Fantasy Flight Games | Eldritch Horror | Board Game | Ages 14+ | 1-8 Players | 120-240 Minute Playing Time

This review initially covers the base game, followed by one for the ‘Forsaken Lore’ expansion. It is not possible to post the latter review against the expansion due to the manner in which Amazon have linked the products.It is a very long review so I will briefly summarise before diving into the detail: It is a physically big game with many components but with a straightforward turn structure and the rulebook is well laid out. The cooperative element is very strong but success is highly dependant on dice rolls. It is difficult to win, especially with two players, but plays well four handed. The ‘Forsaken Lore’ expansion adds a lot more variability to the base game but does make it more difficult. Base Game: The Lovecraftian universe seems to have spawned a good few games and ‘Pandemic Reign of Cthulu’ is one of our regularly played two player co-operative games. ‘Eldritch Horror’ is another co-op set in the same universe but on a globetrotting scale and with non-Pandemic mechanics. This is a physically big game with lots of components and the board is huge (about 84cm x 56cm). There are seven different types of token (health, sanity, clues, travel tickets, ability improvements…), ten decks of cards for encounters, artefacts, assets, conditions, mysteries and mythos as well as epic & ‘standard’ monsters and finally a stack of gates. In addition to all that, you need space for a dice tray, the player investigator boards and their asset etc., ancient one sheet & mysteries. Our gaming table is 126cm x 90cm and is just big enough (as you can see from the photo). A couple of cheap plastic business card holders are great for keeping the decks tidy and saving space. Component quality is excellent. With all of those components, setup takes about 20mins but once you’ve done it a couple of times it is not complicated. The rulebook is pretty good but we have found a few ambiguities where we’ve had to resort to the internet (there’s an excellent Fandom Wiki). After the first couple of games, gameplay is fluid and we find ourselves only referring to the rulebook during combat (we have only played five games so far). There are three phases to each turn; action, encounter and mythos. During action, each player can perform two actions (travel, rest, trade, prepare for travel and acquire assets) but not the same action twice. In the encounter phase each player has one encounter with a location, monster, gate, clue, rumour, or adventure. Location encounters allow the player the chance to improve one of their abilities or acquire assets etc. The mythos phase is where mostly bad things happen – advancing the doom & omen tracks, spawning monsters & gates. It all sounds very complicated, but it is not. The game finishes when the doom tracker reaches zero from a starting value determined from the current ancient one, the mythos deck is empty, all players are defeated or after a particularly nasty rumour encounter. When any of these things happen, the game is lost. Prepare to lose quite a lot, sometimes right on the brink of victory. The game is won when the investigators manage to solve the ancient one’s three mysteries. Acquiring assets and all encounters are driven by dice throws (number of dice set by the investigator’s ability and usually 5 or 6 wins) and something good happens when you win while otherwise usually something not good. The dice mechanism introduces a huge (often frustrating) degree of luck to the game but it works really well. The two times we’ve won so far have been down to lucky dice rolls at the right time. The co-op play element is strong and essential to having the vaguest chance of winning. As we play mostly co-op games this suites us very nicely. With twelve investigators to chose from, each with strengths and weaknesses in their five abilities, four ancient ones of varying nastiness and the randomness from the card decks and dice throws, no two games are the same. Also, the range of game-over prevents interminable games - with the least nasty ancient one the game will be over one way or another within fifteen turns. Our games usually take a couple of hours. Despite the perhaps daunting size and vast number of components it is a delightful and somewhat addictive game to play. Pace is good for the type of game, there is no analysis paralysis, there’s lots of discussion at the table (although it could fall victim to the alpha gamer syndrome) and the phase sequence is intuitive. My only very minor gripe is that there are no grip-lock bags provided to hold the tokens & decks of cards when it comes to put the game away (thankfully they are cheap & readily available – I have some 10x15cm bags which are perfect). An all-round excellent game if you like co-ops and I’m considering getting the ‘Forsaken Lore’ expansion in the future. Rulebook: 8/10 Complexity: 6/10 Component quality: 10/10 Replayability: 10/10 Gameplay pace: 8/10 Forsaken Lore: Having played the base game a fair few times (and even won occasionally), it was starting to get a bit samey with the relatively small number of mystery and encounter cards. We decided, therefore, to opt for this ‘Forsaken Lore’ expansion to add a lot more variety to the gameplay. The small box was packed with loads of cards and some more bits and pieces (another ancient one and some more epic monsters (like we need more of those!)) but there’s no point listing the details here as they are visible on the back of the box in the product photographs. There is a small rule sheet with a minor combat alteration and some ‘cross that bridge when we get to it’ sort of stuff. The cards were all shuffled into their respective base game decks and the much-anticipated game commenced. It is certainly true that there is more variety in the multitude of decks, which is good, but it has also made it harder to win despite the upgraded asset and artefact decks. There are some particularly nasty encounter cards that instead of failing an ability test before something unpleasant happens, the player just gets a nasty condition (there’s only one nice condition (‘Blessed’) that we’ve found so far and neither of us manages to hold onto it for very long). Consequently, we’ve failed to win a game since incorporating the ‘Forsaken Lore’ expansion and are currently developing some house rules (nothing wrong with that) to make gameplay more enjoyable rather than staring defeat in the face at almost every turn. However, as with the base game, success depends greatly on the dice throws and with good luck and a fair wind it can feel like you’re getting somewhere (but then, lady luck is a fickle mistress). We would have a go at playing two investigators each (like when we play the similarly themed ‘Pandemic Reign of Cthulu’) but there isn’t room on the gaming table and, for the same reason and because the game is now ‘interesting’ enough, we probably won’t be getting further expansions as it seems that most of the other expansions have supplementary boards. We certainly don’t need anything to make it more challenging as we’re currently failing to win against the easiest Ancient One, let alone the nastier ones. Adding this ‘Forsaken Lore’ expansion on to the base game makes it feel complete, almost like the base game is a pared-down version. This could easily be the case as the sum of the prices of the base game and this expansion would take it out of the ‘this looks good and not too expensive – let’s give it a go’ group into the less appealing ‘looks good but rather pricey – not sure’ category. Perhaps a clever bit of marketing but, nonetheless, this expansion is pretty much a must-have if you enjoy the base game. EDIT: Having failed miserably to win any games, even with fairly generous house rules, we decided to press my Granddad’s old folding card table into service and have a go at a four handed game. Games take longer but are much more fun, there’s more opportunity to specialise the investigators & strategise, less rushing about fire-fighting and, at last, we have actually won. Time to adjust the house rules if we start winning every game! Rulebook: 10/10 Complexity: 8/10 Component quality: 10/10 Replayability: 10/10 Gameplay pace: 10/10

