The Horror Gaming Of Yig

...I have been sitting on my copy of Arkham Horror for nearly 18 months as of yesterday. I recall giving the game a test drive about a month after initially receiving it, but never got very far nor did we feel like we were doing things correctly. My brother has been on me ever since about wanting to finally figure out the game, even doing some YouTube research on his own. Every time I run my eyes across that dark green box on my shelf, I want to dig in but would also cringe at the thought of trying to puzzle out the cumbersome rulebook again.

Having a free and clear block of time this past weekend, I finally buckled down to get through figuring out Arkham Horror. I found a YouTube channel from Britain (I believe) that did a fairly nice job of demonstrating the game in a simple manner once you get past the owner's need for theatrics. I have noticed this to be a bit of a thing on YouTube. Very few game reviewers and/or demonstrators can do so without either get theatrical or going long-winded into explanations. More on that another time.

So, as it turns out, Arkham Horror is really not too difficult a game after all. By "really not too difficult", I mean once you connect the similarities under the hood to games you have already learned, much of the remainder comes down to simple detail. That said, I needed a 90-minute YouTube tutorial to feel more at home with the rulebook that gave me a headache earlier. I'm not sure if that makes Arkham Horror an advanced game or outs me as being terribly lazy.

Much like other Fantasy Flight reissues, Arkham Horror's components are phenomenal. Despite my not caring too much for the cardboard character markers with removable plastic stands, I somewhat understand their necessity. I would have preferred them to go the Talisman route of molded plastic pieces, but minor details are just that. The rest from the glossy card stock down to the gorgeous game board makes my heart sing.

As was warned, Arkham Horror is a very difficult game. Adding or subtracting players to find a sweet spot seems to matter not in finding the most effective way to defeat the Ancient One. Each Ancient One has different levels of difficulty with Cthulhu being the most challenging. As we ran through our first official play through yesterday, it became evident fairly quick that Arkham Horror was going to be a really tough game to master. That said, it is this advanced level of challenge that has me itching to get back at it sooner than later. I prefer a game that not only asks you to settle in for a good long haul, but also exists to be unforgiving.

If you enjoy the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, Arkham Horror (and I'm guessing it's many expansions) are just begging for you to try this one out. If you enjoy torturing yourself in the board game realm, I can think of a few games that will do so, but not many like Arkham Horror. Arkham Horror is inviting in that it has a broad appeal to fans of Lovecraft, horror, strategy and role playing alike.