Embark on a thrilling journey into the depths of cosmic horror with “Arkham Horror: The Card Game.” Prepare to unravel ancient mysteries, confront unspeakable terrors, and test the limits of your sanity as you explore the labyrinthine streets of Arkham. With its captivating blend of cooperative gameplay, strategic deck-building, and immersive storytelling, Arkham Horror immerses you in a world where the supernatural lurks just beyond the shadows. Whether you’re a seasoned investigator or a newcomer to the world of Lovecraftian lore, prepare yourself for an unforgettable adventure that will challenge your wits and leave you on the edge of your seat.
To begin your investigation, gather a group of intrepid investigators, each with their unique skills and abilities. As you delve deeper into the game, you’ll build your deck by acquiring new cards, enhancing your investigator’s capabilities, and unlocking powerful synergies. Each scenario presents a labyrinth of interconnected locations, each with its own unique challenges and rewards. By carefully navigating the map, managing your resources, and solving puzzles, you’ll uncover clues, unravel mysteries, and inch closer to the truth that lies at the heart of the darkness.
However, your path is fraught with perils. Ancient horrors and their cultist minions lie in wait, eager to thwart your progress. Engage in tactical combat, using your wits and your investigator’s abilities to outmaneuver and overcome these formidable foes. Yet, it’s not just the physical threats that you must contend with. As you delve deeper into the investigation, your sanity will be tested to its limits. Mysterious encounters, unsettling visions, and the weight of cosmic knowledge can erode your investigator’s mental state, leading to madness and despair. Can you maintain your composure and unravel the cosmic horrors that threaten to consume Arkham, or will you succumb to the darkness that lurks within?
Building Your Deck
In Arkham Horror: The Card Game, you’ll need to build a deck of cards that represents your investigator and their abilities. Each investigator has their own unique deckbuilding options, but there are some general guidelines you can follow to build a successful deck.
1. Choose Your Investigator
The first step is to choose your investigator. Each investigator has their own unique strengths and weaknesses, so it’s important to pick one that fits your playstyle. If you’re new to the game, it’s a good idea to start with one of the core set investigators. These investigators are well-rounded and can handle a variety of situations.
| Investigator | Class | Strengths | Weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roland Banks | Guardian | High combat ability, can tank damage | Low willpower, can be vulnerable to mental attacks |
| Skids O’Toole | Rogue | High agility, can evade enemies | Low health, can be easily defeated in combat |
| Daisy Walker | Seeker | High willpower, can investigate clues | Low combat ability, can be vulnerable to attacks |
| Zoey Samaras | Mystic | Can cast spells to support the team | Low health, can be easily defeated in combat |
| Jim Culver | Survivor | Balanced stats, can adapt to different situations | No standout abilities |
2. Choose Your Cards
Once you’ve chosen your investigator, you’ll need to choose the cards for your deck. There are a few different types of cards in Arkham Horror: The Card Game:
- Assets: Assets are cards that you can play to your play area to provide ongoing benefits. Assets can include weapons, items, and allies.
- Events: Events are cards that you can play to trigger a one-time effect. Events can include attacks, spells, and investigations.
- Skills: Skills are cards that you can play to add to your investigator’s skill tests. Skills can include combat, investigation, and willpower.
3. Build Your Deck
Once you’ve chosen your cards, you’ll need to build your deck. A deck in Arkham Horror: The Card Game must contain exactly 30 cards. You can include a maximum of 3 copies of each card in your deck.
When building your deck, you’ll need to consider the following factors:
- Your investigator’s class: Each investigator class has its own unique strengths and weaknesses. When building your deck, you’ll want to choose cards that complement your investigator’s class.
- Your playstyle: Do you prefer to play aggressively, defensively, or a mix of both? When building your deck, you’ll want to choose cards that fit your playstyle.
- The scenario you’re playing: The scenario you’re playing will have a big impact on the cards you choose for your deck. For example, if you’re playing a scenario with a lot of combat, you’ll want to include more combat cards in your deck.
Understanding the Game Components
The Investigator Deck
Your investigator deck represents your character’s skills, knowledge, and abilities. It contains cards that can be used to perform a variety of actions, such as investigating clues, fighting monsters, and evading threats. Each investigator has their own unique deck, which can be customized to fit your playstyle.
