My friends tend to prefer various kinds of boardgames – wargames, politically themed, EUROs, etc. – and I really like being able to experience all of them. There is a special group focused almost entirely on H. P. Lovecraft prose and titles connected to this. Believe it or not, I am very eager to jump to any position with this theme. My oldest and favorite one is still Arkham Horror 2nd edition. And just recently Krzysztof and Maciej – two of the most ardent Lovecraft fans in my group – proposed to come back to that great classic (publish date 2005). What could I cay? I of course agreed!
The Game

Arkham Horror was my first cooperative game. It is themed around H.P Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Players choose from 16 Investigators and take to the streets of Arkham. Before the game, one of the eight Ancient Ones is chosen and it’s up to the Investigators to prevent it from breaking into our world. Sounds like a fun, doesn’t it?
During the course of the game, players will upgrade their characters by acquiring skills, allies, items, weapons, and spells. It’s up to the players to clean out the streets of Arkham by fighting many different types of monsters, but their main goal is to close portals to other dimensions that are opening up around town. With too many portals open the Ancient One awakens and the players only have one last chance to save the world by defeating the monster in the combat.
Thanks to the many characters to be chose, multiply monster and Ancients types, the game is very re-playable and gives a lot of fun and satisfaction!
The session report
I would like now to present short session report. In the end we prevailed but the path to it was very long and perilous! As always, a photo-session report as picture is worth a thousand word!






Summary
That was a great com-back to one of my favorite classics. The result was of secondary importance as the joy from the game was great. Yes, I know there was a third edition later and also the card games. But the sentiment stays and whenever there are willing fellow boardgamers to play Arkham Horror 2nd edition I am all for it!
I played this game a few years ago on New Years Eve. I really liked the theme, and in general, I like collaborative games. However, there was one player who tried calling the shots for everyone, which kind of ruined the experience for me. After reading this, I wonder if I should try the game again with a new group.
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It is always good to give another try. Make sure you play for fun and with devoted players – not for the result. Then the game is brilliant.
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I love Eldritch Horror but haven’t had the chance to play Arkham Horror yet.
Have you played Eldritch? How would you say they compare in quality?
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Did not play Eldritch Horror but a lot of Mansion of Madness. All in all, across the games, mechanics are similar but theme is a key factor. I love of those H.P. Lovecraft themed titles 🙂
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Oh man, this brings memories! Still have my copy here. First printing with the dark board. I sold off most of the expansions though.
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Glad to hear you like this great classic to!
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