Arkham Horror the Card Game | Rahdo's Final Thoughts

[@boardgamefangirl]

LOL------> 11:03 "This is addictive. This is a box of adventure crack."

[@ape4074]

Yeah, I fell into it and I'm so happy, gimme some more!

[@catwizard545]

ROFL!!! XD

[@hekje12345]

Just want to add the Dunwich Legacy campaign scenarios are even more fun than the core set ones. Each scenario has a twist to it, and no two scenarios feel the same.

[@Bevelin87]

So true! We really enjoyed the core game but the Dunwich cycle is a showcase of the potentials in the game design.

[@george-dm]

This is the best game for couples. If you like horror, survival and Cthulhu, unlimited card customization to improve your character, a lot of characters and great story you should buy them all. Revised edition rocks. After d&d this is the best experience you can have in a table.

[@matpetheny]

it totally is a rabbit hole... but what an awesome one to be in! ffg, take my money. this game is brilliant.

[@theturdreich9546]

just love the art in this game about to play tomorrow for first time

[@hypnoticsorin8016]

I ultimately had to choose between this and Lotr lcg and and went with Lord of the rings mainly on theme alone. LOTR is one of my favorite books/movies/universe and I honestly despise the cthulhu lore/mythos and the churning of similar themed games due to it being public domain now. That's not to say Arkham Horror LCG is bad, by any means hell I'd even pick it up myself, but I've invested so much time and money in the LOTR lcg I couldn't even fathom picking up another. I honestly just wish LCG core sets gave you a full play set in ONE Box! stop making us buy 2-3 copies of the base set for every LCG to get the "full/true" experience

[@kosterix123]

I bought lotr and hated it. Happy to have sold it (at a loss). Everything felt lame on that thing.

[@kosterix123]

Internally consistent is a strong point as well as the attachment to your hero. But the rulebook is hard to work with and drawing chaos tokens should be done without replacing. Also a hard mode for if you believe your hero is optimized.

[@Blaklyon0]

Played the game but, never even survived one scenario... Even less won. But still love it!

[@kellyb2923]

I agree with everything you say. It is amazing! I abandoned LOTR LCG because of this. Enjoy mate. And your criticisms are so well balanced. REALLY it means so much. As a 50 year old person in school I totally love this Final Thoughts vids. As my game of choice, yay. I keep playing it.

[@kossowankenobi]

I am really hoping FFG riffs off these design elements with the L5R LCG later this year. My favorite game IP with a modern new design - so exciting!

[@DrugsForRobots]

What do you think about L5R now? I love the art and graphic design, but the few folks I've tried playing it with don't seem to have the patience for the length of the game, even though they also find it beautiful. Arkham Horror is equally long, but I think the co-op aspect helps it feel less daunting.

[@TheFlymar]

I can't get myself to get LotR LCG from the shelf but, damn... I'll probably buy this one. Poor addict I am.

[@anthonyburnett8846]

A great game for sure. So many possibilities with this game.

[@halfsolo9817]

This is the best Arkham files game by far. It has the best narrative, the best mechanics and for me its the most immersive game of the whole collection. I almost have all the Arkham Files games and expansions and now, in 2020 i’m selling everything except the LCG and Arkham Horror second edition.

[@DieNische]

Damn you, Rahdo. I hoped that I could skip this game. Now I have to buy it. Awesome review. :)

[@Nain1982]

lol i was thinking the same thing. I'm already waiting for brass, and now watching Feast for Odin and this I feel like buying them too! i'm broke

[@kosterix123]

Change your hobby then. Go for pnp!

[@ThePantheons]

You've quickly become my favourite youtuber I love your run throughs and your voice! I'm purchasing Eldritch though because my partner loves the globe trotting adventure backdrop. Also more of a complete game in one rather than a tease with the "LCG" stuff..

[@staticklingon2182]

Yeah I love the "here's what it's like to just sit down and play it" to his videos. Sometimes tutorials don't show the true pacing of a game.

[@amedeus40k]

Thanks so much for the video. You've just validated pretty much all of my thoughts about this game and I've yet to play it. My wife and I have only just ordered the core set(one box) and the Dunwich Legacy expansion, and while my wife is definitely interested, I'm just excited as hell to get them and start playing. I've been hearing the same story from a lot of people that you really need to buy two of the core sets for any meaning full deck building, so I'm hoping to talk the wife into it eventually. Then again, maybe the Dunwich expansion will take care of that problem I don't know. What I love most is that you're basically playing a character in the form of a deck of cards, and playing an RPG with the cards acting as your DM or GM. What's even more amazing is that the storyline develops in such a way that it makes me not even want to look at the cards until I've completed each scenario in order so the story doesn't get spoiled for me. That's just amazing that a card game, of all things can do all of that. Again thanks for the review and happy gaming!🙂

[@parnovin5800]

amedeus40k Hi, remember tris comment? How did it ens up? Was one core set and the Dunwich expansion a good start? Just made the same order yesterday. (Or do you miss out if you dont get 2 core boxes?)

