So lets talk about the use of the boardgame
In Arkham (is's one big city) we've got 9 districts each one with 3 locations and one street. Some are safe locations which no gate can appear (and neither will clues appear). And the other half are the dangerous areas which can have clues, gates and/or monsters. Other areas we've got stores and some places where we can trade monsters/portal tokens for blessing; clues; Allies; Deputy of Arkham cards and many other things.
In Eldritch Horror we've got the map of the world and you travel around the map from europe to asia to america and so on. You've got 9 cities with their location cards and 18 (I think) that are either city, wilderness or sea space.
In both games either you end up on one of this locations you draw a card. Some areas in Arkham can give you the possibility to draw unique items or common or clues or other thing but most of the cards are just bad things. Usually, there isn't a draw of card that don't apply in doing some random check. In Eldritch each city has skills enhanced or the possibility to drawn a clue, spells and items.
Both are quite nice - the cards on both games have some flavour text. In the base game of Arkham there are less flavour as the expansions. I mean there is always some sentences that explain why something is happening. Per example if you are playing King in Yellow or Curse of Dark Pharaoh the flavour on the cards reflects that expansion.
In Arkham as I said in previous update you move around the board collecting clues, fighting monsters, closing gates or going to some shop spree or just go around the board to X or Y location that gives a possibility to get something. But the main flaw is that there are some zones that I rarely go. I've play a game with 25 turns or more with four investigators and there are some locations I rarely or never went. Per example the top left district on Arkham I have cards that I never read... And that to me it's kind of strange.
I have all expansions but I never play with an aditional board (I bougth them all in one big bundle). When I see some playthroughs in youtube with Dunwich, Kingsport or Innsmouth I think most of them they don't even go to some of the boards. And to me that's very unsettling. So why playing with that board?
In Eldricth that does not happen. I don't have any expansion but I've watch playthroughs from Under the Pyramids and the Antarctica one. And they both have rules that say that the gates open before in those boards and then in other ones. Which to me makes sense. I have to go to that new board - it's the expansion I am playing!
Monsters
One of the things that I really enjoy in Arkham is that the monsters move through the streets and I have to plan ahead. I have to decide which path I go and If I kill or Sneak it. In Eldritch the monster stays put. It's strange. In arkham we fight it to end and in Eldritch we fight only one round. In arkham either you killed it one go or you must try again. In Eldritch the beast takes wounds tokens.
The monsters are the same in both worlds (or at least most of them are). There are some differences. There are more cultists in Eldritch Horror because the cultists are influenced by the Old One. In Arkham each Old One focus on one type of monster. I think that both are quite nice but I think Arkham Horror has more variety which is a plus. Everything in the Monsters I prefer the Arkham Horror counterpart.
Gates
Well in Arkham everything is about Gates. To win you have to seal gates or close all gates in the board equal to number of investigators. Every time a gate opens (and they can open every turn) the Ancient Ones gets one doom token and if they reach the number on their sheet (could be between 9 to 14) they are awaken and we battle it. In Eldritch is not so simple. The Gates are almost irrelevant... and why do I say this? It doesn't matter If I close them. The only objective of the game is to gather clues and solve the Mystery (three times). In Eldrich there is a Doom Track that goes down and when it arrives to 0 something happens. If we are playing with Azathatoh we lose. If we are playing with other Old God, it appears and we continue to play the game as we've doing and then go after it (or he comes after us) and he becomes more stronger as the turn pass or we become weaker... But we still are playing the game. But that's the third part
To resolve a gate on Arkham we must go to the otherworld and have two encounter cards corresponding to that gate or if I have a spell I can even go to ARkham immediatly and seal it. In Eldritch I draw a encounter card and must pass it two times. So it's quicker.
So, what do I think of them - Conclusion
Well, I do prefer the overall movement of Arkham (be that be monsters or investigators) but I prefer the mixing of boards in Eldritch. They are really a part of the game and not just some cards that I join my main board. The monsters - In arkham there is a feel of dread. Consider this. We have some investigators that have 3/5/7 stamina and the same to in Sanity. A confrontion with a beast can take from us 1 to 4 of stamina or sanity so it a sure lose if you fail a check. And other monsters will get you devoured, delayed and lost in space and time. Other interesting thing is that almost every character as a trait. Some cannot be fought with magical or physical weapons. Some deal extra damage and so on...
