Arkham Horror - Tips & Strategies

Arkham Horror isn’t always about stopping the evil one it’s also about creating the wildest and craziest story for your character that you can. You can have them fighting evil monsters as they slowly lose their minds, joining secret societies and exploring alternate dimensions.

Also don’t forget to have fun with the character you’re playing. Ham it up and play your character as you see them doing it, even if it isn’t necessarily the most strategic move. Though do be aware of who you are playing with and try not to annoy other players with pointless reckless actions.

The rules of Arkham Horror state that for each Encounter Phase, players go through their individual Encounters, then shuffle up the Encounter decks that were used, so that each turn, there is an equal chance of getting any of the Encounter cards from that Encounter pile.

Depending upon our mood at the time, my friends and I will sometimes put the no-shuffle house rule into play. Encounter cards that are used are put at the bottom of that Encounter deck face-up, so that we will know when all of the Encounter cards have been used. Only when all of the Encounter cards of a specific deck are used do we reshuffle the pile. This method ensures that you won’t get the same encounter twice in a row (which can happen in the original method) and that you know from prior experience which cards remain to be played.

This method is just a slight bit unfair (you can tell whether a retainer card is left to be drawn from the Newspaper, for example), but it does make the game go faster. It is less unfair if you throw in expansion decks, however.

We deal out two random cards for each investigator being played and then choose which one of the two that we like best compared to all the others we’re playing. While this no doubt somewhat improves the odds of winning, it also gives us the opportunity to select a balanced or unbalanced (brawn vs magic) team and still adds some randomness — and opportunities to be surprised with unexpected pairings.

Arkham, while A LOT of fun, can bog down in all of its complexity and rules very fast when everyone is learning to play. The first couple times out, we stalled the game out looking for minutia in the rulebook. It’s very advisable to have an Arkham Horror veteran in the group to lead the players and keep the game going. Better yet, when starting, have each player play a solo game on his/her own time. By playing through once, by yourself, you will hit all the small snags and questions, and be better prepared to play as a team. Arkham can be a lot of fun; it can also be a bit of a learning curve since there is so much going on in the game. Be prepared.

And leave the expansions for later when everyone has got the rules down. The basic game is more than complex enough.

For those of you new to gaming in Lovecraft country, characters who use brawn over brains usually end up as casualties in games like Call of Cthulhu and Arkham Horror. You’re more likely to find success playing the librarians and eggheads than the soldier of fortune types in this game (contrary to common sense). If you’re just starting, try playing a professor archetype; you’ll stand a greater chance of surviving.

Found this interesting looking site that has plenty of houserules and some game setups that, among other things, should give you a better feel of which Ancient One you’re up against throughout the game.
Find it all at: http://arkhaminvestigations.barkingdoginteractive.com/

While technically against the rules, minutes are shaves off each turn if people just move their figures simultaneously. Players note aloud if there are any obstacles in their path (Daisy Walker exclaims about a zombie on her way to the library), and preceding players can shove them out of the way (through combat or brains, of course!).

It’s a nice way to just speed things up a little.

If you want to “up” the success chances with encounters, skill checks, combat, etc…get “blessed” as quickly as possible. Instead of having to roll a 5 or 6 for success (33% success chance), you are allowed to roll a 4, 5, or 6 (50% success chance). This immensely increases the odds for overall success when a single die-throw is required. This is especially important when clue tokens are at a premium.

For fans of the books follows an Investigator Sheet of a very famous character: Calvin Write.

Enjoy it! Click here >

After a number of Arkham Horror games, and a number of defeats, a valuable lesson has come to the surface.

Players have a habit of all just running around and collecting single clues for the first few turns of the game. This can actually be a very slow process that may not net your team anything in the end.

Instead, have one player start collecting clues to save up to at least 6 (Yes, 6 instead of 5, to have a back up), so that player can close a gate and put down an Elder sign.

Have a second player that starts with a weapon go and start to close gates starting on turn 1. They may not be closed permanently, but it is best not to let the gates build up.

One other person should be given the responsibility of purchasing items and preparing for the longer portion of the game to come. Get a Bank Loan if need be. Just make sure to get set up to do some serious fighting and dealing with nasty Rumors before they get out of hand.