On Arkham Horror's many expansions

So what's the haps with this blog, asked no one. Nothing much, I have been bit busy with writing other stuff. Especially since now my job is to write stuff, I am having difficulties stuffing writing into my free time as well. Writing and baking and boardgame playing...

A friend of mine bought Arkham Horror about a year ago and he got several expansions with it. He didn't have time to play it yet (or so he says) and has been planning to throw an AH party. Somehow I became the person who knows about the game the most because I played it several times and with various expansions. There are 8 expansions of which I have played 4. I wouldn't call myself an expert by any means but yeah, among those who haven't played the game, I know the most :D

The problem with Arkham Horror and its expansions is that the base game itself can go for hours and each expansions adds features that extend and complicate (or deepen) the gameplay. Playing the game with all the expansions at once is very difficult and will drive any newcomers crazy... Maybe that is the point but still I suggest choosing playing them separately or in a combination of two each time you play which would keep the game fresh and still enjoyable. What follows is a summary of the expansions I know with recommendation whether they work when mixed with others or not.

Curse of the Dark Pharaoh

The historically first expansion wasn't the best one. It's subsequent re-release fixed some components and added a bunch of new cards but mostly it doesn't have a large impact on the game aside from raising difficulty. This small expansion's theme is an Egyptian exposition in Miskatonic University. The Dark Pharaoh is a potential herald, a creature that prepares the coming of the Old One and makes the game harder for the investigators. As a herald, The Dark Pharaoh is pretty strong, its five modifying rules are pretty tough (like each time you get a Unique Item, you lose 1 Sanity) and make the game noticeably more difficult.

Some other new things that deserve a mention are special Exhibit Items (a sort of Unique Items) and Ancient Whispers moving around the town which make the investigator have an expansion specific encounter. What works for this pack is its theme. You get interested in the Egyptian exposition, its curse and fancy items it introduces and it mixes well with any expansion.

Dunwich Horror

Dunwich Horror is a large expansion that adds an extra board of the town of Dunwich and a myriad of new items, spells, location and mythos cards, 4 new Ancient Ones and several new heroes. The new board is accessible through the train station in Arkham and features 9 new locations along with three vortices. Monsters in Dunwich move towards these vortices and should they reach them, they disappear and a Terror Track raises by one. New status cards of Injuries and Madness affect individual investigators, while Conditions apply to everyone for a long time, sort of like Weather.

Unlike The Dark Pharaoh expansion, it doesn't have a strong theme, though a downloadable herald The Dunwich Horror adds a special rule when Yog-Sothoth is the Ancient One which corresponds with Lovecraft's story The Dunwich Horror on which this expansion is based. The added elements make the game harder and one might say even quicker - the vortex mechanic can be very dangerous as it raises the Terror level very quickly. I appreciate that Injuries and Madness mix very well with other expansions even if you don't want to use the Dunwich board.

The King in Yellow

Another small expansion that will test investigators' skill. The King in Yellow is a strange play that, when performed or even read, drives everyone insane. Guess what's Arkham's theatre group showing tonight? :] This expansion first introduced heralds which were retroactively added to previous entries. Hastur, the King in Yellow, is a devious foe that pollutes the town and its citizens with madness. Each time the Terror Track rises, the players must choose between raising the Doom track by 1 or playing a Blight card. Those are a new lasting cards that represent the townsfolk's descent into insanity.

Also six special cards are shuffled into the Mythos deck, drawing them triggers a new act of the play to be performed. Investigators may choose to prevent this but the cost of that is very high. However, once the Act III is played, the whole town goes crazy and the investigators lose. The theme of this expansion ties to the play, the colour yellow, insanity and the city of Lost Carcosa. The expansion is so tightly knit that it loses its appeal and compactness when played with other expansions and I would recommend playing it with the base game (plus maybe some features like Injuries from other expansions) only.

The Black Goat of the Woods

Another small card focused expansion focuses on a new herald - The Goat of the Thousand Young. Clearly, it is connected to Shub-Niggurath but it is not necessary to play with her as the Ancient One. This expansion brings into the game the One of Thousand cult which can be joined for fun and new Corruption cards. Corruption affects individual investigators, their looks and abilities. While some corruption cards are not so severe, some can torment an investigator quite a bit. Each corruption works a bit differently and is triggered by Mythos card's monster movement symbol. The investigators can get rid of it by closing a relevant gate but if there is no such gate, then they have to learn to live with a new tentacle, ability to speak to monsters and conflicting views on the (short) future of this world.

Joining the cult is similar to the Silver Twilight Lodge and it gives you specific cult-related location deck to draw from in certain locations. It is a great expansion that, aside the above-mentioned features, adds monsters, items, gates and location cards, but also difficulty tweaking cards for those that find the game too easy or too hard. These Difficulty cards can modify the frequency of clues appearing or how soon the shops will close or curse all the players right at the beginning for the extra challenge. It's a nice touch and it works well with both the base game and the base game with expansions.