In eldritch horror since I only fight once per turn I can always fight one turn and then if wounded leave and let someone take the last blow...
In the other departament I like Eldritch Horror use of other boards... It's very difficult to choose one over the other...
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| Arkham Horror with all expansions.... Do you have a BIG ENOURMOUS table? |
In Arkham (is's one big city) we've got 9 districts each one with 3 locations and one street. Some are safe locations which no gate can appear (and neither will clues appear). And the other half are the dangerous areas which can have clues, gates and/or monsters. Other areas we've got stores and some places where we can trade monsters/portal tokens for blessing; clues; Allies; Deputy of Arkham cards and many other things.
In Eldritch Horror we've got the map of the world and you travel around the map from europe to asia to america and so on. You've got 9 cities with their location cards and 18 (I think) that are either city, wilderness or sea space.
In both games either you end up on one of this locations you draw a card. Some areas in Arkham can give you the possibility to draw unique items or common or clues or other thing but most of the cards are just bad things. Usually, there isn't a draw of card that don't apply in doing some random check. In Eldritch each city has skills enhanced or the possibility to drawn a clue, spells and items.
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| Eldritch Horror Boardgame.... Prettier than Arkham isn't it? |
In Arkham as I said in previous update you move around the board collecting clues, fighting monsters, closing gates or going to some shop spree or just go around the board to X or Y location that gives a possibility to get something. But the main flaw is that there are some zones that I rarely go. I've play a game with 25 turns or more with four investigators and there are some locations I rarely or never went. Per example the top left district on Arkham I have cards that I never read... And that to me it's kind of strange.
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| All cards lay out, all expansions lay out... darn |
In Eldricth that does not happen. I don't have any expansion but I've watch playthroughs from Under the Pyramids and the Antarctica one. And they both have rules that say that the gates open before in those boards and then in other ones. Which to me makes sense. I have to go to that new board - it's the expansion I am playing!
Monsters
One of the things that I really enjoy in Arkham is that the monsters move through the streets and I have to plan ahead. I have to decide which path I go and If I kill or Sneak it. In Eldritch the monster stays put. It's strange. In arkham we fight it to end and in Eldritch we fight only one round. In arkham either you killed it one go or you must try again. In Eldritch the beast takes wounds tokens.
The monsters are the same in both worlds (or at least most of them are). There are some differences. There are more cultists in Eldritch Horror because the cultists are influenced by the Old One. In Arkham each Old One focus on one type of monster. I think that both are quite nice but I think Arkham Horror has more variety which is a plus. Everything in the Monsters I prefer the Arkham Horror counterpart.Gates
Well in Arkham everything is about Gates. To win you have to seal gates or close all gates in the board equal to number of investigators. Every time a gate opens (and they can open every turn) the Ancient Ones gets one doom token and if they reach the number on their sheet (could be between 9 to 14) they are awaken and we battle it. In Eldritch is not so simple. The Gates are almost irrelevant... and why do I say this? It doesn't matter If I close them. The only objective of the game is to gather clues and solve the Mystery (three times). In Eldrich there is a Doom Track that goes down and when it arrives to 0 something happens. If we are playing with Azathatoh we lose. If we are playing with other Old God, it appears and we continue to play the game as we've doing and then go after it (or he comes after us) and he becomes more stronger as the turn pass or we become weaker... But we still are playing the game. But that's the third partTo resolve a gate on Arkham we must go to the otherworld and have two encounter cards corresponding to that gate or if I have a spell I can even go to ARkham immediatly and seal it. In Eldritch I draw a encounter card and must pass it two times. So it's quicker.
So, what do I think of them - Conclusion
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| The BLUE and RED circles on the left or right side are the wounds they will give us. So, some of these monsters can give us 1 to 4 wounds... Some of our investigators would be dead at the first strike... well not dead but insane or wounded. |
In eldritch horror since I only fight once per turn I can always fight one turn and then if wounded leave and let someone take the last blow...
In the other departament I like Eldritch Horror use of other boards... It's very difficult to choose one over the other...
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