The Encounter Deck
The encounter deck represents the challenges that you will face during the game. It contains cards that can trigger a variety of events, such as monster attacks, clue discoveries, and skill tests. The encounter deck is shuffled at the beginning of each game, and cards are drawn from it whenever a player takes an action that triggers an event.
The Act Deck
The act deck represents the story of the game. It contains cards that describe the setting, introduce new characters, and advance the plot. The act deck is divided into three acts, each of which consists of several scenes. Players progress through the acts by completing objectives and resolving encounters.
The Chaos Bag
The chaos bag is used to determine the outcomes of skill tests. It contains tokens that represent the different possible results of a test, such as success, failure, or critical failure. Players draw tokens from the chaos bag whenever they make a skill test, and the result of the test is determined by the token that they draw.
Setting Up the Game
### 1. Gather Your Crew
The first step is to gather your fellow investigators and choose your characters. Each character has their unique strengths and weaknesses, so it’s essential to consider your team composition carefully. Once you’ve chosen your characters, take their corresponding investigator cards, decks, and any other starting items.
### 2. Prepare the Scenario
Next, it’s time to set up the scenario. Each scenario has its unique setup instructions, so be sure to read them carefully. Generally, this will involve placing tiles to create the game board, distributing tokens, and setting up any special rules or conditions.
### 3. Shuffle and Deal
Once the scenario is set up, it’s time to shuffle the Encounter deck and place it face down next to the play area. This deck contains all the challenges and surprises you’ll encounter during the game. Each investigator then draws five cards from their personal deck and five cards from the Encounter deck. These cards form their starting hands and will provide them with resources and abilities to use throughout the game.
| Step | Description |
|—|—|
| 1 | Shuffle the encounter deck and place it face down next to the play area. |
| 2 | Each investigator draws five cards from their personal deck and five cards from the encounter deck. |
| 3 | The encounter cards drawn are kept face down in the player’s hand. |
| 4 | The personal deck cards drawn are placed face up in the player’s play area. |
| 5 | The investigator’s starting resources and abilities are determined by the cards they have drawn. |
Gameplay Overview
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is an immersive cooperative living card game that transports players to the haunting world of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Each player assumes the role of an investigator, a unique character with their own skills and abilities. Together, they must unravel ancient mysteries, battle otherworldly horrors, and confront their own inner demons.
Gameplay
Gameplay in Arkham Horror: The Card Game is turn-based, with each player taking actions in their designated turn. Turns are structured into three phases:
Players plan their actions for the upcoming round, including playing cards from their hands, using their investigators’ abilities, and engaging in investigations.
Players encounter challenges and obstacles, such as enemy creatures, environmental hazards, or skill tests. They must successfully resolve these encounters to progress through the game.
The game advances the narrative by drawing a mythos card, which triggers special effects, spawns new enemies, or moves the overall story forward. Players must adapt to the changing conditions and respond to the ever-present cosmic threats.
Resolving Encounters
Encounters are the primary way of advancing the game’s story and acquiring new cards and resources. Each encounter deck corresponds to a specific location or scenario, and contains a mix of enemy, location, and treachery cards.
1. Draw an Encounter Card
At the start of your turn, draw the top card of the encounter deck. If it’s an enemy card, it is immediately added to the game area as a new enemy. If it’s a location card, it is added to the play area as a new location.
2. Resolve Card Effects
Once the encounter card is revealed, resolve its effects immediately. Enemy cards will typically have an attack value and a health value, while location cards may have special abilities or effects that alter the game.
3. Gain Clue or Advance Agenda
After resolving the card effects, check if the encounter card has a “clue” or “agenda” symbol. If it has a clue symbol, advance the clue token on the current location by 1. If it has an agenda symbol, advance the agenda token by 1.
4. Deal Treachery
If the encounter card is a treachery card, it will have a negative effect that affects one or more investigators. Resolve the treachery effect immediately, which may involve losing health, sanity, or resources.
5. Additional Card Effects
Some encounter cards may have additional effects that trigger after the initial resolution. These effects can include bonus actions, discarding cards, or adding tokens to the play area. Always read the card carefully to ensure you resolve all of its effects.
Authoritative and Reliable
Managing Clues and Evidence
Clues and evidence are essential elements in Arkham Horror LCG. Players collect clues to investigate mysterious locations and gather evidence to uncover the truth behind the ancient horrors. Here’s a step-by-step guide to managing clues and evidence:
1. Obtaining Clues
Players obtain clues by performing investigation actions at locations with clue tokens. Each clue token represents a piece of information or insight gained.
