Description
Across the globe, ancient evil is stirring. Now, you and your trusted circle of colleagues must travel around the world, working against all odds to hold back the approaching horror. Foul monsters, brutal encounters, and obscure mysteries will take you to your limit and beyond. All the while, you and your fellow investigators must unravel the otherworldly mysteries scattered around the globe in order to push back the gathering mayhem that threatens to overwhelm humanity. The end draws near! Do you have the courage to prevent global destruction?
Eldritch Horror is a cooperative game of terror and adventure in which one to eight players take the roles of globetrotting investigators working to solve mysteries, gather clues, and protect the world from an Ancient One – an elder being intent on destroying our world. Each Ancient One comes with its own unique decks of Mystery and Research cards, which draw you deeper into the lore surrounding each loathsome creature.
Discover the true name of Azathoth or battle Cthulhu on the high seas. With twelve unique investigators, two hundred-fifty tokens, and over three hundred cards, Eldritch Horror presents an epic, world-spanning adventure with each and every game.
samandandy –
To start with, I am a fan of all things Lovecraftian and Eldritch. If it has an old god in it, there is a good chance that we are going to purchase it. We also like more complicated games. A very involved or difficult game is not a negative for us.
Eldritch Horror is a beautiful game, with intricate backstory and cards. It really nails the co-operative game strategy in that everyone really has to coordinate and work together – it is NOT optional. In some co-op games, it can feel more like everyone is doing their own thing and playing their own game. Not so with Eldritch Horror. If you do not cooperate, you will die, and the mechanics encourage this cooperation.
That being said, no matter what you do, you will die. It is built into the game. Your characters will get caught by old gods, they will go insane (a pretty neat mechanic, to be honest, in which they are still playable, but compromised), and they will die. Then you get to draw a new one of the characters. The characters available are robust and there are 12 of them, so this is a neat way to vary your play, be exposed to different characters, and create a different story, but it is weird to get used to at first.
Eldritch Horror also has a well-developed 1940s style world where each card tells a story or creates a unique experience. In this way, it way outstrips its competitors (namely, Pandemic Cthulu) as an interesting and well-developed game that has enough nuance that gives it good staying power.
The reason this doesn’t get a higher rating from us is that the game is long, difficult, and complicated to learn. We’ve tried to teach this to 2-3 different groups and some have taken to it, while others have not really made it past the rule explanation. It is hard to win, which is good in some ways, but can be a bit draining when you’ve been playing for several hours. And I don’t think we have ever finished a game in less than 3 hours. As a result, this has become an “occasional” play for us, or a “right occasion” with the right group.
If you have a more experienced group, or if you love co-ops and are tired of the “basic” co-ops, this is for you. If you like the theme, you should get this game just to experience the involved and thematic art and story. But I would not recommend this to groups that have difficulty with more complicated games, want a shorter play, or are newer to co-ops.