Eldritch Horror is a game built upon Arkham Horror’s framework, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to some players that the two games might have a ton of similarities in terms of gameplay, mechanics, and components.
Below, we’ll be the Eldritch Horror review to see if it’s worth the buy.
| Categories | Eldritch Horror |
| Year Published | 2013 |
| Designers | Corey Konieczka Nikki Valens |
| Number of Players | 1-8 (Suggested number of players is 4.) |
| Playing Time | 120 – 240 min |
| Minimum Age | 14+ |
| Complexity Rating | 3.32 of 5 |
| Expansion | Cities in Ruin Forsaken Lore Masks of Nyarlathotep Mountains of Madness Signs of Carcosa Strange Remnants The Dreamlands Under the Pyramids |
| Game Components | 1 Game Board 1 Reference Guide 12 Investigator Sheets 4 Ancient One Sheets 122 Encounter Cards 51 Mythos Cards 16 Mystery Cards 14 Artifact Cards 40 Asset Cards 36 Condition Cards 20 Spell Cards 43 Monster Tokens 1 Mystery Token 36 Clue Tokens 4 Rumor Tokens 1 Omen Token 1 Doom Token 9 Gate Tokens 1 Lead Investigator Token 20 Travel Ticket Tokens 30 Improvement Tokens 20 Eldritch Tokens 78 Health and Sanity Tokens 4 Reference Cards 1 Active Expedition Token 4 Dice |
Overview
In Eldritch Horror, you and your friends play the role of investigators, traveling from one location to another, fighting monsters, sealing gates, and solving mysteries to save the world. During your travels, you will have the opportunity to upgrade your characters and build your skills. All these you can later use to defeat the Ancient One, should he rise.
Theme
Many would say that the H.P. Lovecraftian theme is a little overused — and to some degree, we can agree.
Still, Eldritch Horror really stands out. FFG did their work in creating a storyline that smoothly uncoils throughout the game. The card descriptions, scripts, and characters are also pretty well-written — each investigator holding their unique qualities that add depth and personality to their characters.
Rules
One of the major selling points of Eldritch Horror is its simplicity and fool-proof setup and gameplay. Whether you’re an expert or a beginner, you can easily learn and play EH without worrying about getting the process wrong.
Investigator Overview
Each player controls one investigator who possesses different levels of Health, Sanity, Stats (5 stats each), and 2 special abilities (1 passive and 1 usable as an action).
Eldritch Horror comes with 24 investigators out of the box, each with unique skills that you can use to defeat the Ancient One and its minions.
Winning the Game
To win in Eldritch Horror, players have to work together to solve three of the Ancient One’s mysteries before he is awakened. In the event that the Ancient One is spawned, players will have to solve the “Final Mystery” written on the back of the Ancient One’s card.
Gameplay, Complexity, and Replayability
Eldritch Horror is by far the easiest to get on the table when it comes to games of the same genre. There isn’t much of a learning curve in terms of gameplay, and because of the way Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) finetuned its mechanics, Eldritch Horror isn’t too complex to understand, either.
Not to say that it’s the perfect tabletop game. There are certainly some aspects of it that we think need improvement.
For example, hunting down all those reckoning tokens, especially later in the game, can be a real pain. There’s also the case of Condition cards feeling too repetitive.
But besides these minor inconveniences, Eldritch Horror plays pretty smoothly.
One other feature that we particularly like is its new “asset acquisition” system. With this new system, players no longer have to worry about not having enough resources to buy a skill or focus so much on earning money for the matter.
You can simply roll for a debt card.
If you want to increase the replayability value of your games, Eldritch Horror has several expansion packs with a plethora of new characters to choose from. With varying attributes and unique skills, this can certainly make game nights more fun and exciting for everyone!
Here are our top recommendations for Eldritch Horror Expansions. (Insert link to Eldritch Horror Expansions)
Components
All components are made of high-quality and durable materials that can withstand long, long hours of playing. Although, you can add an extra layer of protection for your cards by getting card sleeves.
Even if you aren’t particularly into art, the designs on this game can turn you into an aficionado with just one game.
Final Thoughts
So, is it worth the buy?
Absolutely.
Despite its shortcomings in terms of mechanics and gameplay, there are more things to gain from buying this board game than there is to lose.
Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, you can still have fun playing Eldritch Horror. Despite its simple design, there’s enough complexity, so you won’t feel bored at any point in the game. You can also add to its replayability value by buying an expansion pack. This will give you more characters, more spells, and more tokens.
Have fun solving mysteries!