TDG: Arkham Horror (Third Edition)

[@TheFatalT]

I enjoyed playing this, and had an epic ending to my last game playing Echoes of the Deep. Was one of the most satisfying wins I’ve ever had in a board game 😊

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

It's not without its charm. I just don't love it. I'm glad you enjoy it.

[@hanng1242]

My experience with AH3e seems to be different than yours. I bought the game at launch, and we (the Denver Lovecraftian Gaming Society) have been playing it monthly since then. I have also played it with a friend outside of our meetups, with each of us controlling 2 characters. Heretofore, we had been playing Eldritch Horror at the DLGS, but switched to AH3e to give it a try. I really like AH3e, although I have yet to win a game.
I think AH3e is quite streamlined. When we were playing EH, the game usually took around 4 hours. With AH3e, it takes about 2 hours. I also really like the modular board because it will make the inevitable expansions. In EH, the side-boards with the big box expansions felt a bit clunky, but in AH3e, an expansion can either re-arrange the neighborhoods or add a new neighborhood to replace, or in addition to, on of the basic ones. I think that the "game is playing me" feeling comes from the spawning of doom. Because that doom needs to be warded lest bad things happen, the doom mechanism necessarily makes the investigators reactive.
Eldritch Horror will always have a place in my collection (especially since I have all the expansions), and it plays quite differently than AH3e and I still like it more than AH3e. However, for our monthly DLGS meetups, AH3e is the way to go because the game plays in half the time of EH.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thanks. I appreciate your comments. I don't know that I've played a game that was shorter that EH games I've played. To each their own.

[@dustbustus27]

Thanks man. You keep cranking out all these great reviews! Figg'n awesome!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thank you, sir. Will do.

[@flyworld9620]

we stopped playing this game and switched back to the former version due to the same reasons.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Yeah, there was really a missed opportunity here.

[@nathaniliescu4597]

Old men can't accept change.

[@meisteria1884]

@@nathaniliescu4597 I’m sure they can, if change is for the better. In this case, it’s just not.

[@dwightrenfield2241]

The original AH2e didn’t need a redesign. It needed to be clarified and cleaned up a bit with some fresh artwork.
But, that’s what you get when the lead designer doesn’t even like the original game.

[@aaronraw]

"Cuthulu! Keep it cooly cool boy!" - Action, West Side Story

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Fantastic. Do yourself a favor and don't check out that trailer for CATS, Aaron. It will scar you.

[@npckse8508]

My group and I really enjoyed the game. Obviously Mansions of Madness is a great game, but I feel like you are responding to things similar to how you do in Eldritch Horror.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

That's interesting. I felt like this game "played you" more than you played it compared to those other games.

[@jaysmith4302]

Thanks for a thoughtful review. I've not played this one but I have the 2nd edition and it's one of my favorites. My problems are:
1. The mechanics are just too clunky.
2. One good sneeze or a minor earthquake can destroy a game in progress.
3. It's way too hard to win if you're not playing against the easiest bad guy. This could be helped if there were some way the investigators could level up as the game went on, but that would make the mechanics even more clunky.
Now for some rank heresy. This game is just begging to be ported over to the PC. It should be straightforward since no AI would be required, and all of the above problems would disappear. I realize a PC game is no substitute for having friends over for a game, but for solitaire play, it would be great. I'm sure there are economic considerations, but they did it for Twilight Struggle and several other good games.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

That's actually not a bad idea.

[@Cerhob]

Hey Cody. Just finished playing this last night. 6 players and it took us about 5 hours. I wanted to scream. Yeah there was some story and it was good but it was randomly found. And I completely agree with you that the game is playing you. 4 of us liked it but thought it should had ended way way sooner. And in the end the big bad showed up anyway. Even after doing everything needed!
Yeah, I'm happy I didn't spend money on this one. I never want to play it again.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Happy to help.

[@scyldscefing3913]

We just began our first game of this last weekend. We are going to have to play it piecemeal, as it is taking a long time. I know what you mean though, about the game playing you. I have to say though, I am enjoying this first play. I think we'll play again immediately, while the rules are fresh in our mind, and see if that cuts down on the play time.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Best of luck to you. It's not a bad game, it's just not a great game.

[@justanerd1138]

Hey! An honest review, and reviewer, of this edition! Nice.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Indeed. Thanks.

[@MiniPandaBear1]

How many condition cards are in the box? 6 with double sided or 12?

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Did you watch the video? Wrong guy to ask.

[@williamgarcia-medina9989]

I love it.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Thank you, sir. I assume you mean the review and not the game. If not, that would be very embarrassing for me.

