FFG: Arkham Horror Third Edition – Investigators of Action
Arkham Horror Third Edition is coming from Fantasy Flight Games and they have a new preview exploring some of the games mechanics. Today it’s all about the Actions you can take to help stop the madness from spreading in Arkham!
When it comes to modern classics of board games, Arkham Horror is up there for me. When Fantasy Flight Games announced they were bringing a third edition out for the game I was pretty excited to see where they were going to make changes to the game. The Board is now more modular than ever before and they have reconfigured a lot of the extras in the game. But third edition isn’t just a visual update – core gameplay got some tweaks, too!
New board tiles, investigator card and a whole lot more!
One of the big tweaks to the investigators is that players will have the chance to pick a different starting kit. This can vary the game play for your particular investigator quite a bit! In the example from FFG, Jenny Barnes now has two options she can choose from when you pick her as your investigator:
Jenny is known for her Twin .45s – but this game also plays up her Dilettante background. With the option to now pick between more combat effectiveness or getting more money per Action (with Trust Fund) you’ll have to hand how you approach the scenario very differently.
This is actually a pretty tough call. Having a 6 Strength on an attack and getting to add one to the result of a die on an attack is really good right off the bat. However, that extra money she generates could afford you the chance to buy even more abilities/gear as the game goes on. That’s a great example of how the gameplay can become vastly different.
Action!
You won’t fend off the darkness while standing still: exploring Arkham is essential to victory. During their turn, a player can perform two different actions, and every action you take is important to advancing your cause.
Moving around the board and collecting clues is essential to victory. However, unlike previous versions of the game, you job is not to gather clues so you can close gates – there are different scenarios you’ll have to unravel as you’re playing. This helps keep the players on their toes as you aren’t always sure what exactly the end-game is and who’s behind all of these strange happenings.
That’s where the new research action comes in:
After you’ve collected these clues, your investigator must try and make sense of the disparate hints they’ve collected with a research action. To perform a research action, your investigator will have to make an observation test, moving one clue to the scenario sheet for every success they roll! Researching your findings to place these clues on the scenario sheet is one of the main ways you can advance, tipping the scales of fate in favor of the investigators.
The bad news is that as players are running around the city “Doom” is also spreading. this can add new cards to the mix that will harm investigators and mess with their plans. Fortunately, Investigators can also preform a “Ward Doom” action in a neighborhood. This is an action based off your lore stat and for each successful die you roll, you can remove 1 Doom from the neighborhood. It might not advance the clues, but it will buy you some time which could make all the difference later on.
There are plenty more actions you can take on your turn as well:
You can also gain money to buy new items and skills, trade items with other investigators, focus a skill to make it more effective, attack or evade an enemy, and more.
Arkham Horror Third Edition sounds like it’s going to be the most engaging version of the board game yet – I can’t wait to dive in and investigate the strange happenings in a brand new version of this game!
Arkham Horror Third Edition $64.95
The year is 1926, and it is the height of the Roaring Twenties. Flappers dance till dawn in smoke-filled speakeasies, drinking alcohol supplied by rum runners and the mob. It’s a celebration to end all celebrations in the aftermath of the War to End All Wars.
Yet a dark shadow grows in the city of Arkham. Alien entities known as Ancient Ones lurk in the emptiness beyond space and time, writhing at the thresholds between worlds. Occult rituals must be stopped and alien creatures destroyed before the Ancient Ones make our world their ruined dominion.
Only a handful of investigators stand against the Arkham Horror. Will they prevail?
AdvertisementArkham Horror Third Edition is a cooperative board game for one to six players who take on the role of investigators trying to rid the world of ancient beings known as Ancient Ones in the 1920s. Based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, players will have to gather clues, defeat terrifying monsters, and find tools and allies to stand any hope of defeating the ancient creatures that exist just beyond the veil of our reality.
We stand on the precipice of darkness…
