Board Game Arkham Horror. Third Edition

This is a significantly reworked, redesigned and improved version of "Arkham Horror", which borrowed some interesting mechanics from "Ancient Horror" and the card game "Arkham Horror".

A cooperative horror-action game

The game takes place in 1926, at the height of the Roaring Twenties. Jazz plays in smoky underground bars until dawn, the lost generation dances on the dance floor with emancipated girls, and gangsters, nouveau riche and bootleggers drink illicit alcohol at the tables.

Meanwhile, occult rituals are being held somewhere nearby, and the Great Ancients are already stirring in their sleep, and darkness, blacker than night, is gradually creeping into the long-suffering Arkham. The participants of the game are invited to become researchers and prevent the Ancients from finally waking up, crossing the threshold between the worlds and swinging in this hole.

The base game contains four scenarios in which researchers will fight Azathoth, Hastur, Shub-Niggurath and, of course, Cthulhu. As always, they will move around the city, fight monsters, collect evidence, prevent doom and destroy anomalies.

Unlike the previous version of the game with a static field, the third "Arkham Horror" already uses a modular field, which sets a certain configuration of districts and streets depending on the selected scenario. In each scenario, players also build a deck of monsters and a pool of myth tokens, which replace the usual myth cards in this game.

Skill Check

The key game mechanic is the skill check. Checks are indicated by the symbols of the corresponding skills on the cards. During the check, the player rolls as many dice as the value of the corresponding investigator skill. The values ​​​​can be changed. If the player rolls at least one "5" or "6", he successfully passes the check. The effects of many checks depend on the number of "5" and "6" rolled.

Game Flow

A game round consists of four phases - actions, monsters, encounters, and myth.

1. Action Phase

During the Action Phase, each player can perform two different actions:

• Move. The explorer can move up to two zones (or further by paying a few dollars). If the explorer finds himself in a zone with a revived monster, he engages it in battle. The monster card is placed next to the explorer`s sheet.
• Fundraising. Get 1 dollar.
• Focus. Get a focus token on one of the skills. The skill value increases by 1. The focus token can be spent on rolling one die.
• Defense. Remove doom tokens from your zone by making a Knowledge check.
• Attack. A player engages a monster in their location by placing its card next to their Explorer sheet. When attacking, the Explorer makes a Strength check, taking into account the monster`s modifier. For each success, they deal one wound to the monster. If the monster`s wounds equal or exceed its health, the monster is destroyed.
• Evade. To evade a monster the Explorer is engaged in combat with, the player makes a Observation check, taking into account the monster`s evasion modifier. Each success allows them to break away from one monster, return its card to the field, and exhaust it.
• Exploration. After passing the observation check, the player places 1 of his evidence on the scenario sheet for each success rolled.
• Exchange. Explorers in the same zone can exchange allies, items, spells, money, evidence, and/or remains.
• "Action" on components. A special action can be performed on components that contain the keyword «Action».

2. Monster Phase

Ready monsters move to the explorers and engage them in battle. Monsters deal wounds to the explorers in battle.
Exhausted monster cards are turned face up. They do not move or attack this round, but engage in combat with the explorers in the same area.

3. Encounter Phase

If the explorer is not in combat with a monster, he draws and plays an encounter card for the corresponding area or street. The symbols on the encounter cards indicate what to expect from the encounter, what fees are required, or what checks must be made. Encounters allow you to gain evidence that can be used to advance the scenario. Or spent on dice rolls during other checks.

4. Myth Phase

In the Myth Phase, players take turns drawing 2 random Myth tokens and applying their effects - spread doom, place evidence, add monsters on the field, reading title cards, etc.

Victory and Defeat

To progress through the scenario, players must complete the tasks on the codex cards (a set of special rules and objectives for the scenario). By completing all the tasks, the explorers win the game. If doom overwhelms all of Arkham, the players are defeated.