[@hadzhere]

i love eldritch (it's one of my few 10/10 games), i feel mansions is way overrated but still fairly good, ah3 is uninspired and terrible.
your review was spot on!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Glad you enjoyed it.

[@MoragTong_]

Mansions isn't overrated...its immensely more approachable and easier to get to the table due to the app...not to mention Valkyrie. There is virtually no page flipping and setup is quick. It's truly a 2 player game, when others are ridiculous with 2 players

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@MoragTong_ I agree. MoM is best with two players. I'm not a fan of larger player counts in that game, generally.

[@chrisdonovan8795]

The only thing that I couldn't stand in the first Arkham Horror was the multi-turn gate process. What a waste of time, but otherwise, the game made sense, and was entertaining.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I never played the first edition.

[@JimCrimmins]

I'm an ffg fanboy. I've got all the Eldritch, Mansions, and arkham lcg stuff and I love those.. I had very little interest in this.. It felt like a Mashup of these other games, and "space station arkham" had no pull for me.. And I gotta be their target demo

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Jim Crimmins Good points. The game just feels kind of unnecessary with all their other Cthulhu content games.

[@nathaniliescu4597]

Space station? Lol

[@JimCrimmins]

@@nathaniliescu4597 the art design of the locations and interlocking pieces feels more like Sci fi space station than miskatonic University to me.. A small gripe I know.. Just wasn't my vibe

[@nathaniliescu4597]

@@JimCrimmins oh yeah it does look kinda weird. I'm a massive fan of the lcg and am considering getting this, but I feel the curtailing player decisions down to two action of no duplicates really screams they are trying to force you to be controlled by the game rather than giving you scope to approach the game as an investigator. I suppose it could be house ruled....

[@TonganJedi]

The Arkham Horror LCG is far more interesting and engaging than this was. I still want to play it again to see if I missed anything on my first game. Might be we need to see what the first expansion does to it.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Good point. It would not be the first time an expansion salvaged a merely passable game.

[@jeffblye7913]

Completely agree with your assessment. I was excited to play this game, but it is only ok. Fairly underwhelming. Eldritch Horror, Mansions 2nd Edition, and Arkham Horror LCG are vastly superior games. The mythos phase in AH3 is, in particular, a slog. A huge step down from similar mythos phases in the other games.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Indeed. Thanks!

[@mikejonesnoreally]

@ 00:06 O.O ...................... *gets coffee* Okay, I think I'm good now, ya' got me with that one, I should learn not to lead with my mental chin. =3 @ 1:40 So imagine you cook yourself a nice juicy steak but then fall asleep with it only half eaten. While your unconscious a bunch of ants decide to go all free night at the Sizzler on your once meal and we all know what's going to happen when you wake up. Right-o. Deceased ant fiesta! However, thinking themselves clever insects who really aren't into sharing with other ants they learn of your terrifying existence from the glowing artifact on your desk marked by a piece of fruit. Taking this to be a holy sign (ants really dig fruit.) They set about waking you up believing that you will cook them their very own steak and then serve in their name being bound by the very alarm clock they are using to wake you up. (ants really don't get the "Yu'Man" concept of metaphysical "time" and see it as something that actually physically binds and controls Yu'Mans. I mean it totally *does* just not the way they think.) That's basically the whole "unknowable" "unspeakable" blah diddity blah blah yakety schmackity in a paragraph. I.E. "They're just bad for people." - Cody "2019" - =3

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

Ha!

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@mikejonesnoreally I don't think FFG is planning on discontinuing EH anytime soon. I think they just wanted a new line to build expansions for.

[@mikejonesnoreally]

