Elder Sign is a game set in the Arkham Horror (H. P. Lovecraft) setting  by Fantasy Flight Games.  This time it’s a co-operative dice game where players are investigators inside a museum trying to find enough elder signs to ensure the Great Old One doesn’t enter this world, or (and much more unlikely) to defeat it if it does awaken.

On their turn, a player can choose to attempt to accomplish one of the 6 situations in the museum currently available.  The player rolls 6 special dice (showing results like investigations, peril, etc.) and tries to get enough results that match any of the tasks on the card.  For example, one situation card may show 2 tasks: one requiring 2 lore scrolls, and another requiring 1 peril plus 2 investigations plus 1 terror.  If a player completes one of the tasks, they set the dice needed to do so aside and can roll the remaining dice again to try to complete more tasks on the situation card.  If the player doesn’t complete any of the remaining tasks on a roll, they discard a dice and re-roll their remaining dice again until they complete all tasks or fail.  Players can use special items, spells, allies, etc. that they’ve gained along the way to roll a few better dice, plus the player may use clue tokens to re-roll any of their dice before seeing if they have completed a task. Read the rest of this entry »

I just noticed a new game on the Fantasy Flight Games site called ‘Elder Sign’.  It’s an Arkham Horror Files game (like Mansions of Madness) so uses the same setting but this time it’s a co-operative, dice-based game for 1-8 players.

The investigators are at a museu hunting for Elder Signs with which to block the Ancient Ones arrival.  From the info on the site, it sounds a bit like Arkham Horror: The Card Game (which certainly isn’t a bad thing) as there is no board but still features Ancient Ones with doom tracks, stamina and sanity stats, and the other usual Arkham elements.

Players try to complete adventure cards in order to search the museum for the elder signs but they will suffer ill effects if they do not complete cards fully.  Each time the clock strikes midnight, a Mythos card is drawn which has a negative effect representing the strengthening of the Ancient One’s evil.

Check out the preview and the site for more details (link below).  Not a lot of details about it yet but it looks very interesting indeed – especially if you’re an Arkham Horror and Cthulhu fan as I am.

Link to preview on FFG site (and there’s a link to the game’s site there too): http://bdg.ms/ae9v

For some time, I’ve wanted Fantasy Flight to do more Arkham Horror but not just expanding the already huge game.  So, the announcement of Mansions of Madness was great news.  If you’ve played ‘Betrayal at House on the Hill’ then think of ‘Mansions of Madness’ as ‘Betrayal at Arkham Horror on the Hill’ – which isn’t a bad thing at all.

Mansions of Madness pits one player (the Keeper) against up to 4 other players who are investigating strange goings on at the mansion (crypt, chapel, etc.)  The board is made up of room pieces whose layout is determined by the story (defined in the rules) that is being played.  The players don’t know the reason behind the weird happenings and it’s their job to uncover enough clues so that they understand how to defeat the evil that is at work.  The Keeper plays the role of the evil side – causing weird happenings, controlling the monsters, etc. – and their goal is to defeat the investigators. Read the rest of this entry »

In recent years, every time a new expansion has been released for Arkham Horror I have been excited to get it and play it, but I’ve also thought that maybe it was time FFG started a new game rather than add even more to an already vastly big game.  So, it was great to see FFG announce a new game with the Arkham Horror badge.

Due for release in November 2010, Mansions of Madness sounds like it’s more along the lines of Betrayal at House on the Hill.  The game will have various story lines and the players playing the heroes/investigators will have to work out what is going on in the house and foil the evil there.  One player will be playing the evil side, so they will know the real story going on and will be trying to achieve their objective before the other players work it out and stop them. Read the rest of this entry »

This post reviews “The Lurker at the Threshold”, an expansion for Arkham Horror, and not the full game.  If you don’t know Arkham Horror, it’s an excellent horror game based on H P Lovecraft’s 1920’s setting where the players travel around the town of Arkham (and often into weird dimensions too), having unusual encounters as they work together to stop the Great Old One awaking from its slumber (which will likely spell doom for mankind).  During the game, players try to increase their abilities to keep the menacing goings-on in check and their bodies and their sanity intact.

Lurker in the Threshold is a small expansion so consists of new cards, tokens and game mechanics and no new board.  We played with just the basic game and the Lurker expansion.  I always like to play new expansions on their own with the basic game the first time so it’s possible to really see what they’re like.

Dark Pacts with the Lurker – One of the three new game mechanics in this expansion is ‘The Lurker’ itself who is a Herald.  Heralds are powerful supernatural entities preparing the way for the Great Old One – they are monster characters who affect the gameplay and makes things harder for the players while the Great Old One slumbers.

The Lurker itself awaits the players in between the dimensions and tempts them with deals (called ‘Dark Pacts’) that will give them power.  Of course, there’s always going to be a price to pay at a later stage.  A player can choose to take a Dark Pact at the start of their turn or they can take one to make a spell succeed without sanity cost.  Read the rest of this entry »