2. Collecting Clues
When a player successfully investigates a location, they place the clue token on their investigator card. Clues can be collected from any source, such as searching rooms, talking to NPCs, or examining objects.
3. Managing Clues
Clues can be spent to activate certain abilities on investigator cards. For example, some cards allow players to exchange clues for bonus actions or to boost their skill tests.
4. Obtaining Evidence
Evidence is a special type of token that is required to solve specific mysteries or complete scenarios. Evidence can be found at specific locations or by completing certain tasks.
5. Collecting Evidence
When a player finds a piece of evidence, they place it on their investigator card. Evidence cannot be spent or activated like clues, but it may be required to progress through the scenario.
6. Managing Evidence
Players should manage their evidence carefully, as it can be crucial for solving the mystery. Some evidence may be relevant to a specific location, while others may provide insights into the overall scenario. By carefully managing their clues and evidence, players can increase their chances of uncovering the truth and defeating the ancient horrors.
Dealing with Horrors and Trauma
1. Encountering Horrors
When an investigator encounters a Horror, they must draw a card from the Horror deck and resolve its effect.
2. Horror Effects
Horror effects can vary, but typically they cause damage, add cards to the Chaos Bag, or reveal Encounter Cards.
3. Trauma
If an investigator takes more Horror than their Sanity, they gain a Trauma.
4. Trauma Effects
Traumas have negative effects on investigators, increasing their chances of failing tests and reducing their available actions.
5. Removing Trauma
Trauma can be removed by using skill cards, spells, or spending resources.
6. Healing
If a player rolls a Skull or an Auto-Fail result on a skill test, the investigator takes 1 Horror. However, this can be mitigated by healing cards or abilities.
7. Sanity Loss
If an investigator takes damage or encounters a Terror card, they lose Sanity. Sanity can be restored by resting, using skill cards, or spending resources.
| Effect | Description |
|---|---|
| Physical Trauma | Reduces an investigator’s Strength and Agility. |
| Mental Trauma | Reduces an investigator’s Willpower and Intellect. |
| Emotional Trauma | Reduces an investigator’s Courage and Perception. |
Campaign Progression
Arkham Horror LCG campaigns unfold as a series of interconnected scenarios.
1. Pre-Campaign Setup: Before starting a campaign, choose your investigators, decks, and any additional components specified in the campaign’s rules.
2. Scenario Progression: Each campaign consists of several scenarios, played sequentially.
3. Campaign Log: Keep a campaign log to track important events, discoveries, and character advancements.
4. Scenario Resolution: After completing a scenario, resolve its outcome, including any updates to the campaign log or investigator decks.
5. Experience and Advancement: Investigators earn experience during scenarios, which they can use to improve their decks and abilities.
6. Downtime Actions: Between scenarios, investigators can perform downtime actions to further their investigations or improve their chances of success.
7. Campaign Finale: The final scenario of a campaign brings the overarching story to a close.
8. Legacy Mechanics
Some campaigns introduce legacy mechanics that modify gameplay over time:
| Mechanic | Effect |
|---|---|
| Accumulated Trauma: | Characters accumulate trauma during scenarios, affecting their abilities and relationships. |
| Altered Locations: | Locations change over the course of a campaign, influencing gameplay and storytelling. |
| Investigator Relationship Changes: | Investigators’ relationships with each other can evolve, affecting their interactions and strategy. |
Winning and Losing the Game
In Arkham Horror LCG, the players have lost the game if any of the following conditions are met:
Player Elimination
If all of the controlled Investigators are defeated during a single round, all characters are devoured, all investigators on a location with the Devoured keyword, or an investigator with a permanent insanity of 10 or higher.
Agenda Completion
If the current Agenda card completes its Doom count, the players have lost.
Mythos Deck Depletion
If the Mythos Deck runs out of cards, the players have lost.
Unresolved Chaos Bags
If the players have drawn all of the tokens from the Chaos Bag and don’t have a way to replenish them, the players have lost.
Surrender
If the players have exhausted all other options and deem the situation hopeless, they can choose to surrender and accept defeat.
In contrast to losing, the players win the game if they complete all of the objectives on the current scenario card before any of the above losing conditions are met.
