Arkham Horror The Card Game The Essex County Express MYTHOS PACK| Horror Game| Mystery Game| Cooperative Card Game| Ages 14+ | 1-2 Players| Avg. Playtime 1-2 Hours| Made by Fantasy Flight Games,Green

This is an excellent game for two folks holed up together trying to survive a pandemic – with a couple assumptions:1) You either have to have at least one person who is fairly confident with tabletop games and will be responsible for learning a pretty complex rule system – or at least be willing to dedicate a pretty decent amount of time understanding the rules.2) You understand that this game is a whole system, where you will continue to buy new scenarios and campaigns and is absolutely not a one-time investmentProvided the above are true, this is a very fun strategic co-op game. This core set is actually our second set. We have been playing as a couple for about a year and a half now and we finally gave in and bought a second core set. Unless you are a person with a lot of money on your hands who wants the absolute best experience, don't buy two core sets for two players right off the bat. Definitely start with just one core set, do those scenarios and see how you feel about the game. This review will talk about the game as a system, not just the core set.TYPE OF GAMEPLAYThis is technically a deck-building game, however it is very easy to find suggested decks online so if that isn't your thing, that's okay. I don't like deck-building so I often do that and then tweak as I go on. My partner loves deck-building, so he builds his own. Sometimes he manages to make terrible decks and we struggle, but that’s fun for him.There is a lot of cohesion opportunity with mechanics so if you are the kind of person who likes to maximize systems you will probably find that very satisfying in this game.You can pick a type of character you really like and keep rolling with that style, or you can try new things. If you want to play a character that's all fight you definitely can. You DO have to consider team composition though and will struggle if you play with two players and both want to be all fight all the time.LEVEL OF COMPLEXITYI'll be real, the rules are complex. We have been playing for over a year and while we understand the game well we do still sometimes have to stop and look up the exact order a certain event may happen in. Every scenario we play there is at least one quick google search to see how other's thing a particular card interaction should work. It's not bad, but it is cumbersome. Most of the time you don't notice it once you get in a groove, but when you have to stop to look something up it can bring the game to a grinding halt which has been frustrating before.LEVEL OF DIFFICULTYI would recommend this game for people who are already tabletop gamers, or are willing to be a good sport. You might fail in this game, and you might fail a lot. The good thing is that there are multiple settings for difficultly. If your crew is the type that wants to do everything the hard way then they can play with the hard rules, if you want to just enjoy the story and not feel like you could lose at any minute then play on easy. We play on standard and it's usually fine. We have had a couple scenarios that just seem totally unnecessarily punishing but that's okay. It's normal to not succeed at every single scenario in a campaign. The rules and the campaigns are laid out very well that your choices, your successes and your failures all matter and that can be really fun to see payoff later in the campaign.TEAMYou will have to select a "lead investigator" who will take their turn first. At the beginning I'd recommend having that be the person most comfortable with the rules. There is also some notetaking that has to happen, so having the other person take charge of that is a nice way to split responsibilities.SPOOKINESSThe content of this game is obviously inspired by the world of Lovecraft. If you don't like the Occult, you won't like this game. If you don't like spooky, you might not like it or you might be fine with it. There's always "Barkham Asylum" which is a cute spinoff of this game that is with dogs and cats. If you have a friend who might want to play but is put off by the content, maybe start with that. If they end up finding the gameplay compelling enough you might get them to join the regular game later. The Forgotten Age is also more tomb-raidery/Indiana Jonesy so that might also be a good entry point for those folks.DIVERSITY IN MAIN CHARACTERSBoard games can be hit or miss when it comes to showing varied and complex characters that don't all look the same. I am a woman (a white cis woman if that lens is helpful to you as a reader), and I like to play as women in games if I can. I have played as a woman character in every campaign we have done. I have enjoyed every single one of those characters. The core set comes with three female characters and two male. Further campaigns seem generally balanced, sometimes having slightly more male characters or slightly more female characters. I believe in the core set and the first campaign (Dunwich Legacy) all the women are white. That does change later but it's still a little limited. That being said, you don't have to do the campaigns in order of release, so if you want a particular character, you can buy that campaign and play with her in any other campaign. To my knowledge there are no explicitly mentioned non-binary characters and sexuality isn't mentioned for any characters except if it’s a part of their backstory (I can only think of one person off the top of my head and that's Mark Harrigan who seems to be straight). Racism, sexism and homophobia do not appear to have been used as plot points at all in this game (at least in the campaigns I have played). While I would call this game dark and gritty, I wouldn't say it’s the type of dark that is used as an excuse to be gross to groups of people so that's nice. There are a couple cards that borrow from themes of Native Americans without a lot of context. The campaign I am currently playing (The Forgotten Age) does discuss indigenous peoples. I believe the people in that campaign are fictional and because I haven't finished the campaign I can't say whether I think there are any missteps with how it's been handled.CONCLUSIONAll in all, I love this game. It's challenging, its interesting, but it can be cumbersome. If it's worth it for you to do a bit of work and pay quite a bit of money, then it's a nice way to spend quality time with the person you are stuck social-distancing with. Much to our chagrin, our cats love it too and often cause havoc at the table (there are some little bits and pieces that they find attractive). In the pic I included we are using special upgraded tokens that we purchased. This set comes with cardboard tokens. Because the campaigns are long and interesting I think we will replay them once we have finished all the ones that are currently out, so long term there is some replay ability but probably not right away. Playing as different characters would definitely add some novelty as well.

