- Arkham Horror is suitable for 1 to 8 players
- ages 12 and up
- playing time 120 to 240 minutes. Ranked #41 on www.BoardGameGeek.com
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical Details
Product Specifications
| Main Language(s): | English unknown, English original, English published |
| Model Number: | VA09 |
| Number of Puzzle Pieces: | 1 |
| Assembly Required: | No |
| Batteries Required?: | No |
| Batteries Included?: | No |
Product details
|
Product Safety
This product is subject to specific safety warnings
|
Product Description
Product Description
The year is 1926. The place is Arkham, Massachusetts. Gateways to places horrible beyond imagination are opening up all over town, releasing hideous creatures into the streets to stalk the night. Worse yet, if enough of these gates open up, then a creature of unfathomable power will be unleashed on the world.
Pitted against these overwhelming odds is a small band of investigators determined to beat back the uncaring forces of the universe. They'll have to delve deep into the mysteries of the Mythos and use all of their skills, weapons, and spells if they want to have even a slim chance of success
Pitted against these overwhelming odds is a small band of investigators determined to beat back the uncaring forces of the universe. They'll have to delve deep into the mysteries of the Mythos and use all of their skills, weapons, and spells if they want to have even a slim chance of success
Product Description
The Classic Game of Lovecraftian Monster Hunting Returns!The town of Arkham, Massachusetts is in a panic. Horrific and bizarre events have begun to occur with increasing frequency, all seeming to point towards some cataclysmic event in the near future that may spell disaster for everyone. Only one small band of investigators can save Arkham from the Great Old Ones and destruction!Arkham Horror was originally published by Chaosium, Inc. almost two decades ago. This new, updated edition features stunning new artwork and graphical design as well as revised and expanded rules! No fan of the Cthulhu Mythos will want to miss this opportunity to acquire this classic Call of Cthulhu boardgame!Note: Arkham Horror is a cooperative game.Game Contents: * 1 Rule Book (this book) * 1 Game Board * 1 First Player Marker * 5 Dice * 16 Investigator Sheets * 16 Investigator Markers * 16 Plastic Investigator Stands * 196 Investigator Status Tokens o 56 Money Tokens o 34 Sanity Tokens (10 "threes" and 24 "ones") o 34 Stamina Tokens (10 "threes" and 24 "ones") o 48 Clue Tokens o 24 Skill Sliders * 189 Investigator Cards o 44 Common Items o 39 Unique Items o 40 Spells o 20 Skills o 11 Allies o 35 Special Cards + 8 Retainers + 8 Silver Lodge Memberships + 8 Bank Loans + 8 Blessing/Curse Cards + 3 Deputy Cards * 8 Ancient One Sheets * 20 Doom Tokens * 179 Ancient One Cards o 63 Location Cards o 67 Mythos Cards o 49 Gate Cards * 60 Monster Markers * 16 Gate Markers * 3 Activity Markers * 3 Explored Markers * 1 Terror Track Marker * 6 Closed Markers
Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Related Items
- Most Popular
- Dice & Dice Games
- Books
- Card Games
- Jigsaws & Puzzles
- Building & Construction Toys
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 47 people found the following review helpful
Durability:
Educational:
Fun:
One of the best co-operative boardgames out there, provided you don't mind being eaten alive. Arkham Horror takes the horror stories of H.P. Lovecraft, August Derleth, Clark Ashton Smith, Robert W. Chambers and Brian Lumley, mixes them all together and creates a sort of evil RPG version of Monopoly, except that instead of buying property you're closing dimensional portals. And you can move in any direction you want, but there'll probably be something chasing you.
AH is a sort of 'random-RPG-quest-in-a-box', in much the same way as Talisman but which much more variety and content. The game has quite a few RPG trappings, such as character sheets, hit points and so on, which mean it might not be one for the kids. It is, however, definitely one for players who'll get a buzz out of the atmosphere of Lovecraftian futility that the game quite often creates. The Arkham Horror experience is one of gradually losing control. At the start of a game, it usually seems like it'll be easy for the players to keep things under control, then as the turns roll on the board descends into chaos and it becomes a question of whether the players can grab what they need to survive when the nightmarish Great Old One rises from Its millennial slumber. Actually winning a game of AH can be a bit of an anticlimax, and the best games I've played have ended with me and my comrades snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at the very last moment.