It is important to note that the game can also end in a tie if certain conditions are met, such as all investigators being defeated while an un-evaded enemy with the “Persistent” keyword is in play.
| Win | Lose |
|---|---|
| Complete scenario objectives | All investigators defeated |
| Agenda completes Doom count | |
| Mythos deck depleted | |
| Unresolved chaos bags | |
| Surrender |
Advanced Rules and Strategies
Unlock the hidden depths of Arkham Horror: The Card Game with these advanced rules and strategies:
1. Using the Chaos Bag
The Chaos Bag is a vital element of gameplay. Understanding the different tokens and their probabilities is crucial for success.
2. Managing Your Resources
Resources, such as money, clues, and influence, are finite in Arkham Horror. Wisely allocate your resources to optimize your actions.
3. Cooperative Play
Communicate and coordinate with fellow investigators to overcome challenges and investigate mysteries together.
4. Investigating and Gathering Clues
Investigating locations and gathering clues is essential to advance the game and uncover the truth.
5. Combat and Damage
Engaging in combat with monsters is inevitable. Learn how to effectively attack, evade, and mitigate damage.
6. Skill Checks
Skill checks are a key mechanic that determines the success of certain actions. Enhance your chances by investing in skills and utilizing abilities.
7. Campaign Structure
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a campaign-based game. Understand the structure and progression of campaigns to plan your strategies.
8. Encounter Decks
Each scenario features a unique Encounter Deck. Analyze the cards and anticipate potential obstacles and rewards.
9. Deckbuilding and Customization
Customize your investigator’s deck to suit your playstyle and the challenges at hand. Experiment with different cards and strategies.
10. Advanced Mechanics: Campaign Logs, Epilogue Cards, and Resolutions
Delve into the intricate mechanics of Campaign Logs, Epilogue Cards, and Resolutions. These advanced rules add depth and replayability to the game, influencing future scenarios and offering diverse outcomes.
Arkham Horror LCG: How to Play Step by Step
Arkham Horror: The Card Game (LCG) is a cooperative deckbuilding game for 1-4 players. In this game, players take on the roles of investigators who must work together to solve mysteries and defeat ancient evils in the fictional city of Arkham, Massachusetts.
Here are the steps on how to play Arkham Horror LCG:
- Setup: Each player chooses an investigator and builds a deck of cards. The game is played on a board that represents the city of Arkham. The players place their investigators on the board and draw cards to form their starting hands.
- Player Turn: On their turn, a player takes three actions. These actions can be used to move around the board, investigate locations, fight monsters, or interact with other players. Players can also take additional actions by spending resources called “actions” or “resources.”
- Move: Players can move their investigators around the board by spending movement points. They can move to adjacent locations or to any location that is connected by a path.
- Investigate: Players can investigate locations by drawing cards from the location deck. The cards that are drawn will tell the player what they find at that location. Players can find clues, items, or monsters.
- Fight: If a player’s investigator is attacked by a monster, they must fight the monster using their combat cards. The combat cards that are played will determine the outcome of the fight.
- Interact: Players can interact with other players by trading cards or resources. They can also help other players in fights or by giving them clues.
- Mythos Phase: After all players have taken their turns, the Mythos phase begins. During the Mythos phase, the game’s AI, the Ancient One, takes its turn. The Ancient One will draw cards from the Mythos deck and perform the actions that are printed on those cards. The Mythos deck can contain cards that spawn monsters, damage investigators, or advance the game’s story.
- Resolution: After the Mythos phase, the game moves on to the resolution phase. During the resolution phase, players resolve any effects that are still active and draw new cards to their hands.
The game continues until either the players defeat the Ancient One or the Ancient One defeats the players.
People Also Ask about Arkham Horror LCG How to Play Step by Step
How long does it take to play Arkham Horror LCG?
The length of a game of Arkham Horror LCG can vary depending on the number of players and the scenario that is being played. A typical game can last anywhere from 2 to 4 hours.
How difficult is Arkham Horror LCG?
Arkham Horror LCG is a challenging game, but it is also a very rewarding one. The game requires players to think strategically and work together to overcome the challenges that the game throws at them.
Is Arkham Horror LCG a good game for beginners?
Arkham Horror LCG is a great game for beginners who are interested in cooperative deckbuilding games. The game is easy to learn, but it is also very challenging and rewarding.
