A fresh start for this terrifying mystery as Arkham Horror: The Card Game unleashes
Chapter Two
Publisher Fantasy Flight Games’ Living Card Game (LCG) model has grown long in the tooth. Originally employed in 2008 with Game of Thrones: The Card Game, it’s been utilised across many different properties and settings. It has supported both competitive and cooperative designs, struggling at times to meet the potential of its non-randomised format. While buying expansions with preset cards and not relying on blind packs sounds enticing, the constant churn of new products and the inability to track down old out of print content has exposed the cracks of this methodology.
Still, the format endures. Arkham Horror: The Card Game is evidence of that, now on its third iteration of a Core Box, as the publisher attempts to re-launch the game with a fresh start and appeal to a whole new audience. The existing product line had grown so bloated and unwieldy that newcomers would balk at navigating the maze of entry. There are literally hundreds of releases, spanning small scenario blisters to larger campaign boxes. Many are impossible to purchase and cost eye-watering amounts on the secondary market. So, a new beginning is immediately appealing. Those who never delved into the depths of this cooperative Cthulhu Mythos design have been given a glimmer of hope, an opening to seize.
The welcoming for newcomers is easily the best facet of this new box. A whole new generation of gamers can now experience this wonderful design, as you and up to three of your friends take on the role of investigators attempting to unravel a mystery. Each character is made up of a bespoke deck containing cards of various abilities, allies and equipment. You draw from this deck over the course of the game and put these cards into play for either momentary benefits or lasting boons. The game has a tableau-building aspect, where cards that remain in play build a stronger engine – one which you can wield to great effect.
You work together as a team to investigate a mystery as laid out by a scenario. Scenarios are intricate beings with their own unique deck of cards constituting locations, foes and challenges. Special rules often accompany scenarios and a unique goal is presented. You may be trying to uncover who murdered a victim or possibly trying to unearth a lost artifact in a buried tomb.
Cards are used for everything here. Each location is a separate scene, which is extremely flexible. You could be exploring a haunted house where each Location card is a different room. Or making a globe-spanning trot to visit different burial sites. Your characters are also represented by small cards, which you place next to the locations and then move about and perform actions on your turn.
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a fantastic game, as exemplified by its enduring popularity. Characters are nuanced and customisable through deckbuilding and advancement over multiple sessions. The more expansions you buy, the larger the card pool you have to tinker with. Scenarios, likewise, are rich and fantastical creations. It’s a treat exploring all the clever ways cards are utilised to represent various details, and the whole experience is heightened through the campaign structure of linked scenarios.
The story is also strong. Narrative is expressed through the scenarios, as well as pieced together through various emergent properties. Often, you can reflect on what occurred in a session and produce a cinematic tale of adventure. While this game is somewhat more abstract than other Cthulhu Mythos games, the way it focuses on narrative parallels other big titles such as Mansions of Madness and Arkham Horror 3rd Edition.
Arkham Horror: The Card Game only has one problem of note: its rough integration of older content. You have to adjudicate awkward decisions such as which versions of a card you will be using in your deck, and you have to do some fiddling to play older scenarios. While some effort has been made to carry existing players forward, it’s not enough. Veterans of the game may simply choose to close off their collections and remain content with what they have. Some may consider this new version a separate game and choose not to blend the two. Others are simply annoyed.
There’s obviously a large risk here for the publisher. The game has existed thanks to the support of a huge community of players, but this new core set risks pushing them away. Whether those that abandon the line will be replaced by fresh faces remains to be seen. But action was needed, as the sheer weight of the old product line was overwhelming and intimidating.
Another issue with this new chapter is the current range of scenarios. The core set ships with a short three-scenario campaign, one of which feels very similar to a previous campaign in the original boxed set. Furthermore, no new scenarios are expected to arrive for some time. That is a problem, as most players buying into it at this point will want additional content to explore. The scenarios are the lifeblood of the game, and not producing another short campaign to purchase in the aftermarket feels like a blunder that risks alienating the new blood that has been drawn in. There is a chance that fan-created scenarios may fill the void, but that’s asking a lot of a community that may be unhappy with the new approach.
While that important scenario support is absent, Fantasy Flight has not neglected peripherals. Courtesy of sister company Gamegenic, there is a whole slew of player mats, card sleeves and deluxe tokens to acquire. The quality is seriously impressive, but so is the price tag. Has this deal been struck to cash in on the market for custom upgrades available on sites like Etsy? We couldn’t possibly comment.
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a mixed bag. The game remains impressive, evocative and thrilling, using a compelling design that can function as a lifestyle game. But the new set doesn’t yet offer the content to back that up. It also alienates many of the design’s biggest fans, those who have kept the game humming for years. Hopefully this risk pays off and this modern classic finds its footing yet again, because it’s a fantastic and worthy experience once the material is there.
Review by Charlie Theel
Maybe
If you are new to this game and curious about what it has to offer, now is the perfect time to hop aboard, but existing players have much less incentive.
Mansions of Madness sees you exploring the dark corners of Arkham and unearthing terrors that will crush a person’s mind. You can carry on that vibe in a more flexible format with Arkham Horror: The Card Game.
Category: Card Games
Designers: Nate French, Josiah Harrist, Nicholas Kory, MJ Newman
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Time to Play: 1-2h
Players: 1-4 Players
Age: 14+
RRP: £70
5 Investigator character cards
5 Investigator mini cards
224 Player cards
133 Scenario cards
224 tokens
Chaos bag
Campaign book
Rulebook