[@rhan101277]

I have six expansions, 7 scenarios and the revised core game. Would you still recommend getting the second core set?

[@rahdo]

i'd say you probably don't need it :)

[@Traktora9]

Great review, thank you very much, really helped!

[@yujirohanma7551]

what about replaybility?

[@rahdo]

considering there's dozens and dozens of fan made expansions available to download, i'd say 'high' :)

[@yujirohanma7551]

@@rahdo how are you gonna download it and play it? are you gonna print out?

[@rahdo]

head over to arkhamcentral.com/ and check the 'fan created content' section :)

[@yujirohanma7551]

@@rahdo thank you very much for the response and elaboration, I'm already your fan :)

[@ZebraCatfish73]

I'm looking into going down this rabbit hole. Just wondering does anyone know how many core base sets of crack you need to be able to play any combination of deck building with the characters that come in the core base set for a FOUR player game? EXAMPLE: If two core boxes are needed for two players, does that translate into four for a four player game? Or do you just buy expansions instead? I mean FOUR core base sets is really going to hit the wallet hard if that's the case. Any suggestions out there?

[@rahdo]

2 core boxes allows 4 players to each be one unique character :)

[@ZebraCatfish73]

Thanks Rahdo; and thanks for your run throughs. I really enjoy them. Keep up the great work! :)

[@wyattfertig3026]

I agree with the rabbit hole , with the release schedule moved me to sell my copies in favor of the Aeon's End kickstarter. Also what are your thoughts on solo versus two player -- did playing multiple characters dissuade you at all?

[@coyotemoon722]

You can play this game "true solo" where you only use one character, and to my surprise it plays excellently. It's just as fun as playing multiplayer and the difficulty scales perfectly as well. If you're at all contemplating a good solo game, this is one of the best. Playing with 2 characters is fun as well, but I definitely prefer one character if I'm going solo adventuring.

[@staticklingon2182]

My wife loves thematic story-driven games but I'll probably be playing this solo more. I love the fact that it scales well. I'm excited that I can start a new campaign with each character (and write down my decklist) and get some good mileage out of this without having to spend another $100 for the next adventure.

[@GamingWithGeo]

I had the feeling that you would like this one seeing as you liked the Lord of the Rings LCG, since it uses the same core mechanics (go to locations, make progress, repeat) but improves on it in almost every way.

[@dukeherm1t611]

I thought the same thing :)

[@aorakis5795]

A lot of great mechanic, but in the end, the replayabily and deckbuilding are poor. Hopefully new expansions will help ! Great game anyway, the story telling from it is really nice and it was a pleasure to play with it.

[@Assie8911]

Hi rahdo, love your reviews.LOTR CARDGAME or ARKHAM HORROR CARDGAME which do you like more and why.

[@rahdo]

lotr because of the subject matter, and less random resolution of conflict

[@Assie8911]

Thank you i dont like too much randomness either .now I know which one to buy. Thanks again

[@mikan916]

As someone who doesn't care much for deck building but likes the adventure horror theme and structure, would this still be fun? Are their prebuilt deck suggestions?

[@onaplake]

yes there are with the game and online.

[@PlatoneHegel]

Hi rahdo, I am a huge fan of your channel! I mainly play games with my girlfriend and now we want to expand our collection with two co-op games: one heavy (Robinson Crusoe or Spirit Island kind of heaviness) and one very light. We already have Elder Sign, Pandemic, Escape: the curse of the Temple, Arkham Horror LCG and The Ravens of Thri Sahashri. What would you recommend? :) Thank you in advance!

[@rahdo]

here's a list of all the co-op games i've got at the moment, maybe it will give you some ideas: www.boardgamegeek.com/geeksearch.php?action=search&advsearch=1&objecttype=boardgame&q=&include%5Bdesignerid%5D=&geekitemname=&include%5Bpublisherid%5D=&geekitemname=&range%5Byearpublished%5D%5Bmin%5D=&range%5Byearpublished%5D%5Bmax%5D=&range%5Bminage%5D%5Bmax%5D=&floatrange%5Bavgrating%5D%5Bmin%5D=&floatrange%5Bavgrating%5D%5Bmax%5D=&range%5Bnumvoters%5D%5Bmin%5D=&floatrange%5Bavgweight%5D%5Bmin%5D=&floatrange%5Bavgweight%5D%5Bmax%5D=&range%5Bnumweights%5D%5Bmin%5D=&colfiltertype=owned&searchuser=rahdo&nosubtypes%5B%5D=boardgameexpansion&range%5Bminplayers%5D%5Bmax%5D=&range%5Bmaxplayers%5D%5Bmin%5D=&playerrangetype=normal&range%5Bleastplaytime%5D%5Bmin%5D=&range%5Bplaytime%5D%5Bmax%5D=&propertyids%5B%5D=2023&B1=Submit and here's a list of all the games i've got with rankings, so you can see how much i liked each of the above: ranked.rahdo.com :)

