Anyone played this? The new mini-version of Arkham Horror (sort of) by FFG. Looks really good. Like AH it's coop and can, i'm reliably informed, be played solo.

It's basically Yatzee Arkham Horror.  There's a little more to it then that, but that's it in a nutshell.  Roll the dice apply them to the cards as best as you can, there is a skill mechanic that sometimes comes into effect. But by and large you are entirely at the whim of the dice roll.  It's a light game, the theme is ok.

Just didn't really do anything to keep me interested.

yahtzee arkham horror!

how can that fail?

I always though that the US Cellular logo looked an awful lot like the Elder Sign. Lovecraftian cultist corporation? You decide.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;478159yahtzee arkham horror!

how can that fail?

Guess that depends on how much you enjoy Yahtzee.

Not at all. is it really that random?

Pretty much.

You randomly setup the game.  Which decides the starting characters and missions. Each character has a special something they can do.  You then look at the mission.  It'll say you need a certain number of various results on the throw of a dice.  So you grab the dice and roll them.  If you get enough of the right results you succeed.  If not you can remove some dice and try again.  Generally characters characters will have abilities that allow you to roll better dice so that you are more likely to succeed.

If you succeed you get a reward if you fail something bad happens.  

There's a little bit more to it then that and I would play it again.  But I didn't find it to be a great game.  More of a distraction to pull out while you are waiting for other people to show up.

However as an appetizer I found it to be to big of a portion, but not a big enough portion to be the main course.  I only played 2 games of it and the only difference I felt between the two games was in how the dice fell.  I didn't really feel that our choices had as much impact as the dice results.

But that being said some people that I played it with loved it.

Ok thanks for the review.

Ive been feeling, lately, that behind the sumptuous facade and concepts involved that FFG's efforts are a little hollow. I was very disappointed with Rune Age (and the LotR lcg). Chaos in the Old World didn't really resonate with me either. This one sounded promising, but im getting similar warning signs so I might back off. perhaps if i can save up for Gears of War, which is getting a lot of good press from what i can gather, I might try that.

From the FFG games I played at GenCon Blood Bowl Team Manager was my favorite new game and the only one I bought.  I've played it at least a dozen tomes now and it's been well received by almost everyone that I've shown it to and none of them only played one game.  Unfortunately I think the street date is October.  But honestly buy it it's excellent.

Gears of War is also very good.  If you've played the D&D Ravenloft game you'll notice some similarities.  However if we say that Ravenloft is the 1.0 AI for that kind of game then Gears is the 2.0 version.  It fixes most of the flaws I found with Ravenloft.  The AI is more aware of it's environment.  The action is more tense and the treat comes from the monsters not annoying random environmental effects.  Also the characters feel more equipped and less stagnant with their abilities.  I didn't buy it at the show because I wasn't going to pay MSRP for it.  I may pick it up now though but I think I'll try to sell my Ravenloft first.  While Gears is better it's still to similar to really own both imo.

The upcoming Star Wars mini flight game is promising but no word on when it's out.  The Star Wars card game I think may tread a little to close to Rune Age and Lotr for my liking.

Personally I liked Chaos in the Old World.  But it's a game that you need to play more then once.  It needs 4 players that have also played it more then once and as a result it's a game I like but wouldn't buy for myself.

Did I mention Blood Bowl Team Manager is awesome?

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;478159yahtzee arkham horror!

Now I want Boggle Arkham Horror.

sold my copy of space marine and brought this today. I take the point of the random dice but it looks fun.

Quote from: jcfiala;478200Now I want Boggle Arkham Horror.

Check out Unspeakable Words then.

This game is extremely difficult due to the dice mechanics and if you randomly pick the characters.

Thus far, we have played it about a dozen times and wone once but that is when we chose the characters...

For what it is worth, it is good in my book.

Quote from: Ghost Whistler;478054Anyone played this? The new mini-version of Arkham Horror (sort of) by FFG. Looks really good. Like AH it's coop and can, i'm reliably informed, be played solo.

My brother got it for his birthday and we gave it some heavy play over the last couple weekends.

To the good:

- Much quicker to set-up than AH.
- Much quicker to play than AH.

Negatives:

- Not nearly as atmospheric or immersive as AH.
- Whoever chose the font for the encounter cards should probably be fired. Incredibly difficult to read.

Basically, it's a fun little piece of fluff. But I suspect its replay value is going to deteriorate quickly.

And some mechanical choices seem strange to me. For a couple of games we were misplaying the spell mechanic, but when we realized how it was supposed to work it was difficult to figure out why anyone would ever use a spell. It's far more likely to hurt you than to help you.

There is a call for some serious errata, unfortunately.

Beyond that it's a decent game.