, things which are inherently unfair, and if they happen too soon in the game, could go as far as to make things feel “unfun”. Here’s the thing, though… that inherent disparity of power between your investigators and the world fits Lovecraft so well. True horror isn’t the capable adventurer staving off every threat with his quick wits and impressive luck. True horror is a powerless victim against an unknowable evil. In most other games, I would have knocked off the star, but Eldritch Horror gets to keep the star for their consistency.The game, however, has a pretty cool mechanic to make up for what happened. Once an investigator is knocked from the game, you can get another character out of the box, place them on the board with their starting goods, and get back to work. The game is not over for any player who was just unlucky, unless of course the team does so poorly that they start losing all the characters in the box. Further, with the exception of a couple methods of death (such as being “devoured” on a few cards) usually the character hangs around the place of their untimely demise as a potential encounter. This is a wonderful mechanic! Characters are killed off, sure, but they receive their final curtain call if you have time to spare for your fallen comrade – often giving their items or other assistance to the new characters.Finally, this game is perfectly playable as a solo adventure. I like solo board game. I’m married to a gamer, but she’s quite picky about just which games she’ll play and some of these heavier ones aren’t her thing. I don’t have a local gaming group, either. That’s okay! A reasonable twenty minutes to set up, and off I go. While the game does work (and officially supports) using just one character, most solo players prefer playing with two characters. Use as many as you feel like, since this is a cooperative game the decision really is up to you. One warning with this: the game is easy to understand, but after two characters I feel like the normally reasonable amount of detail you need to keep up with for each character suddenly becomes a slog. Playing with four characters was cool, and made a board that was full of action and synergy, but I found myself forgetting about my character’s abilities when I needed them.If you have a serious board game hobby, I hope you give Eldritch Horror a try. It’s deep enough to keep you coming back for a long time, and easy enough to teach your less experienced friends without scaring them off. Enjoy!

      13 people found this helpful

    67. Friend of Hobbits

      My favorite cooperative game

      Explore the world as a set of investigators trying to save the world from fictional Horrors from the world of HP Lovecraft. The variety in characters that you can play gives it good replay value, the big monsters have their own themes and mechanics. A well executed and conceived game that has become a favorite at my house due to the story that develops as you play the game. It is also nice that you compete against the game and all players win or lose the game together.Some may find it a little “involved” or “complex” but the rule book and the reference guide explain most of the mechanics. The rhythm of “actions, encounters, and mythos” make it seem more complex at first in the sense that there are three major parts to every round. Once you get the rhythm of the game down, it goes quickly.The one downside of the game is that it does take an average of 2 hours so you do need to dedicate a healthy amount of time to a single playing.

      One person found this helpful

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