[@PlatoneHegel]

Wow! That’s great, thank you! Have you played LOTR: Journey in Middle-Earth already? Any quick “final thoughts”? :)

[@rahdo]

@@PlatoneHegel a review copy of it arrived recently but i haven't gotten it to the table yet. will likely cover it in june :)

[@PlatoneHegel]

@@rahdo Thank you so much for your help, here :) can't wait to see that video!

[@arcanethievery]

Why, owning 100+ board games isn't - if not a deeper - rabbit hole? xD ;) To each his own. Based on your earlier encounters with Lovecraft themed board games I never expected you to like this game that much.

[@rahdo]

you make a fair point :)

[@EclecticCamel]

I'm not surprised you liked this one. Good design.

[@lystic9392]

Do you like this or Spirit Island more? I don't really have the money for both ^__^ I may also at times want to play the game by myself.

[@rahdo]

spirit island: more replayability since it doesn't require getting new content to play through. this: more strong narrative driven, and also shorter play time.

[@lystic9392]

rahdo Thanks ^__^

[@lzl7991]

Anyone know where to find the free scenarios he mentioned?

[@rahdo]

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/205637/arkham-horror-card-game/forums/69

[@kylejames8690]

Love this game

[@coyotemoon722]

A box of adventure crack! It is a very good game.

[@GamingMansion]

Where can you download some free adventures for it? :)

[@rahdo]

www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/205637/arkham-horror-card-game/forums/69 :)

[@extreme7733]

I have: Legend of the Five Rings A Game of Thrones 2nd Ed Arkham Horror All are FFG's LCGs.. #brokebuthappy

[@dddmmm21]

So, is this one better for you than Lord of the Rings card game?

[@rahdo]

hmm, tough one. i think i prefer the less-luck combat of LotR

[@kosterix123]

Nobody has the time to play them all, not just Rahdo :-) I wish I were a rabbit now! How does it compare to WQ:ACG with all of its fan expansions?

[@rahdo]

i don't know anything about the fan expansions, so i'd be hard pressed to say. but fan expansions are free, so there's that :)

[@bblrltd13]

Why is Jen so anti-gun?

[@rahdo]

because guns suck and are horrible and she doesn't like to be reminded of how awful the world is because of them while playing a game and trying to enjoy herself.

[@staticklingon2182]

I've yet to get my wife to try Shadowrun Crossfire because it just doesn't interest her. I'm glad the Lovecraft and Sherlock Holmes games are finally giving people more than just swords, shields and guns to play with without being worker placement.

[@siahfishin5295]

if it wasnt for guns u probably wouldnt be here and be free enjoying these games.

[@PhilGerb93]

@@siahfishin5295 ahhh good old 'MURICA and its freedom amiright?

[@siahfishin5295]

@@PhilGerb93 you are fucking stupid

[@dgeci]

You just gained a new like and a new subscriber :). I was hesitating for the exact same reasons as you meaning the core loop, repetitive and lame, and because of the damn luck. ... and also because this game is a scam in terms of cost for a bunch of damn cards. You didnt mention it but a campaign (One box and 6 little sets) is costing about 115 dollars for about less than 10 hours of new scenarios (1 hour per scenario). But then you convinced me. And I wont buy Eldricht then :). Thanks

[@rahdo]

glad you enjoyed the show! :)

[@gooberweevil]

Hey Rahdo, I'll take it off your hands! ;)

[@martinkatrenic4404]

Great review! Now I need more mythos packs!

[@landonlaxson3444]

Awesome review. Couldn't find the free storylines that were mentioned? Can anyone help me out with that and point me in the right direction?

[@rahdo]

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/205637/arkham-horror-card-game/forums/69

[@docbun]

I'm a bit bothered by 2 things: - the amount of randomness ("do a test with a die roll" is something I only am OK with when we're dealing with my favorite settings; somehow that works for me with Pathfinder ACG, but I'm not sold on it here) - the amount of buying to do (need 2 boxes to enjoy this with friends). Hmm. Not sure I want to get there, seeing the amount of modern deck builders out there. The rest seems fine. The thing is - I already own Arkham Horror (the non-card game :) ) so I'm not sure if I want to add to the Lovecraft presence in my library.Though maybe there is not a "single, optimal strategy" with the LCG game?

