Arkham Horror: Mother’s Embrace is an adaptation of the popular board game and tasks players with attempting to solve the murder of an astronomy professor. Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a Lovecrafthian themed 1-4 player cooperative living card game (LCG) produced by Fantasy Flight Games. Set in and around the fictional town of Arkham players take the roles of investigators as they delve into the mysteries and terrors that lurk within. The basic requirement for playing Arkham Horror: The Card Game is owning the core set. Welcome to Card Game DB Register now to gain access to all of our features. Once registered and logged in, you will be able to create topics, post replies to existing threads, give reputation to your fellow members, get your own private messenger, post status updates, manage your profile and so much more.
Other name(s) | Arkham Horror: El Juego De Cartas, Horror w Arkham: Gra Karciana, Arkham Horror: Das Kartenspiel, Ужас Аркхэма. Карточная игра |
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Designer(s) | Nate French & MJ Newman |
Publisher(s) | Fantasy Flight Games |
Publication date | Q4 2016[1] |
Years active | 2016 – present |
Genre(s) | Co-operativeLiving Card Game (LCG) with Deck Building |
Language(s) | English, German, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Polish, Czech, Russian, Ukrainian |
Players | 1 – 4[1] |
Setup time | 10 - 15 minutes (excluding deck building) |
Playing time | 60 – 120 minutes |
Random chance | Some (card drawing, deck building, skill tests) |
Skill(s) required | Card playing, Deck building, Logic, Strategy |
Material(s) required | All included, expansions optional but all require base game. |
Media type | Playing cards |
Website | Arkham Horror: The Card Game — Fantasy Flight Games |
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a living card game produced by Fantasy Flight Games. It is a cooperative game set in the universe of Chaosium's Call of Cthulhuroleplaying game which is itself based on the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft and other cosmic horror writers. The title refers to Lovecraft's fictional town of Arkham, MA which is mentioned in many Mythos stories.
News of the game was originally leaked in May 2016,[2] before being officially announced in August of that same year.[3] It made its first limited public release at Arkham Nights 2016 to a sold-out crowd.
As a game in Fantasy Flight Games Living Card Game line, there is a regular release of non-random Deluxe expansions that start a story or campaign, followed by multiple smaller expansions (known as Mythos packs) that continue and conclude it.
Campaign play is the default mode of the game,[4] allowing a player to progress through a series of scenarios. In campaign play, choices made in scenarios have lasting effects, altering the story and how later scenarios play out. Each scenario has multiple paths of divergence offering multiple playthroughs with differing experiences each time.
When players prepare to play, they first choose an investigator of a particular class (Guardian, Survivor, Rogue, Seeker, Mystic or Neutral). Each investigator deck receives cards that represent weaknesses of their investigator, one specific to each investigator, and one 'basic' - drawn at random from a general pool. Investigators will also possess one or more unique cards that represent that individual's specific advantages or abilities, often complimenting the backstory of that investigator. Each investigator also has different starting statistics (Willpower, Intellect, Combat and Agility) which will be tested throughout the game. Players then build their decks from cards in their collection, conforming to the deckbuilding limits outlined by their investigator.
During the game, the investigators work together to progress their investigation towards a positive outcome by fulfilling the requirements set out by the Act deck. However, there are forces working against the investigators, represented by the Agenda deck and encounter deck. Each turn, a doom counter is added to the Agenda deck, acting as a timer for the investigators to complete their objectives. When the total number of doom in play reaches the doom threshold of the agenda card, the agenda will advance, often to negative consequences.
During the Investigation phase, the investigators each take up to three actions. Among other options, actions include playing cards from hand or activating those already in play, moving to or investigating locations and fighting or evading enemies. Depending on the card, cards played from hand during the investigation phase may enter an investigator's play area as an ongoing bonus (an 'asset') or simply provide a powerful one-time effect and be discarded upon use (an 'event'). Many cards have a resource cost which must be paid to play the card. While cards generally require an action to play, some are 'fast' and do not require an action to be played.
The Investigation phase is followed by the Enemy, Status and the Mythos Phase, representing the forces working against the investigators each round. Investigators may have to deal with effects or enemies that attack their sanity, health or simply their progression towards their main goal (the Act deck).
Investigators will be eliminated from a scenario if they receive horror or damage equal to their sanity or health respectively. Investigators eliminated in this way will receive permanent mental or physical trauma. This means investigators repeatedly defeated in scenarios can become progressively weaker as the campaign progresses. Investigators will, however, receive experience from scenarios (even after defeat), which can be spent to improve each investigator's deck. At certain points in a campaign, failure may lead to investigators being killed or driven insane.
Expansions are grouped into cycles that contain a complete campaign for players to go through. Each cycle is divided up into one deluxe expansion followed by six mythos packs. Deluxe expansions contain new investigators, about 60 new player cards, and the first two scenarios of a campaign. Mythos packs contain about 24 new player cards and a single scenario of a campaign. They are listed below in order of release date which is also the order in which to play a cycle's campaign.
Stand-alone scenarios are scenarios that exist outside of a campaign/cycle and are self-contained. As such, a player doesn't need any other expansions to play them or encounter cards from the core box—only the investigators. Stand-alone scenarios are printed in house at Fantasy Flight Games and are referred to as Print on Demand (POD). This means the card quality is generally lower than the packs shipped from overseas but Fantasy Flight Games can push these packs faster out to players at conventions or for general release.
