ARKHAM HORROR

OBJECTIVE OF ARKHAM HORROR: The objective of Arkham Horror is for the players to work cooperatively and close all of the dimensional gates in order to defeat the dark one and win the game.  

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 1 to 8 Players 

MATERIALS: 1 Game Board, 5 Dice, 1 Starter Player Marker, 16 Investigator Sheets, 16 Investigation Markers, 16 Plastic Stands, 196 Status Tokens, 6 Closed Markers, 1 Terror Track Marker, 3 Explored Markers, 3 Activity Markers, 16 Gate Markers, 60 Monster Markers, 179 Ancient One Cards, 20 Doom Tokens, 8 Ancient One Sheets, 189 Investigator Cards, and Instructions 

TYPE OF GAME: Cooperative Board Game 

AUDIENCE: Ages 14 and Up 

OVERVIEW OF ARKHAM HORROR 

Within Arkham, something evil has begun to stir, and only you can stop it. Players become characters that inhabit the small New England town. Each has their talents and their flaws, both reflected within their deck of cards. The players must work together in order to close the doors that separate your world from the ancient ones. If you cannot work together as a team, then your world is what will be lost.  

SETUP 

To begin setup, remove all items from the box. Place the game board in the middle of the playing area, unfolded. On one end of the board, place the nine location decks, the gate deck, the mythos deck, the ancient one sheet, the doom tokens, the gate markers, the monster markers, the clue tokens, and the other makers. They should all be placed in their own stack. On the other end of the board, the money bank, the sanity and stamina bank, the special investigator deck, and the ally deck, common item deck, unique item deck, spell deck, and skill deck should all be placed in their own stack.  

A clue token is placed on all of the unstable locations on the board, there should be eleven of them. Each player will collect their investigator sheet and their marker. They will then collect stamina and sanity tokens that equal the players maximum. Each player will then collect the possessions of their chosen investigator. All investigator markers that are being used are placed on the board on their home locations. The starter player marker is given to the player that the group volunteers to go first, and the game is ready to begin.  

GAMEPLAY 

The game is divided into five phases. Beginning with the first player, each round will continue clockwise around the group. When a phase is completed, the next phase immediately begins. The first player marker is passed to the left.  

Phase 1 

During the upkeep phase, players will refresh exhausted cards, perform upkeep actions, and adjust skills. Players begin by turning exhausted cards face up. After cards have been refreshed, the investigator cards are referred to in order to complete upkeep actions. All of them that are listed must be completed. Players may finally adjust the skills of their investigator using the skill sliders.  

Phase 2 

During the movement phase, the player will take an Arkham movement or Other Worlds Movement depending on where their investigator is in Arkham or the Other World.  

Phase 3 

The Arkham Encounters phase is for players who have investigators that are not in the Other World. The action that the player must take depends on if they have an open gate. If there is a gate, then the investigator moves through the gate. If there is no gate, then an encounter occurs. The player must then draw a card from the location deck, read the entry, and perform the actions that are present.  

Phase 4 

For investigators that are in the Other World, the Other World Encounters Phase takes place. Players will draw cards from the gate deck until they draw a card with colors that match an encounter symbol. They will then see if a specific encounter occurs. If so, then it is read aloud, and the actions are completed.  

Phase 5 

During the final phase, or the Mythos Phase, players will complete four actions. They will open a gate and spawn a monster, place a clue, move monsters, and activate mythos ability. When all of the steps of this phase have been completed, the player marker is passed to the left. The turn comes to an end and a new turn begins. the game is continued in this manner until it comes to an end.  

END OF GAME 

The game may end in two separate ways. The players may either overcome the mythos or they can be defeated by it. In order for the players to win the game, they must close the gates, seal the gates, or banish the ancient one. If the players choose to close the gates, then no open gates must be present, and the players have to have more gate trophies than there are players. In this case, the players immediately win.  

If the players choose to seal the gates, then there must be sox or more elder tokens present on the board. The players win immediately, as the ancient one is driven away. If the players awaken the ancient one, but they are able to defeat it, then they still win the game.  

On the other hand, if the ancient one awakens and the players are unable to defeat it, then it becomes unleashed. The players then lose the game.  

Ellie Phillips
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