[@scotte4765]

It's not "do a test with a die roll" in this game. It's "Do a test of the fixed stat on your character against the fixed stat of something else, _modified_ by a 'die roll' which you can customize the variability of at the start of the game, and _modified further_ by you and/or your teammates making hard choices about whether to give up cards or resources to help you succeed, and also by time you've spent on earlier turns putting out equipment for just such a skill test." I do agree that having to buy two core sets to really maximize the player count and deckbuilding is too much of a cash grab. I'm okay with buying supplemental cards for that, but don't make me pay for duplicate rulebooks and sheets of tokens I'll never need that many of.

[@jonbob801]

To much coffee? Lol ps awesome interview

[@ronaldsanfran]

Haha you must've not seen his other reviews hehe. Tho his enthusiasm is his main appeal!

[@JimLederer]

LOL you really are a fast talker :-)

[@rahdo]

idon'tknowwhatyou'retalkingabout! :)

[@OrthobroLocal1]

Has anyone ever told you you have mannerisms like Steve Carrell? Haha

[@rahdo]

actually yes :)

[@Indubitably14]

The game...is your least favourite part of the game hahaha you're a strange reviewer Rahdo

[@BrianBenedict72]

Gotta be honest. I cannot understand why you like this but hated Eldritch Horror. This game is an RNG nightmare. The button bag is an epic fail when compared to the excitement of a die roll. There are three adventures in the box, which is not enough replay value so they made it bone-chillingly impossible. The number of times the game became impossible (obscuring clouds on the cellar) is rediculous. My least favorite rule is that it takes an action to engage an enemy in your location. That makes zero sense. I think you play too many games, Rahdo. This one is an epic failure and a rip-off at it's price.

[@PhilGerb93]

Brian Benedict It's almost like people have different opinions and yours doesn't have to be objectively right.

[@rahdo]

agree to disagree. for my money, this is light years ahead of EH in terms of interesting and engaging gameplay mechanisms :)

[@windyhillbomber]

I want to like this style of game, believe me, but despite its huge success, and Rahdo's surprisingly positive review....its just corny role playing through a series of cheesy encounters. No skill. No depth or meaningful strategy. And the writing has to be world class and from what I have just seen, it comes across like a senior school English student has knocked it up. Ok, so I haven't played AHtCG....but it's going to take a lot more than this to try.

[@EclecticCamel]

So you showed up just to take a poop on something you are already predisposed to not enjoy? Thanks for your contribution.

[@thatPUNKdude]

David Thurling While there isn't nearly as much strategy as some euros like Terra Mystica, there's still some there in the sense of risk management, knowing when to ditch cards to pass tests, at the right times. But I don't play this game for the strategy, I play it for having a fun romp with friends through a fantasy world, having a fee drinks and nachos along the way. I don't always need high-level, mechanically deep games to enjoy a board game night.

[@BlueSapphyre]

David Thurling there's 2 main levels of strategy in this game. First, is the deck building aspect. Do you include cards for their symbols to help tests, or for their effect? Do you have enough economy to afford all your cards, or do you need to lower your cost curve? It's the same level of strategy needed in all card games of this sort. The second layer is resource management. You have a finite number of actions over the entire game (determined by the agenda). So every action needs to be impactful, you can't just waste actions doing nothing. So if you're investigating for clues, and you spend an entire turn and didn't get any, that's a lot of wasted actions. You're being "suboptimal". Ideally, you'd want to be getting 2+ clues on an investigate to be "optimal". But if you're not into min/maxing your deck or your action economy, I can totally understand why you wouldn't like this game.

[@windyhillbomber]

Hmm, all valid points. Perhaps its just the Lovecraft setting that fails to appeal. But based on your comments I am determined to give it a go. My brain says no but my heart says yes!!

[@windyhillbomber]

The GreatHamEl Its an opinion prefaced with the comment that I really do want to like this type of game. I am just not 100% convinced for the reasons I stated. But hey, if its your thing then great and please dont let me stop you from enjoying.

[@fbulhoes]

The expansions already push the limits of the core game loop. The only problem you have with the game is already addressed in expansions :) Try the PoDs(Curse of the Rougarou and Carnivale of Horrors) before selling the game

[@rahdo]

i almost made this runthrough with carnivale. can't remember why i went with collector... maybe it was simplier, or maybe it was just closer to the 'normal' setting :)