Upgrade expansions are akin to the 'Nightmare Packs' from the Lord of the Rings LCG. However instead of just increasing the difficulty, these expansions provide an alternate way to play through the campaign with alternate story effects. They also provide player cards with the first one providing 20 player cards. They are also not the Print on Demand quality that is found in the stand-alone scenarios.
Expansion Name | Release Date | Type |
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The Dunwich Legacy | January 2017 | deluxe |
The Miskatonic Museum | February 2017 | mythos pack |
The Essex County Express | March 2017 | mythos pack |
Blood on the Altar | April 2017 | mythos pack |
Undimensioned and Unseen | May 2017 | mythos pack |
Where Doom Awaits | June 2017 | mythos pack |
Lost in Time and Space | July 2017 | mythos pack |
Expansion Name | Release Date | Type |
---|---|---|
The Path to Carcosa | September 2017 | deluxe |
Echoes of the Past | October 2017 | mythos pack |
The Unspeakable Oath | November 2017 | mythos pack |
A Phantom of Truth | December 2017 | mythos pack |
The Pallid Mask | January 2018 | mythos pack |
Black Stars Rise | February 2018 | mythos pack |
Dim Carcosa | March 2018 | mythos pack |
Expansion Name | Release Date | Type |
---|---|---|
The Forgotten Age | May 2018 | deluxe |
Threads of Fate | June 2018 | mythos pack |
The Boundary Beyond | July 2018 | mythos pack |
Heart of the Elders | August 2018 | mythos pack |
The City of Archives | September 2018 | mythos pack |
The Depths of Yoth | October 2018 | mythos pack |
Shattered Aeons | November 2018 | mythos pack |
Expansion Name | Release Date | Type |
---|---|---|
The Circle Undone | January 2019 | deluxe |
The Secret Name | March 2019 | mythos pack |
The Wages of Sin | April 2019 | mythos pack |
For the Greater Good | May 2019 | mythos pack |
Union and Disillusion | June 2019 | mythos pack |
In the Clutches of Chaos | July 2019 | mythos pack |
Before the Black Throne | July 2019 | mythos pack |
Expansion Name | Release Date | Type |
---|---|---|
The Dream-Eaters | September 2019 | deluxe |
The Search for Kadath | November 2019 | mythos pack |
A Thousand Shapes of Horror | December 2019 | mythos pack |
Dark Side of the Moon | January 2020 | mythos pack |
Point of No Return | February 2020 | mythos pack |
Where the Gods Dwell | March 2020 | mythos pack |
Weaver of the Cosmos | April 2020 | mythos pack |
Expansion Name | Release Date | Type |
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The Innsmouth Conspiracy | October 2020 | deluxe |
In Too Deep | November 2020 | mythos pack |
Devil Reef | December 2020 | mythos pack |
Horror in High Gear | January 2021 | mythos pack |
A Light in the Fog | February 2021 | mythos pack |
The Lair of Dagon | March 2021 | mythos pack |
Into the Maelstrom | April 2021 | mythos pack |
Expansion Name | Release Date |
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Curse of the Rougarou | November 2016 |
Carnevale of Horrors | December 2016 |
The Labyrinths of Lunacy | June 2018 |
The Eternal Slumber | Gencon (2018) event scenario, released as part of Guardians of the Abyss, December 2018 |
The Night's Usurper | Arkham Nights (2018) event scenario, released as part of Guardians of the Abyss, December 2018 |
Guardians of the Abyss | December 2018 – Scenario Pack that includes The Eternal Slumber and The Night's Usurper[5] |
The Blob that Ate Everything | Gen Con 2019 |
Murder at the Excelsior Hotel[6] | November 2019 |
Barkham Horror: The Meddling of Meowlathotep[7] | September 2020 |
War of the Outer Gods | December 2020 |
Expansion Name | Release Date |
---|---|
Return to the Night of the Zealot | June 2018 |
Return to the Dunwich Legacy | January 2019 |
Return to the Path to Carcosa | September 2019 |
Return to the Forgotten Age | August 2020 |
Expansion Name | Release Date | Type |
---|---|---|
Harvey Walters | August 2020 | starter deck |
Winifred Habbamock | August 2020 | starter deck |
Jacqueline Fine | August 2020 | starter deck |
Stella Clark | August 2020 | starter deck |
Nathaniel Cho | August 2020 | starter deck |
Arkham Horror: The Card Game also has novellas where each novella is focused around a specific investigator and come with 5 promo cards. These promo cards include 1 alt-art investigator card, 1 alt-art mini investigator card, 1 replacement signature card, 1 replacement signature weakness, and 1 card with instructions for the replacement cards.
Expansion Name | Release Date | Investigator focus | Author |
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Hour of the Huntress | October 2017 | Jenny Barnes | Dave Gross |
Ire of the Void | December 2017 | Norman Withers | Richard Lee Byers |
The Dirge of Reason | February 2018 | Roland Banks | Graeme Davis |
To Fight the Black Wind | April 2018 | Carolyn Fern | Jennifer Brozek |
The Deep Gate | June 2018 | Silas Marsh | Chris A. Jackson |
The Blood of Baalshandor | June 2020 | Dexter Drake | Richard Lee Byers |
Dark Revelations | November 2020 | Gloria Goldberg | Amanda Downum |