Arkham Horror
The box cover of the revised edition of Arkham Horror
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| Players | 1 to 8 |
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| Age range | 12 and up |
| Setup time | 30-60 minutes |
| Playing time | 120-240 minutes |
| Random chance | Medium |
| Skill(s) required | Cooperative gaming |
Arkham Horror is an adventure board game designed by Richard Launius, originally published in 1987 by Chaosium. The game is based on Chaosium's roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu, which is set in the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft and other horror writers. It was revised and reprinted by Fantasy Flight Games in 2005. In this game, players take on the role of investigators in Lovecraft's Massachusetts town of Arkham. Gates to other planes open throughout the town. If too many gates open, a powerful alien being will enter, likely destroying the town and possibly threatening the world. The investigators must avoid or fight alien creatures that enter Arkham through the gates, enter the gates themselves, survive the alien places beyond, return to Arkham, and close the gates.
The game board is set in Lovecraft's fictional city of Arkham during 1926. Street, building and outdoor locations are featured, as well as otherworldly locations that investigators can venture into. Players each have an investigator, represented by a character card. Each investigator has several attributes (such as "sanity"), and cards representing items, spells, and other things. As game play progresses, gates to these other worlds open and are represented by tokens placed on the board. Monsters from the other worlds enter through the gates and wander the city. The investigators travel through the city, avoiding or fighting the monsters, visiting city locations to acquire tools, and ultimately entering the gates. After traveling through the other world and returning, the investigator can try to close the gate. While exploring city locations or other worlds, the investigators face random events which may benefit or harm them. As gates open, a "Doom Track" advances; if the track reaches its end, a powerful horrific creature known as the Ancient One breaks through into Arkham. In the 1987 edition of the game, this ends the game, and all players lose. In the 2005 edition, this (in most cases) begins an endgame in which the players have a small chance to defeat the creature and win; otherwise they lose.
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