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Arkham Horror box art
2005 Ranked #415

Arkham Horror

A cooperative horror adventure where investigators gather gear, fight monsters, and close gates in Arkham. Too many open gates awaken an Ancient One, turning mounting crises into a final desperate confrontation.

Thematic Games Adventure Fighting Events Finale Ending

Players

1-8

Play time

120-240 min

Age

14+

Complexity

3.58/5

Rating

7.24

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.3/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 3.8/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.8/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.0/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 3.8/5

Deep strategy

See all 5 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

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.

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

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 gates between worlds. These gates have begun to open and must be closed before the Ancient Ones make our world their ruined domination. Only a handful of investigators stand against the Arkham Horror. Will they Prevail? Arkham Horror is a cooperative adventure game themed around H.P Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. Players choose from 16 Investigators and take to the streets of Arkham. Before the game, one of the eight Ancient Ones is chosen and it's up to the Investigators to prevent it from breaking into our world. During the course of the game, players will upgrade their characters by acquiring skills, allies, items, weapons, and spells. It's up to the players to clean out the streets of Arkham by fighting many different types of monsters, but their main goal is to close gates to other dimensions that are opening up around town. With too many gates open the Ancient One awakens and the players only have one last chance to save the world - defeat the Ancient One in combat!

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Editions

Language and publisher variants currently recorded in the catalog.

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
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Player resources

Rulebooks, player aids, FAQs, and solo resources.

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Game and edition data

All specifications (5)

Play and group

Players
1–8
Best with
1–6
Play time
120–240 min
Age
14+
Complexity
3.6/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

2
Richard Launius Kevin Wilson

Artists

4
Anders Finér Rafa? Hrynkiewicz Richard Launius Henning Ludvigsen

Publishers

1
Fantasy Flight Games