Arkham Horror - Tips & Strategies

When things begin to look bleak in terms of gate closing/sealing, my friends and I usually adopt a new strategy: get as much money, and many weapons as you can! We usually start to do this when the doom track has about 2 or 3 spots left. If you collect the right types of weapons for the current Great Old One, your chances of beating him will be drastically increased. We have won the game this way many times, and it is a lot of fun to imagine yourself putting up an awesome fight against the Great Old One. Also get allies that increase your combat abilities. During the battle, when one investigator is about to die, have him pass all of his items to another investigator that turn before he goes. Following this strategy should insure a greater chance of survival in your game!

Be on the lookout for Mi-Gos while playing. These monsters are flying monsters which are not that tough to beat. But instead of getting a monster trophy, you will return the Mi-Go to the box and get a unique item instead. Since monsters are popping up all the time, you can get rid of a monster and get an item all in one go, when normally you would need to take two or three turns and spend some cash to accomplish this task.

And since Elder Signs are unique items, you could get lucky and seal that gate early if you find one.

You can’t win if you don’t help out your fellow players. Remember you can trade money and/or weapons while exploring the board. Make sure to give that magical weapon to a player who can’t hurt physical immune creatures and vice versa.

If you play the game as Jenny Barnes, you get 1 dollar during your upkeep as part of her investigator advantage. This bonus never goes away. She also starts at the Train Station at the start of the game. This puts her in prime position to go to the Newspaper and try to acquire a Retainer. You might ask why if she is already getting money automatically, that you would try to get more? Simple. You need items.

By getting a retainer, you have a chance to get three dollars each turn. That is quite significant indeed, as most of the powerful items can be quite expensive. With Jenny gaining large amounts of cash, she can go to the Curiosity Shoppe and hunt for items that will help the investigators greatly in their fight against the Ancient One and its minions. Since there is no limit on how many items you can carry, she can hold onto them to use or until she can give them to other investigators.

Newer players tend to focus on the game and not give much weight to the phases. The frequently try to combine Phases 3 and 4 (since they are both encounters) and leave misty boundaries between the rest.

Having answered hundreds of rule questions on BoardGameGeek.com and FFG’s forums, the answer that cuts through most questions is “Follow the Phases.” Make sure you are clearly playing each phase as it was defined and answer that rule question in this context.

Encountering a monster on the board? You only fight them in Phase 2. So if you aren’t in phase 2, you can ignore them. Just had an Arkham Encounter that sent you to Another World, do you have an encounter? Yes, these are separate Phases, so where you are at during any given phase, resolve that phase fully.

This mantra usually answers timing and interaction between players as well. Want to drop off an item to an investigator on an explored gate? Will you get drawn through? If you continue moving off of the gate in Phase 2, then you won’t be drawn through in Phase 3 when gates resolve. If you stop moving, then it goes to turn order. If the other player closes the gate first, you won’t have anything to be drawn through.

Getting an ally in a game of Arkham Horror can be one of the easiest things in the world to do, and it can also be one of the hardest. An ally is a powerful asset to an investigator, and because of this, the price to get an ally at Ma’s Boarding House is quite high: Either 10 toughness worth of monster trophies, 2 gate trophies, or 1 gate trophy and 5 toughness worth of monster trophies. The good part to this bargain is that you can take any ally you wish; the bad part is that you’re using resources that could be spent on other things instead, or be used to ward off an Ancient One’s attack (depending on your adversary).

The alternative method of getting an ally involves having a random encounter in a location that enables you to get one. The problem is that it is a random occurrence, so you can’t rely on getting an ally this way with any sort of regularity. In addition, certain conditions must be met for you to even have a chance at acquiring the ally.

However…if the chance of getting an ally this way comes up, you don’t want to have the chance to gain the ally fall by the wayside because you didn’t meet the conditions. It’s always good to know what you need to do to get these allies so that you’ll be prepared when the time comes. An investigator can hedge their bet if possible; if they know they are going to visit a certain area, they can adjust their skill sliders beforehand or check to see if they have enough clue tokens or trophies. Here is a breakdown of where each ally can be found and what is needed to gain them as a partner:

WARNING: META-GAME SPOILER ALERT – DON’T READ ON IF YOU WANT TO KEEP THINGS A MYSTERY FOR YOURSELF!

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OK, I warned you…

Note: All of these conditions require the Encounter card enabling you to recruit these allies to be drawn and resolved.

Hibb’s Roadhouse – Spend 3 clue tokens to recruit Ryan Dean.
Woods – Succeed at a Speed(-2) check or have the Food common item to recruit Duke.
Graveyard – Spend 5 toughness worth of monster trophies to recruit Richard Upton Pickman.
Black Cave – Succeed at a Luck(-2) check or have the Whiskey common item to recruit Tom “Mountain” Murphy.
The Witch House – Succeed at a Lore(-1) check to recruit Thomas F. Malone.
Silver Twilight Lodge – Succeed at a Fight(-1) check to recruit Ruby Standish
Science Building – Lose 2 Stamina (and have Stamina remaining afterwards) to recruit Sir William Brinton.
Historical Society – Spend 1 gate trophy to recruit Professor Armitage.
Independence Square – Succeed at a Will(-1) check to recruit Anna Kaslow.
Unvisited Isle – Succeed at a Sneak(-1) check to recruit John Legrasse.
The Unnamable – Lose 2 Sanity (and have Sanity remaining afterwards) to recruit Eric Colt.

This game is not easy, and can be downright mean at times. You really need to work as a team. Everyone should have a dedicated roll that they focus on. Always have someone focused on closing/sealing portals and someone focused on killing monsters. The more players you have the more people can fill these rolls. If you have 5 or more people it would even be a wise choice to have someone who can make money every round to go around gather up clue tokens and buy items for the other two rolls. Good luck!

This may seem like an odd tip, but it’s worked great for us. Up the atmosphere! Play some creepy music in the background while you’re playing and keep the lights dimmer than usual (while still being able to play the game). Remind the players now and then that the Ancient One is coming. AH is a game of atmosphere due to its heavy theme and it’s by far one of the best co-op games out there, so have some fun with it.

Short on cash? Visit “The Newspaper”! Once during a game, I got over $10 from sitting on that spot, and I was playing Jenny Bartlett, so I didn’t even need the cash!

Arkham’s expansions don’t require you to purchase them in a certain order (Miskatonic excluded) to enjoy them. Questions about what to get next are a pretty common topic on other boards so, here’s my take:

Curse of the Dark Pharaoh- REVISED If you like the base game and want just a little more, this is a good place to start.

Dunwich Horror- my favorite of the town expansions. Lots of new things to do and options for players.

King In Yellow- another small box. Well themed and put together, also pretty cheap.

Kingsport Horror- lots of people find this one the least of the towns, but I like the exploring bit.

Lurker at the Threshold- Another small box, dark pacts are a great addition.

Innsmouth Horror- the town that hates you the most. Great addition that ramps up the difficulty.

Miskatonic Horror- a big box that expands the expansions. Never say no to more stuff.

Black Goat of the Woods- not really a fan. The Cult is more annoying than anything else. My least fave, but it does have more encounter cards for locations which is always good.