Any one enjoy Arkham Horror?

[Bokya]

Really cool game. Would play more.

[harlemsushi]

(10-15-2012 12:07 AM)Old Dwarf Wrote:  AH throws in a grab bag of monsters that have nothing to do with
the GOO in the game.AToE gives it's Villains their own unique Minions.

The way we normally correct this is we tend to remove monsters from the cup so that they do not show up in the game. Additionally we also have created our own monsters which has added a lot of theme to the game.

[harlemsushi]

(10-15-2012 12:09 AM)Tommy Brownell Wrote:  I bought it this summer and I've played it once. And now that I have new ATOE stuff, the chances of playing it again any time soon are remote.

I'm starting to feel like I wasted the money...=/

Tommy, I was just wondering if you only purchased the base game or whether you have the base game and any expansions.

[themanfromsaturn]

I'm not a big fan of Arkham Horror. I like lovecraft (and the greater mythos, minus all the cookie-cutter McThulhu drivel mindlessly cranked out by steve jackson games, looney labs, and the like). Arkham horror has a lot going for it; lots of interesting location, good card decks with flavor text, a great cast of characters with their own plot arcs and varied abilites, and more, but for me, the game itself is lacking.

Each time I've played, I've completely lost interest around the halfway point, and suffered through the second half, tediously closing gates, killing minions, etc. The game has a lot of 'big bad' villains, but they are inadequately diferentiated from one another- that is to say, a game against, for example, I don't know, nyarlahothep does not feel substantively different from a game against let's say, shub niggurath. You pull the same minions from the 'lovecraftian grab bag' of random horrors, pull cards from the same decks, etc. Granted, if the worst should happen and you must fight the ancient one itself, you will be treated to one of a half dozen varieties of unwinnable, insurmountable combats, which you will lose. Every time.

As a player, depending on your character's stregnths and weaknesses, you will either fight minions or close gates. Either task gets really, really old before long. I think the game would be immensely improved by shortening it, as the games length and motonony are the primary impediments to my enjoyment of an otherwise promising adventure game.

[Izek13]

I've played Arkham Horror and enjoyed the luck of the dice gameplay, but have yet to buy it.

[wisdomknight]

(11-01-2012 07:31 AM)themanfromsaturn Wrote:  I'm not a big fan of Arkham Horror. I like lovecraft (and the greater mythos, minus all the cookie-cutter McThulhu drivel mindlessly cranked out by steve jackson games, looney labs, and the like). Arkham horror has a lot going for it; lots of interesting location, good card decks with flavor text, a great cast of characters with their own plot arcs and varied abilites, and more, but for me, the game itself is lacking.

Each time I've played, I've completely lost interest around the halfway point, and suffered through the second half, tediously closing gates, killing minions, etc. The game has a lot of 'big bad' villains, but they are inadequately diferentiated from one another- that is to say, a game against, for example, I don't know, nyarlahothep does not feel substantively different from a game against let's say, shub niggurath. You pull the same minions from the 'lovecraftian grab bag' of random horrors, pull cards from the same decks, etc. Granted, if the worst should happen and you must fight the ancient one itself, you will be treated to one of a half dozen varieties of unwinnable, insurmountable combats, which you will lose. Every time.

As a player, depending on your character's stregnths and weaknesses, you will either fight minions or close gates. Either task gets really, really old before long. I think the game would be immensely improved by shortening it, as the games length and motonony are the primary impediments to my enjoyment of an otherwise promising adventure game.

I see where your coming from and agree alot of it but.....

I can say much of the same about 99% of other games including all flying frog games as well.

Keep in mind its a board game, not a MMO video game.

[themanfromsaturn]

(11-01-2012 04:37 PM)wisdomknight Wrote:  

(11-01-2012 07:31 AM)themanfromsaturn Wrote:  I'm not a big fan of Arkham Horror. I like lovecraft (and the greater mythos, minus all the cookie-cutter McThulhu drivel mindlessly cranked out by steve jackson games, looney labs, and the like). Arkham horror has a lot going for it; lots of interesting location, good card decks with flavor text, a great cast of characters with their own plot arcs and varied abilites, and more, but for me, the game itself is lacking.

Each time I've played, I've completely lost interest around the halfway point, and suffered through the second half, tediously closing gates, killing minions, etc. The game has a lot of 'big bad' villains, but they are inadequately diferentiated from one another- that is to say, a game against, for example, I don't know, nyarlahothep does not feel substantively different from a game against let's say, shub niggurath. You pull the same minions from the 'lovecraftian grab bag' of random horrors, pull cards from the same decks, etc. Granted, if the worst should happen and you must fight the ancient one itself, you will be treated to one of a half dozen varieties of unwinnable, insurmountable combats, which you will lose. Every time.

As a player, depending on your character's stregnths and weaknesses, you will either fight minions or close gates. Either task gets really, really old before long. I think the game would be immensely improved by shortening it, as the games length and motonony are the primary impediments to my enjoyment of an otherwise promising adventure game.

I see where your coming from and agree alot of it but.....

I can say much of the same about 99% of other games including all flying frog games as well.