Eldritch Horror is a mid to heavy weight cooperative game set in a H.P. Lovecraftian version of the 1920s and 30s. There is a lot going on in this game and it has masses of replayability. It might be a bit heavy for a very casual gamer but don’t let that put you off. The rulebook is excellent and comes with an in-depth glossary with really helps with clarification. Certainly if you’re a fan of games like Pandemic then this isn’t really a big step up although there is slightly more complexity in the things you can do. I like this game. If you get yourself organised and familiar with the rules, it can be fast paced, tough and a lot of fun. Despite looking overwhelming, gameplay is actually deceptively simple. Each player has two actions, you then take it in turns to draw a card, fight a monster or both, then turn over one last card and everyone does what it tells you to. All the cards tell you what to do so you don’t need to memorise every tiny little detail of the game. As with all Fantasy Flight games, the components are excellent and the game looks really good out on the table. You’ll need a big one for this game as it takes up lots of space. Everything oozes theme. Every card, monster and story looks and sounds like it belongs in this alternative world. One of the best bits of the game is the reckoning mechanic. These are double sided cards that you flip over whenever the game (Usually a card) tells you to do so. Then, something unexpected, usually horrible and terrifying happens to you. It’s such a good idea and really ramps up the tension. You’re never quite sure if that bank loan you took out to buy a gun is going to come back and haunt you. The loan sharks could break your legs or it turns out that the contract gave away your soul in the small print. Theme in this game is SO strong that I didn’t even care when we lost because the story of how we lost was so much fun. A sailor won the affection of the cats of Ulthar and they helped him to close a portal to another world. An aged professor found a brain in a jar in the heart of Africa and it drove him into the depths of insanity. Then Cthuhlu rose up consumed us all in a watery takeover of the planet. It was great! There are so many good parts to this game. Every decision, the smallest of mistakes or bad dice roll feels like it could affect the outcome of the game. You have to work as a team with each character’s weaknesses and strengths playing a very important role in winning or losing. There are some negatives. They don’t detract from my enjoyment of the game but they are worth consideration. First problem I ready touched on when I mentioned organisation. There is a lot of stuff in this game; over 15 different decks of cards, hundreds of monster, health and sanity tokens and more. This is great for the game but a logistical nightmare as the manufacturers supply no form of organisation at all. No trays, bags or card boxes. Nothing. You will need to sort this out yourself or you’ll never bother to play it due to set up time. I built my own in box organiser out of foamcore, specifically with set up and take down in mind. I enjoy doing this and you’ll find lots of different methods online but, if you don’t then it could be a problem considering the hefty price tag. This does seem to be an issue with Fantasy Flight Games in general. Second problem is the twisting of Lovecraft’s fiction. Lovecraft’s work is about terror, the unknown and the insignificance of man in a universe that we don’t fully understand. Yes at times this manifests itself as monsters or aliens but virtually never does anyone actually fight these things. In part, because it is often impossible to do so. In this game all the creatures, monsters, aliens inter-dimensional beings etc can be shot, stabbed and generally beaten to a pulp. If you’re the sort of Lovecaft fan who finds this simplification of his work annoying then I would stay away from this game! For me the game was strong enough to overlook this and on the plus side there is none of Lovecraft’s racism, classism and lack of strong female roles in this version of his world.

