Justin Davis

First off, I am a HUGE Arkham Horror/Lovecraft fan. From reading the books, listening to Lovecraft Podcast (Podcraft), and playing as much Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness as I can, I jump at anything that expands this genre. Given my love of dice (even though they hate me), having a game that combines dice and Lovecraft seemed a match made in heaven. And it almost is.

In Elder Sign, you try to either stop the Elder God from waking up by collecting Elder Signs, or if it wakes up, you have to fight it. You go to different locations and roll the dice to try and beat the challenge, gaining different rewards for doing so.

In Arkham Horror, if the Elder God wakes up, it is REALLY hard to beat it. Add in a Herald, and you might as well get used to being an appetizer. The same cannot, unfortunately, be said for Elder Sign. It is easy. Maybe even a bit too easy. Some have said that there really isn’t any meaningful decisions in the game because you can win no matter what you do.

I’m hoping that an expansion will come out to address this. Even Arkham Horror got a bit easy once you knew the game before they crushed us with the first expansion, so there is hope. I REALLy want to love this game, but as it stands right now, I just find it OK.

As others have said, once you get the hang of Arkham Horror (the base game), the challenge isn’t quite so great. You start to win more than lose, and in a co-op game, that just leads to boredom. But this expansion revives the game and brings back the challenge, and the fear of the Old Ones that they deserve.

The expansion adds another board that gates can open in, making your investigators have to patrol even more area to keep the gates under control. Add the new Burst ability where sealed areas can burst open again, things really start to become intense.

The expansion includes new madness and injury cards flesh out the abstract nature of the health and sanity losses (I will never play without them), and new investigators and Elder Gods.

Overall, a must buy expansion to an already great game.

The King of co-op games. This is definitely the game (with expansions) that I would have with me on a deserted island.

Overview: You play an investigator that is working to stop an Elder God from awakening and destroying the world. There are 2 ways to stop it: 1) Closes enough gates that lead to other worlds, or 2) Defeat the God in combat when it wakes up. To hinder your mission, gates are opening all around Arkham and sending out monsters to hinder and/or hurt you. Also, events occur that quicken the awakening.

Overall, this can be a very tough game to beat, but well worth the time and investment you put into it.

 
Pros: 
 1) Dripping with theme.  Everything about the game screams Lovecraft.
 2) Creates experiences that you'll remember
 3) Component and Art quality is excellent
Cons:
 1) Game can last a while (could be a Pro depending on what you want)
 2) Rules are complicated.  There is definitely a learning curve
 3) Co-op means you could have an Alpha player problem

If you like Lovecraft, get this game. If you don’t like, or have never heard of Lovecraft, try this game. It is my favorite. ‘Nuff said.