Arkham Horror: The Card Game’s second expansion steps outside of Lovecraft to confront The King in Yellow

The truly excellent Arkham Horror living card game spin-off is following up its first expansion with a brand new campaign – only this time, it’s not H.P. Lovecraft’s creations that will be at the centre of the story.

The Path to Carcosa is seemingly strongly inspired by Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow, a collection of short stories published in 1895 that went on to inspire Lovecraft and earn several references throughout the Cthulhu creator’s works – including the explicit mention of the fictional city of Carcosa and the supernatural horrors Hali and Hastur, which were originally coined by Ambrose Bierce before being borrowed by Chambers.

What makes The Path to Carcosa particularly indebted to Chambers is its focus on The King in Yellow, the fictional play that lends its name to Chambers’ book. A recurring element throughout the stories, the play also shares its name with a mysterious evil being.

In the new Arkham Horror: The Card Game expansion, players will be tasked with investigating the play as the production moves from Paris (where several of Chambers’ stories are set) to Lovecraft’s town of Arkham.

The two scenarios in the box – Curtain Call and The Last King – will begin the campaign of the same name, which will be continued and completed in the subsequent set of six Mythos packs.

The Path to Carcosa will also add six new investigators, including the actress Lola Hayes (the game’s first ‘neutral’ character, able to build a deck from any class type cards) and Arkham favourite Akachi Onyele, and 62 player cards, plus some new keywords that affect gameplay. There’s also the introduction of story cards, which bring in additional narrative elements.

The Path to Carcosa will be out for Arkham Horror: The Card Game this autumn.

It's not the only upcoming tabletop release to look back beyond the ubiquitous Lovecraft to some of his influences - The Yellow King RPG will similarly take Chambers' book as a leaping-off point for a roleplaying exploration of the mysterious play and supernatural figure.