So I will start with this game is one of my favorites but it is reasonably complex and long, i would not recommend this for people only just getting into this style of games. If you like the sound of the monsters and lore of HP lovecraft by the game eldersign first its cheaper and easier to learn but has the same feel and characters etc and would be a good first step. Saying that this is one of my fav games ever to play with a large group of friends, most game sessions with more than 5 people do take 3/4hours so buckle up for the long haul and thats not including the setup time. Its also very hard, depending how good/lucky you are we still loose more often than we win but the playing is part of the fun. The story and backdrop is awesome, lots of scary monsters to fight and even on having played this game way over 20-30 times we still come back for more. the game offers lots of ways for each game to be different, theres lots of bosses to fight and characters to choose from. Dice rolling mechanics leave it as much up to luck as it is skill however choices you make 100% matter on every play through and working as a team making long term choices is very important. you play across the map taking your actions to get items, close portals or fight bad guys and try and stop ancient beings destroying the planet while racing the clock and it always ends up down to the wire in the last few rounds. This game also has TONS of expansions so after i played it around 10-15 times and done the core set I had lots to buy for it, the small expansion packs give you loads for your money and you can just permanently add them to the core game. For beginners: go buy Elder sign for £25 if you like that defo come back and buy this. For everyone else: this game is long and pretty hard, but very awesome and has tons of replay value

