Arkham Horror: The Card Game

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Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Other names	Arkham Horror: El Juego De Cartas, Arkham Horror: Il Gioco di Carte, Horror w Arkham: Gra Karciana, Arkham Horror: Das Kartenspiel, Ужас Аркхэма. Карточная игра
Designers	Nate French & MJ Newman
Publishers	Fantasy Flight Games
Publication	Q4 2016[1]
Years active	2016 – present
Genres	Co-operative Living Card Game (LCG) with Deck Building
Languages	English, German, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Polish, Czech, Russian, Ukrainian
Players	1 – 4[1]
Setup time	10 - 15 minutes (excluding deck building)
Playing time	60 – 120 minutes
Random chance	Some (card drawing, deck building, skill tests)
Skills required	Card playing, Deck building, Logic, Strategy
Materials required	All included, expansions optional but all require base game.
Media type	Playing cards
Website	Arkham Horror: The Card Game — Fantasy Flight Games

Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a cooperative living card game produced by Fantasy Flight Games. It is set in the universe of Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game which is itself based on the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft and other cosmic horror writers. The title refers to Lovecraft's fictional town of Arkham, MA which is mentioned in many Mythos stories.

Release[]

News of the game was originally leaked in May 2016,^[2] before being officially announced in August of that same year.^[3] It made its first limited public release at Arkham Nights 2016 to a sold-out crowd.

As a game in Fantasy Flight Games Living Card Game line, there is a regular release of non-random Deluxe expansions that start a story or campaign, followed by multiple smaller expansions (known as Mythos packs) that continue and conclude it.

Mechanics[]

Campaign play is the default mode of the game,^[4] allowing a player to progress through a series of scenarios. In campaign play, choices made in scenarios have lasting effects, altering the story and how later scenarios play out. Each scenario has multiple paths of divergence offering multiple playthroughs with differing experiences each time.

When players prepare to play, they first choose an investigator of a particular class (Guardian, Survivor, Rogue, Seeker, Mystic or Neutral). Each investigator deck receives cards that represent weaknesses of their investigator, one specific to each investigator, and one "basic" - drawn at random from a general pool. Investigators will also possess one or more unique cards that represent that individual's specific advantages or abilities, often complimenting the backstory of that investigator. Each investigator also has different starting statistics (Willpower, Intellect, Combat and Agility) which will be tested throughout the game. Players then build their decks from cards in their collection, conforming to the deckbuilding limits outlined by their investigator.

During the game, the investigators work together to progress their investigation towards a positive outcome by fulfilling the requirements set out by the Act deck. However, there are forces working against the investigators, represented by the Agenda deck and encounter deck. Each turn, a doom counter is added to the Agenda deck, acting as a timer for the investigators to complete their objectives. When the total number of doom in play reaches the doom threshold of the agenda card, the agenda will advance, often to negative consequences.

During the Investigation phase, the investigators each take up to three actions. Among other options, actions include playing cards from hand or activating those already in play, moving to or investigating locations and fighting or evading enemies. Depending on the card, cards played from hand during the investigation phase may enter an investigator's play area as an ongoing bonus (an "asset") or simply provide a powerful one-time effect and be discarded upon use (an "event"). Many cards have a resource cost which must be paid to play the card. While cards generally require an action to play, some are "fast" and do not require an action to be played.

The Investigation phase is followed by the Enemy, Status and the Mythos Phase, representing the forces working against the investigators each round. Investigators may have to deal with effects or enemies that attack their sanity, health or simply their progression towards their main goal (the Act deck).

Investigators will be eliminated from a scenario if they receive horror or damage equal to their sanity or health respectively. Investigators eliminated in this way will receive permanent mental or physical trauma. This means investigators repeatedly defeated in scenarios can become progressively weaker as the campaign progresses. Investigators will, however, receive experience from scenarios (even after defeat), which can be spent to improve each investigator's deck. At certain points in a campaign, failure may lead to investigators being killed or driven insane.

Expansions[]

Expansions are grouped into cycles that contain a complete player campaign. The first six cycles (Dunwich through Innsmouth) contain one deluxe expansion, followed by six mythos packs. Deluxe expansions contain new investigators, about 60 new player cards, and the first two scenarios of a campaign. Mythos packs contain about 24 new player cards and a single scenario of a campaign. These are listed below in order of release date, which is also the order in which they are meant to be played. Later cycles (e.g., Edge of the Earth) have abandoned the deluxe/mythos format, and have the complete campaign packaged within a single box called a "campaign expansion." Player cards are no longer packaged together with the campaign and must be purchased separately in an "investigator expansion."

Stand-alone scenarios are scenarios that exist outside of a campaign/cycle and are self-contained. As such, a player doesn't need any other expansions to play them or encounter cards from the core box—only the player cards. Stand-alone scenarios are at times printed in house at Fantasy Flight Games and are referred to as Print on Demand (POD). This means the card quality in that case is lower than the packs shipped from overseas but Fantasy Flight Games can push these packs faster out to players at conventions or (only in case of Curse of the Rougarou and Carnevale of Horrors) for general release.

Upgrade expansions (the "Return to" boxes) are akin to the "Nightmare Packs" from the Lord of the Rings LCG. However, instead of just increasing the difficulty, these expansions provide an alternate way to play through the campaign with alternate story effects. They also include a small selection of unique player cards (e.g., the first box includes 20 player cards). They are also not the Print on Demand quality that is found in the stand-alone scenarios.