The game features huge numbers of counters, markers and decks of cards, which can get fiddly at times and might intimidate n00bs. But actually it's not nearly as complicated as it looks, and you could probably afford to lose at least half of it before the game would become unplayable. Once you remember the order in which to resolve everything, all the game really consists of is running around the board, drawing the right-coloured cards, and following the instructions on them before MEETING YOUR INEVITABLE DOOM. Seriously, I can't overstate how much doom there is in this game. And if you get bored of the amount of doom, you can get the expansion boxes, which add loads more doom and about thirty more decks of cards.
In summary: almost freakishly awesome. You may be intimidated by Arkham's apparently complexity but you will come to love just how much stuff there is to do. It's tremendous fun once you understand it, and there is a certain sprawling beauty in its arcane fiddliness.
P.S. This game comes with six dice in the box. This is bonkers. The optimum number of dice needed is probably somewhere in the region of five bajillion. Just a heads up.
AH is a sort of 'random-RPG-quest-in-a-box', in much the same way as Talisman but which much more variety and content. The game has quite a few RPG trappings, such as character sheets, hit points and so on, which mean it might not be one for the kids. It is, however, definitely one for players who'll get a buzz out of the atmosphere of Lovecraftian futility that the game quite often creates. The Arkham Horror experience is one of gradually losing control. At the start of a game, it usually seems like it'll be easy for the players to keep things under control, then as the turns roll on the board descends into chaos and it becomes a question of whether the players can grab what they need to survive when the nightmarish Great Old One rises from Its millennial slumber. Actually winning a game of AH can be a bit of an anticlimax, and the best games I've played have ended with me and my comrades snatching defeat from the jaws of victory at the very last moment.
The game features huge numbers of counters, markers and decks of cards, which can get fiddly at times and might intimidate n00bs. But actually it's not nearly as complicated as it looks, and you could probably afford to lose at least half of it before the game would become unplayable. Once you remember the order in which to resolve everything, all the game really consists of is running around the board, drawing the right-coloured cards, and following the instructions on them before MEETING YOUR INEVITABLE DOOM. Seriously, I can't overstate how much doom there is in this game. And if you get bored of the amount of doom, you can get the expansion boxes, which add loads more doom and about thirty more decks of cards.
In summary: almost freakishly awesome. You may be intimidated by Arkham's apparently complexity but you will come to love just how much stuff there is to do. It's tremendous fun once you understand it, and there is a certain sprawling beauty in its arcane fiddliness.
P.S. This game comes with six dice in the box. This is bonkers. The optimum number of dice needed is probably somewhere in the region of five bajillion. Just a heads up.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Durability:
Educational:
Fun:
I have only just started playing more complex board games but this moves the benchmark to a new level for me. You play one of a team of investigators trying to close a series of gates through which will appear all types of hideous monsters. If you get overrun you may be devoured or worse still the Ancient One may appear and you may have a chance to fight it or suffer a fate even worse....
Depending on which investigator you are you will have some special powers, weapons and some money. However you only have a finite amount of stamina and sanity and these can be lost quite easily when fighting a nightmare like the Leng Spiders. In which case off to the Asylum or Hospital you will go....
There are a lot of game pieces and cards and dice with this game. The only fault with the game is that the manufacturers do not supply enough storage containers to use during game play for the various different types that need to be laid out.
I've played the game twice now and it has taken 4 to 5 hours on average. This will undoubtably speed up as you get used to the games rules (there are lots). The chances of winning seem quite small but that is part of the fun. This is very entertaining, not to mention claustrophobic and there is a sense of impending doom!
Depending on which investigator you are you will have some special powers, weapons and some money. However you only have a finite amount of stamina and sanity and these can be lost quite easily when fighting a nightmare like the Leng Spiders. In which case off to the Asylum or Hospital you will go....
There are a lot of game pieces and cards and dice with this game. The only fault with the game is that the manufacturers do not supply enough storage containers to use during game play for the various different types that need to be laid out.
I've played the game twice now and it has taken 4 to 5 hours on average. This will undoubtably speed up as you get used to the games rules (there are lots). The chances of winning seem quite small but that is part of the fun. This is very entertaining, not to mention claustrophobic and there is a sense of impending doom!
