Gojira

This is the game that got me back into the hobby after a long break. It is extremely cumbersome and fiddly, takes hours to play and usually ends with all players losing. The game board is huge with tons of different card stacks and tokens to manage. Add in a few expansions and Arkham Horror will devour even the largest table. Events are drawn randomly and resolved with dice. Even your most cunningly executed plan can go out the window with the roll of a die or an unlucky draw. After saying all that the most important thing I can say about Arkham Horror is I LOVE THIS GAME!

Where Arkham Horror really shines is the tension created by the escalating threat of the slowly awakening Old One. This game requires cooperation and planning in order to be successful. Some of the best moments are when you collectively pauses to look at the big picture and realize your chances of winning are nearly hopeless. Often I find our losing games to be more enjoyable than the wins. Nothing is better than pulling off a victory when defeat was almost certain. This game is at its best when everyone is scrambling around frantically trying just to stay alive.

The rules can be difficult to learn for a first timer. It helps a lot to have at least one experienced player around to help run the table and answer questions on the rules. Be careful not to let a single player take command of the entire group. Nothing saps the fun from this game as much as one person dominating the decision making. Experienced players should give advice but try to avoid making decisions for newer players. The theme is really strong and Arkham Horror can be played as sort of a light RPG if your group enjoys role playing.

Regarding expansions: Read the reviews and get the ones that you find most appealing. I’d recommend King in Yellow. You don’t need them all just introduce a new one now and then if things are getting stale.

This is a fun, fast playing area control game. I think this would be an excellent choice to introduce new players to the feel of some of the more complicated euro style games. Each turn players may take a card that gives them a unique power. This card can either be taken from a pool of six cards or from another player. There is no limit on the number of cards you can have but each card you possess makes your population more vulnerable during plague outbreaks. The only way to get rid of a card once you take it is for another player to take it from you.

The game flows really well and even a group new to the game can get up to speed after just a few turns. The mechanics are simple but there is a lot of depth here tempered by a bit of randomness in the form of the rat tokens. The knight card allows what amounts to an attack action and the card swapping keeps the players interacting throughout the game. The components are top notch with all the little cubes and pawns you know and love. The cards are really nice with great artwork printed on really thick stock.

The only problem is the limited number of role cards in the base game. Each game plays with 6 cards and with only 6 cards in the base game the result can get kind of samey pretty quickly. The Pied Piper expansion adds a bunch of new role cards that help to open up the strategic possibilities and keep each game fresh. If you are looking for a light euro that appeals to casual gamers this might be a good choice otherwise the expansion is a must buy to get the most out of the game.

This game is just fun. If you find the theme even a little bit appealing I think this is a can’t miss. Co-op is by far the better option. We’ve only played the standard rules twice but have played the cop-op game a bunch. It plays fast and is silly enough to feel very light but has enough tough choices to keep it interesting. The artwork is cool and really brings the theme to life. My favorite from Flying Frog so far. A few of the races are kind of broken or under/overpowered right out of the box but with so many to choose from its not a big deal. Hopefully we’ll see this corrected with an expansion.

We’ve really been enjoying Nightfall. Dominion never really clicked for us but this has been hitting the table a lot. The difference is in the amount of direct conflict in Nightfall. The chaining mechanic introduces a lot of tension as your opponents can play cards on your turn and you can play cards on theirs. Nothing beats dropping a killer combo on your opponents turn. The wound cards are really interesting especially with the new wound effect introduced in Martial Law. The player with the fewest wounds at the end of the game is the winner but the wound cards themselves can be played for different advantages when they come up in your hand. The wound effects can really help a player who is trailing to claw their way back to the top. My favorite of the current crop of deck building games.