Great game for the right person or group. Can be expensive because to get the most out of it, you need one of the complete adventure cycles that can run over $100. But if the game intrigues you, check out some how to play videos and make your choice!

The game is great and the delivery was perfect as usual, even if I ordered it from Thailand. Thanks!!

I was sent this game as a gift and I love how it plays, but there are only enough cards in the collection for two of the five included investigators to play at a time. I ordered a second 2-player game and that has everything for a 4-investigator game. There is a newer four-investigator version that would do the same thing without the 'spare' cards I got by getting a duplicate set.I enjoy the board game when I'm playing with other people, and it has more scenarios and more investigators, but this is a very satisfying solitaire game and is quick to set up and play. I've completed all three scenarios in a long evening.This is a fine addition to our growing Arkham Horror games, and I'll probably buy some of the extensions that add investigators and scenarios..

This game is pretty complicated, but if you are willing to spend some time with the rule books it is an interesting one to play. I have been playing it solo, and enjoying it very much. The role-playing and cooperative aspect is somewhat lessened, but there is no reason you can't go through the stories and continuing set of scenarios by yourself playing a couple of characters.I am through the three scenarios contained in the base set, and I am looking to purchase a few of the expansions. it is really great that all the cards needed are contained in the set (no booster packs to suck your wallet dry). I also think that the ability to play several different characters (an combinations of characters) is a huge attraction, and that this will provide enough replayability to justify the price of the set. FFG makes quality components and captures Lovecraft themes with such skill that any fan of gaming and the Lovecraftian horror genre will enjoy this game.I also like the expansion of the character decks in between sessions. There are some deck building elements to the game that provide an interesting mechanic and some difficult decisions as you progress. It is not a really intense deck building game (you spend more time playing than building, which is nice), but how you stack the character decks will really affect how the game plays. I tried a few different strategies for the same two characters, and I found that the level of challenge remained moderate, but winnable, and that the game was versatile and balanced enough to make it fun no matter what tactic I employed. I don't mean to imply that card selection doesn't matter, but I didn't find that any cards were so overpowered or beneficial that they posed an obvious choice for inclusion that would really increase the chance of success.The only bad thing I have to say about the game is that it is not quick to set up, quick to play or simple enough to call up a friend and just jump right in to a session. These are features of a lot of the more rules intense, "heavy" games available, and I figure that anyone that is buying a game like this one will appreciate and admire these same features that a more casual games would find unappealing. In short, it is very fun and fulfilling if you like a complex challenge and you are willing to spend time to learn all the rules.

parfait ajout à la collection.

Took hours of reading and watching and playing to understand the game. Do not buy if you're not patient with learning games as this is the hardest table top game I've learned. The instructions and manual books are clear, but there are MANY rules and technicalities to learn.That said, now, after 2 scenarios complete, I understand the game well enough that I do not need to refer to the Rules book while playing. The deck building with a single core box is quite good for 1-2 players but made better (or just wait for the revised box) with a second - and necessary for 3-4 players. All 5 investigators are unique in multiple ways and have their own personality. The Lovecraftian theme is present from the introductory scenario and sets the tone for the game. While you won't lose the game in a traditional sense, you may not get a favorable outcome. The artwork is also great across the cards.This has become my favorite table top game for the time being.

Perfect condition.

I love this expansion,

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