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Durability:
Educational:
Fun:
As a seasoned player of board games this is an incredible achievement, and one that I never tired of playing. But let me make this one point clear. This is not a pure strategy game. If that's what you are looking for, you may be better off looking elsewhere. It is an adventure game with a keen sense of narrative that will make you believe you are walking the streets of Arkham. It is dripping with seemingly infinite detail, leading to a rich and rewarding experience, kind of like when you become lost in a good book, albeit one in which you have control over the characters' actions.
Some have complained about the game's mechanics being reliant on dice rolls, but thinks this aspect only makes it seem more real. Life is built on chance and luck has its part to play; no matter how could a strategy you have, a bit of bad luck can undo it all but this just makes the game more exciting. Besides, anyone who has any experience of adventure gaming will know what to expect when it comes to dice and rolls and in this context, Arkham Horror is far from the dice fest that so many other games are.
If I was going to compare it with another game, it would be Reiner Knizia's similarly epic Lord of the Rings, except Arkham Horror is bigger and better in every way. Where Lord of the Rings was defiantly linear, Arkham Horror allows for genuine decision making. The various expansions only increase the opportunities for exploration and are equally recommended. This is adventure gaming of the highest order and highly recommended.
Some have complained about the game's mechanics being reliant on dice rolls, but thinks this aspect only makes it seem more real. Life is built on chance and luck has its part to play; no matter how could a strategy you have, a bit of bad luck can undo it all but this just makes the game more exciting. Besides, anyone who has any experience of adventure gaming will know what to expect when it comes to dice and rolls and in this context, Arkham Horror is far from the dice fest that so many other games are.
If I was going to compare it with another game, it would be Reiner Knizia's similarly epic Lord of the Rings, except Arkham Horror is bigger and better in every way. Where Lord of the Rings was defiantly linear, Arkham Horror allows for genuine decision making. The various expansions only increase the opportunities for exploration and are equally recommended. This is adventure gaming of the highest order and highly recommended.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Arkham Horror
Bought this game about a month ago and only got round to playing it yesterday. I wanted to write this review to respond to people on here saying this game is too involved and takes... Read more
Published 10 days ago by Spyro
Excellent board game for horror fans!
The Positives:
It's a huge game. Your character has cash, weapons, objects, spells, skills and allies etc. Read more
It's a huge game. Your character has cash, weapons, objects, spells, skills and allies etc. Read more
Published 1 month ago by rawgirly
Feels like a lost chance for something great...
After 4 hours of whirling and swirling in a tempest of rules, I look back on the abandoned table as my friends walk away from the tyranny of "Arkham Horror" saying "never again". Read more
Published 2 months ago by Giorgos
brilliant for those experienced gamers
This game is ideal for experienced gamers, as it has a lot of depth and strategy involved.
Each time I've played the game, I'm faced with challenging scenario's and quite... Read more
Each time I've played the game, I'm faced with challenging scenario's and quite... Read more
Published 2 months ago by twinkipink32
Great boardgame!
Arkham Horror: A Call of Cthulhu Boardgame is a HP Lovecraft novels based boardgame, which means that there are plenty of monsters and horror to go around. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Gert
excellent
I got this for my fellas birthday, and he absolutly loved the game, so much that he has since got additions to it.
Published 9 months ago by big bird
Boring!
Components are very well made and graphics are beautiful.
There is bunch of rules and a lot of "what if?" and exception from rules. Read more
There is bunch of rules and a lot of "what if?" and exception from rules. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Anna Z.
Arkham is awesome!
I first played this game with some friends of ours and felt like a total geek, but by the end I was hooked and had to own a copy! I also love the team player aspect of the game. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Laura_Hoddy
Experienced or committed gamers who like rolling dice only.
Experienced or committed gamers who like rolling dice only.
This is a quick 100,000 feet what you need to know (mainly written for non game geekers):
This... Read more
This is a quick 100,000 feet what you need to know (mainly written for non game geekers):
This... Read more
Published on 16 Feb 2010 by Orange Monkey that lives in the Zoo
A wonderful gaming experience
This is our favourite game and the only big time and space one I have managed to get others to play. Read more
Published on 22 Dec 2009 by M. Brennan
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
|