Keep in mind its a board game, not a MMO video game.

I'm going to have to disagree with you there, Wisdomknight. Take ATOE for example; depending on which villain you face, the game is going to play out VERY differently. The villain's presence is felt much more acutely throughout the game due to differences in minions, events, and
special abilities that factor into the game from the start, and not just at the end.

ATOE has villains that are challenging, but not invincible, which leads to climactic battles, not the unsatisfying anticlimaxes of AH.

ATOE does not have the same game length issues that AH has, in fact I usually leave a game of ATOE wishing it had gone on a bit longer. Talisman is a similar example of an overlong adventure game, ATOE and Betrayal at house on the hill are examples of adventure games with built in 'countdown clocks' that prevent the game from dragging on too long. AH has a countdown mechanic of sorts, but it's far too long anyway.

Probably a matter of taste, but there's some clear differences here. AH has issues that are not common to 99 percent of board games.

[wisdomknight]

(11-01-2012 09:20 PM)themanfromsaturn Wrote:  

(11-01-2012 04:37 PM)wisdomknight Wrote:  

(11-01-2012 07:31 AM)themanfromsaturn Wrote:  I'm not a big fan of Arkham Horror. I like lovecraft (and the greater mythos, minus all the cookie-cutter McThulhu drivel mindlessly cranked out by steve jackson games, looney labs, and the like). Arkham horror has a lot going for it; lots of interesting location, good card decks with flavor text, a great cast of characters with their own plot arcs and varied abilites, and more, but for me, the game itself is lacking.

Each time I've played, I've completely lost interest around the halfway point, and suffered through the second half, tediously closing gates, killing minions, etc. The game has a lot of 'big bad' villains, but they are inadequately diferentiated from one another- that is to say, a game against, for example, I don't know, nyarlahothep does not feel substantively different from a game against let's say, shub niggurath. You pull the same minions from the 'lovecraftian grab bag' of random horrors, pull cards from the same decks, etc. Granted, if the worst should happen and you must fight the ancient one itself, you will be treated to one of a half dozen varieties of unwinnable, insurmountable combats, which you will lose. Every time.

As a player, depending on your character's stregnths and weaknesses, you will either fight minions or close gates. Either task gets really, really old before long. I think the game would be immensely improved by shortening it, as the games length and motonony are the primary impediments to my enjoyment of an otherwise promising adventure game.

I see where your coming from and agree alot of it but.....

I can say much of the same about 99% of other games including all flying frog games as well.

Keep in mind its a board game, not a MMO video game.

I'm going to have to disagree with you there, Wisdomknight. Take ATOE for example; depending on which villain you face, the game is going to play out VERY differently. The villain's presence is felt much more acutely throughout the game due to differences in minions, events, and
special abilities that factor into the game from the start, and not just at the end.

ATOE has villains that are challenging, but not invincible, which leads to climactic battles, not the unsatisfying anticlimaxes of AH.

ATOE does not have the same game length issues that AH has, in fact I usually leave a game of ATOE wishing it had gone on a bit longer. Talisman is a similar example of an overlong adventure game, ATOE and Betrayal at house on the hill are examples of adventure games with built in 'countdown clocks' that prevent the game from dragging on too long. AH has a countdown mechanic of sorts, but it's far too long anyway.

Probably a matter of taste, but there's some clear differences here. AH has issues that are not common to 99 percent of board games.

We will agree to disagree then

[harlemsushi]

To offer a 3rd perspective on Arkham Horror, personally I think the game is what you make of it and what you are willing to put into it. I usually play the game with 2 to 4 people and make it a pleasurable gaming experience for them. For example I've created my own Investigators, Monsters, and slightly altered certain mechanics (like a mechanic where players can team up to fight Monsters) and made it into a really interesting game that many people enjoy. Additionally, I've bought business card holders for all the cards in the game and that cuts down on set up time and makes the game less fiddly and takes up less table space. As far as the game goes, that was one of the best purchases I ever made because that little bit of organization cuts game time down by almost 20%.

To me, the game's biggest strength is theme and one of the best times I had teaching it to a new player was with someone who had heard generally negative reviews about the game. I offered to teach it to her and although wary she agreed. I learned that her favorite show was Grey's Anatomy and her favorite character on the show was Meredith Grey. So what I did is the next week that she came in to play the game I had this waiting for her:



She saw that waiting for her waiting for her and she was extremely excited and got really into the game. The thing about playing Arkham is that you need one player who REALLY knows the rules and can keep things moving so the game does not lapse into paralysis. I've played many games where other people who were running the game abdicated their responsibilities and the game turns took forever. But that isn't unique to this game, as all games can suffer from the same ailment.

But just to continue the discussion, could you point out some of the issues you believe Arkham has that other games don't have? The reason I ask is not to debate, but because if you have those complaints then many of the people I play the game with might have similar complaints and I try to set up all my Arkham games so that everyone wants to come back for more.

[wisdomknight]

Awesome AH character card harlemsushi!

---

AH along with Strange Eons is simply amazing and limited only by your imagination!
The game becomes ageless IMO

---

I would love to see a similar app for Flying Frog games!