I'm relatively new to the works of H P Lovecraft so I only became aware of this through a podcast. It's perhaps one of the luckiest mentions I've taken a chance on. It's a cooperative game in which players take on the roles of certain unique investigators who are attempting to prevent the return of an ancient terror. The box contains 8 diverse character sheets and 4 ancient evil or elder God sheets. The interesting thing is that the cards that you draw are themed to the ancient evil you will be setting yourself agsinst, and the variety of the cards being played make it highly unlikely you'll experience the same combination of story elements twice, which makes for excellent replay ability. I'm also fairly new to modern board games, where I understand the rules can seem a little daunting and off putting to the new player in the absence of a teacher to hold your hand first time out. Whilst the mechanics of the game allow a lot of choices to be played out, I found it very reassuring how quickly I was able to pick up the order of turns and before long my turn times speeded up as I grew in confidence. Prior to buying this game I would highly recommend you check out an introductory video of the product on YouTube as I did. I found it to make the process of comprehending the game so much easier, and there are a lot of good quality videos of fans explaining things in simple step by step terms. All in all its perhaps the best board game I own, and with expansions available I can see me enjoying this game a lot. Average play time for me is in the region of 1 hour 50 minutes to just over 2 hours, but on a day off its has been known for me to play game after game from 10am until well into the evening. The fact that I only won a couple of games didn't frustrate me in the slightest as it was a real adventure each time. Only downside I will be mentioning is that there are a fair amount of components in the form of cards, counters, tokens and the board of the world itself of course. The picture guide that comes with the game will tell you how to set it out, but be sure you have access to the dining table or other large gaming surface before deciding to play. Brilliant product. Another stellar bit of work from Fantasy Flight Games.

A great game, really fun to play. However it takes a long time to set up, and the inside of the box doesn't come with any dividers/bags for the multitudes of different types of cards/pieces/markers/etc. I know someone who made a foamcore insert, but I would recommend just a LOT of little plastic bags! Reduces set up to about 20 minutes or so, if you know what you are doing!

Great game but set up takes a little while. The game can last quite a long time and is easier with more people playing. This is really fun and contains different scenarios. It has items, characters, dice, the board, sanity tokens, health tokens, tokens to increase lore/observation/influence/strength/Sanity, clues to gain, rumours, scenario cards, shipping ticket and rail tickets included just to mention a few things! Once you start playing, the game is easier to get the hang of. Three phases: action (each player performs 2 actions or if the following: travel, buy a ticket, rest, test influence to gain items), encounter (draw a card based on where you are i.e. city, sea or wilderness space and whether you are trying to gain a clue or close a gate) and the final phase is the doom phase which usually involves everyone playing. It's a really fun game and although it can take a couple of hours with a few people, we really enjoy it. The box is sturdy and the board folda up well. There is actually enough space for extra cars and tokens if you buy an expansion set which we did. We also bought a little holder that comes in flat pack wood that you construct, to make storing everything easier as it can be fiddly to get it in the box space properly otherwise.

This is such a great game. I always liked Arkham Horror, but it always felt a little disappointing as well. It was a bit too disjointed, it had a bit too much book keeping, it never quite managed to deliver the experience that it promised. It's still a good game, it's just not great, the expansions add something, but it still feels a little lacking. Fortunately Eldritch Horror addresses all of these problems. It's dripping in Theme and the game gives you a real story, there are moments that you and your group will talk about and laugh about for a long time after. The co-operative element feels more involved, you can actually form strategies and discuss tactics a lot more than you ever could in AH. The rules are a lot simpler, turns can be taken quickly, the mythos phase is easily resolved, and there's so much less book keeping, it's a far smoother and more enjoyable experience to play, just from a rules and mechanics stand point. It's just a better game. If you want a Lovecraftian adventure that will keep you busy into the early hours, until you finally go insane and the world is devoured by ancient dread elder ones. This is it.

This game is fun with the right crowd but there are a lot of mechanics you have to learn. If you have some beginners who aren’t used to RPG mechanics, they will struggle to keep track of all the rules. There are a lot of different tokens and cards in the box, so you need a decent amount of space. Everything is well made but some card backs look almost the same, they could have made different decks more distinctive. It took us a few evenings to really get a hang of all the phases. From about third/fourth evening we finally got into the groove and we started having fun. It is quite unpredictable and tends to throw characters into hard situations! Definitely feels more dynamic and punishing than something like Pandemic. You really feel like you are at odds with an evil god and sometimes only luck can help you out. Conclusion: recommended for players who aren’t afraid of a somewhat steep learning curve and enjoy dark fantastic setting.