You hit that nail on the head first go while others seem to gloss over that entirely! I shared this with a highly positive review I found on Ryan's review, It's long Cody, but it does address how FFG could solve this. I don't mind the idea of infinite expansions. I mind having to sleeve, file, shuffle, and consistently dance with that constant administration. The *real* horror! Well, I'll just paste that reply here and you can peruse it at your leisure, I'd *really* love your eventual take on my idea, I think it would even make a great topic for an extended "solving the modern challenges of board gaming by thinking differently about how we game." CLIPPED FROM MY RESPONSE: HOly carp guys look out it's C'thulu!! O.O Well okay not actually but judging from these comments there seems to be a "well what's actually wrong with E.H. and needs fixed" vibe going around and various subjective stuff keeps flying about the comments while the 1,900 lb Shaggoth just sits there smirking. However to stay on topic this was a great review Bryan and all of your opinions are totally valid and I appreciate the perspective. However comma, I see my primary issue with the amazing experience that is Eldritch Horror even more pronounced in this game, not less. (and my opinion totally has nothing to do with my personal desire to see Charlie ruling Atlantis and Daisy hanging out with a bunch of Super powered cats in another dimension as both God and Science intended. Honest. Although this game does take away some of the crazy funny stuff that happens when players write their own stories within a game.) No, this game is fine and I agree with Brian that it feels, once again like an evolution of the Arkham Files. Yet as these games show us, the real horror is never on the surface. So what is beneath the surface of this game? (Spoiler alert: It's FFG finding a way to make a game that is infinitely expandable which makes the one challenge with a perfect game, exponential.) So do I think Eldritch Horror is a perfect game? Yeah, yeah I do. After spending countless hours in set up, sleeving, playing and learning it, coming up with new combos, new lines to victory over old unbeatable foes, and endless laughs? You. Bet. So what's it's one challenge then? To get the game to that point of perfection it became Freakin' near unbelievably huge. We had to invent a new mechanism just to draw a "truly random" madness condition yet retain the very variety that gives it that perfection. That new game feel even when you've played it regularly since it's release. I couldn't even buy it's very last expansion because my table came to me weeping on it's knees. My heart isn't stone folks. =3 There are 197 conditions! Sleeved that's 3 unruly decks! An average, "truly random" game will place about 21 decks of various cards on the table and up to 2 sideboards! Thank god for T.V. trays yo! The only reason you are seeing this game was because they could no longer design expansions for Eldritch over the peals of laughter while all the designers imagined what it would look like while we played it, or it played us! They set out to design a game (hello modular board!) that would not limit the expansions that could be produced for it. It's brilliant but only is going to make that set up and administration stuff worse as more and more expansions are released, not better. So no I won't be buying this one but I do have the ultimate answer but it would take a real change in the way people think about board games. Take a look at the Talisman digital edition. There are nearly innumerable card interactions and combinations but they come off without a flaw. Decks with over 500 cards are shuffled in a second. I'm saying that I would pay cardboard and plastic prices for a video game version of the "current build" Arkham Files board game so that I could always be a part of that brilliant evolution, but not have to spend so much of my energy dealing with the game or getting ready to play and more playing! Now I just have to convince the gaming community that you aren't paying for paper or plastic, but for ideas, for an experience. Just imagine what that experience could be if not bound to a table! What freedom it would give designers who now had sounds and visuals to help craft a cohesive narrative! Mansions of Madness gave us a glimpse of that, I'm just asking FFG to consider that they could go all the way with it and still make just as much money. Thanks Bryan, I'd love to hear what you think about this seeing as you are into all of the Arkham Files stuff and a part of that evolution as well and again, really great review! Wish I cold be there with ya' bro, Duke sends his Woof! :D

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@mikejonesnoreally I agree about the fact that they'd reached a saturation point with EH as far as expansions go. However, I don't think the community would embrace a full video game over simply an app-driven game. At the end of the day it would be too great a leap. People play board games for specific reasons: the tactile experience, player interaction, to the chance to get away from screens, etc... If FFG came out with a full video game version of this game many people would probably buy it, and it might have large appeal to video gamers, but the bulk of the board game community would not follow.

[@Andrew-vt2wq]

This game sucks. A true representation of Asmodee

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I don't know about that. Asmodee, through its subsidiaries, has put out some great games.

[@Zakalwe-01]

I'm selling this game. I really wanted to love it but essentially,..it's Pac Man. The game is all about getting rid of tokens efficiently. That's all it wants you to do. Everything else feels tacked-on. The combat system...well, there isn't one. It's a pathetic gesture to dice rolling battles. And again...here's the same old artwork and components you've already got in the other games. It's so lazy and cynical. It's back to Eldritch horror for me. This game is a turkey they'll spend the next 5 years trying to fix.

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

I sold mine a few days ago. Hard to disagree with you.

[@Zakalwe-01]

@@TheDiscriminatingGamer What have I replaced it with? Cthulhu: Death May Die! I really wasn't sure this would work but...it's like Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom crossed with Quatermass and the Pit 😂. There's a lot of 'Lovecraft must be creepy mystery' table-thumping out there (e.g. SU&SD), but there IS also plenty of exploding labs and shooting of monsters with guns in his work too. It's a gem! And stunning, ORIGINAL artwork and models. Take note FFB. ruclips.net/video/25yMdB_se6g/видео.html

[@TheDiscriminatingGamer]

@@Zakalwe-01 I'd like to try that one at some point, for sure.