The Dunwich Legacy cycle[]

Expansion Name	Release Date	Type
The Dunwich Legacy	January 2017	deluxe
The Miskatonic Museum	February 2017	mythos pack
The Essex County Express	March 2017	mythos pack
Blood on the Altar	April 2017	mythos pack
Undimensioned and Unseen	May 2017	mythos pack
Where Doom Awaits	June 2017	mythos pack
Lost in Time and Space	July 2017	mythos pack

The Path to Carcosa cycle[]

Expansion Name	Release Date	Type
The Path to Carcosa	September 2017	deluxe
Echoes of the Past	October 2017	mythos pack
The Unspeakable Oath	November 2017	mythos pack
A Phantom of Truth	December 2017	mythos pack
The Pallid Mask	January 2018	mythos pack
Black Stars Rise	February 2018	mythos pack
Dim Carcosa	March 2018	mythos pack

The Forgotten Age cycle[]

Expansion Name	Release Date	Type
The Forgotten Age	May 2018	deluxe
Threads of Fate	June 2018	mythos pack
The Boundary Beyond	July 2018	mythos pack
Heart of the Elders	August 2018	mythos pack
The City of Archives	September 2018	mythos pack
The Depths of Yoth	October 2018	mythos pack
Shattered Aeons	November 2018	mythos pack

The Circle Undone cycle[]

Expansion Name	Release Date	Type
The Circle Undone	January 2019	deluxe
The Secret Name	March 2019	mythos pack
The Wages of Sin	April 2019	mythos pack
For the Greater Good	May 2019	mythos pack
Union and Disillusion	June 2019	mythos pack
In the Clutches of Chaos	July 2019	mythos pack
Before the Black Throne	July 2019	mythos pack

The Dream-Eaters cycle[]

Expansion Name	Release Date	Type
The Dream-Eaters	September 2019	deluxe
The Search for Kadath	November 2019	mythos pack
A Thousand Shapes of Horror	December 2019	mythos pack
Dark Side of the Moon	January 2020	mythos pack
Point of No Return	February 2020	mythos pack
Where the Gods Dwell	March 2020	mythos pack
Weaver of the Cosmos	April 2020	mythos pack

The Innsmouth Conspiracy cycle[]

Expansion Name	Release Date	Type
The Innsmouth Conspiracy	October 2020	deluxe
In Too Deep	November 2020	mythos pack
Devil Reef	December 2020	mythos pack
Horror in High Gear	January 2021	mythos pack
A Light in the Fog	February 2021	mythos pack
The Lair of Dagon	March 2021	mythos pack
Into the Maelstrom	April 2021	mythos pack

Edge of the Earth cycle[]

Expansion Name	Release Date	Type
Edge of the Earth Campaign Expansion	EU November 2021	campaign expansion
Edge of the Earth Investigator Expansion	UK September 2021	investigator expansion

Stand-alone scenarios[]

Expansion Name	Release Date
Curse of the Rougarou	November 2016
Carnevale of Horrors	December 2016
The Labyrinths of Lunacy	June 2018
The Eternal Slumber	Gencon (2018) event scenario, released as part of Guardians of the Abyss, December 2018
The Night's Usurper	Arkham Nights (2018) event scenario, released as part of Guardians of the Abyss, December 2018
Guardians of the Abyss	December 2018 – Scenario Pack that includes The Eternal Slumber and The Night's Usurper[5]
The Blob that Ate Everything	Gen Con 2019
Murder at the Excelsior Hotel[6]	November 2019
Barkham Horror: The Meddling of Meowlathotep[7]	September 2020
War of the Outer Gods	December 2020
Machinations Through Time	Q1 2022

Upgrade Expansions[]

Expansion Name	Release Date
Return to the Night of the Zealot	June 2018
Return to the Dunwich Legacy	January 2019
Return to the Path to Carcosa	September 2019
Return to the Forgotten Age	August 2020
Return to the Circle Undone	June 2021

Investigator Starter Decks[]

Expansion Name	Release Date	Type
Harvey Walters	August 2020	starter deck
Winifred Habbamock	August 2020	starter deck
Jacqueline Fine	August 2020	starter deck
Stella Clark	August 2020	starter deck
Nathaniel Cho	August 2020	starter deck

Novellas[]

Arkham Horror: The Card Game also has novellas where each novella is focused around a specific investigator and come with 5 promo cards. These promo cards include 1 alt-art investigator card, 1 alt-art mini investigator card, 1 replacement signature card, 1 replacement signature weakness, and 1 card with instructions for the replacement cards.

Expansion Name	Release Date	Investigator focus	Author
Hour of the Huntress	October 2017	Jenny Barnes	Dave Gross
Ire of the Void	December 2017	Norman Withers	Richard Lee Byers
The Dirge of Reason	February 2018	Roland Banks	Graeme Davis
To Fight the Black Wind	April 2018	Carolyn Fern	Jennifer Brozek
The Deep Gate	June 2018	Silas Marsh
The Blood of Baalshandor	June 2020	Dexter Drake	Richard Lee Byers
Dark Revelations	November 2020	Gloria Goldberg	Amanda Downum

References[]

External links[]

• Arkham Horror: The Card Game at BoardGameGeek