Altro gioiello per la serie Arkham Horror. Un gioco a sé stante che vi porterà in giro per il mondo (la plancia è il mondo!!) degli anni '20 a bordo di treni e navi. Dovrete investigare, combattere e resistere alla pazzia. Pe chi come me ha già giocato ad Arkham questo gioco non lo sostituisce ma è promosso in pieno in quanto non è affatto un sequel del suo fratello ma un gioco a parte con dinamiche diverse, veloci e comprensibili fin dall'inizio. Per la versione inglese si considera che lo sappiate bene l'inglese in quanto i testi narrativi delle carte sono molto complessi e richiedono una padronanza medio alta della lingua. Altrimenti beccatevi la versione italiana.

Amazing game - very easy to learn, difficult to win. Win or lose it's a lot of fun with friends. Would recommend getting at least one mini expansion though, for more encounter variety.

An interesting game, I recommend you to try it. Good quality of workmanship.

Let's make something clear: this game is not for everyone. It's likely that if you're reading this review, you're already a hobby boardgamer and looking for something a little on the "heavy" side to play. Eldritch Horror fills that roll admirably without becoming cumbersome. Years ago, Fantasy Flight games released "Arkham Horror," a take on Lovecraftian fiction set in the town of Arkham. The premise of the game was simple - monsters spewing through gates, investigators trying to stop them, and a great ancient evil biding its time until it arrived to destroy the world. If the premise was simple, the actual gameplay was the complete opposite. There was very little intuitive about playing the game. In a way, the fact that players were so hapless and helpless fit the theme of Lovecraft very well. A compelling story could be told... in between the hundreds of time one might stop to clarify something in the rulebook. Eldritch Horror is a much better game than that. In fact, it's a great game. The theme still shines, and is in fact helped by taking the adventure to a global scale, rather than just the city of Arkham. Starting with the second time I played the game, it takes me between 20 and 35 minutes to set up the game, depending on how many players I have. Perfectly reasonable for a game of this scope and magnitude; it looks big on the table, but trust me when I say you shouldn't be intimidated. Unlike many heavily themed, hobby-level board games, this one actually makes sense as you play it. Skill checks are handled simplistically through dice rolling. It's a system that works, and is so accessible you can teach even the most casual gamer to play. Here is where I stopped to consider whether I would give this game only four stars, though. While you're working on maximizing your character's stats to roll the maximum number of dice (successes are represented by 5's and 6's), something things just *happen* to your character, things which are inherently unfair, and if they happen too soon in the game, could go as far as to make things feel "unfun". Here's the thing, though... that inherent disparity of power between your investigators and the world fits Lovecraft so well. True horror isn't the capable adventurer staving off every threat with his quick wits and impressive luck. True horror is a powerless victim against an unknowable evil. In most other games, I would have knocked off the star, but Eldritch Horror gets to keep the star for their consistency. The game, however, has a pretty cool mechanic to make up for what happened. Once an investigator is knocked from the game, you can get another character out of the box, place them on the board with their starting goods, and get back to work. The game is not over for any player who was just unlucky, unless of course the team does so poorly that they start losing all the characters in the box. Further, with the exception of a couple methods of death (such as being "devoured" on a few cards) usually the character hangs around the place of their untimely demise as a potential encounter. This is a wonderful mechanic! Characters are killed off, sure, but they receive their final curtain call if you have time to spare for your fallen comrade - often giving their items or other assistance to the new characters. Finally, this game is perfectly playable as a solo adventure. I like solo board game. I'm married to a gamer, but she's quite picky about just which games she'll play and some of these heavier ones aren't her thing. I don't have a local gaming group, either. That's okay! A reasonable twenty minutes to set up, and off I go. While the game does work (and officially supports) using just one character, most solo players prefer playing with two characters. Use as many as you feel like, since this is a cooperative game the decision really is up to you. One warning with this: the game is easy to understand, but after two characters I feel like the normally reasonable amount of detail you need to keep up with for each character suddenly becomes a slog. Playing with four characters was cool, and made a board that was full of action and synergy, but I found myself forgetting about my character's abilities when I needed them. If you have a serious board game hobby, I hope you give Eldritch Horror a try. It's deep enough to keep you coming back for a long time, and easy enough to teach your less experienced friends without scaring them off. Enjoy!

One of the best boardgames I played, a must in the collection