Dive into the chilling world of Arkham Horror: The Card Game, a cooperative deck-building experience where you and your friends collaborate to overcome terrifying cosmic horrors. This engaging game, part of the expansive Arkham Horror Files universe, offers a deeply customizable and replayable experience. Since its 2016 debut, it's evolved with numerous expansions and revisions, creating a rich and ever-expanding world of Lovecraftian intrigue.
Navigating the game's vast array of expansions isn't always straightforward. Beyond the core set and individual campaigns, you can curate your experience by adding new investigators and scenarios, offering a highly personalized approach to gameplay.
Featured in this article:
The Base Game
MSRP: $59.95 USD Players: 1-4 Playtime: 45 mins per player Ages: 14+
The core set provides everything needed to begin your investigation. Five pre-built investigator decks allow immediate entry into the "Night of the Zealot" campaign, offering a compelling introduction to the game's mechanics and atmosphere. From there, the vast selection of expansions awaits.
Arkham Horror Card Game Expansions
Unlike the board game counterpart, Arkham Horror: The Card Game expansions separate campaign scenarios and investigator characters. This modular approach allows players to customize their experience, adding new stories or characters as desired. You can play a new scenario with existing investigators, or vice-versa, providing flexibility in building your gameplay.
The Dunwich Legacy
The first expansion, The Dunwich Legacy, serves as a natural progression from the base game, introducing accessible scenarios and a storyline focused on the search for lost investigators—a theme that mirrors the game's expansion structure itself.
The Path to Carcosa
This expansion introduces a theatrical production to Arkham, offering engaging scenarios suitable for both new and experienced players. The second edition provides noteworthy updates, even for owners of the first edition.
The Forgotten Age
Explore the ruins of an Aztec city in this challenging campaign, where a temporal anomaly threatens reality itself. Its difficulty makes it best suited for experienced players who have completed other campaigns. Also available in a second edition.
The Circle Undone
Affectionately known as "the witches pack," this expansion features powerful new investigators to counter its challenging campaign. The investigators are highly recommended alongside this campaign.
The Edge of the Earth
Brave the Antarctic wilderness in this expansion, where chilling horrors await around every frozen corner. The coordinating investigators are a welcome addition but not strictly required.
The Scarlet Keys
Embark on a globe-trotting adventure to unravel an international conspiracy involving a collection of keys and a race against the Red Coterie. This expansion offers a less linear exploration experience than many others.
The Dream-Eaters
This campaign features two four-part storylines, "Dream Quest" and "Web of Dreams," playable separately or combined for an extended eight-part adventure.
The Innsmouth Conspiracy
Experience a dynamic world where water levels impact location accessibility, adding a strategic layer to decision-making throughout this campaign.
The Feast of Hemlock Vale
In this newer expansion, investigate strange occurrences in Hemlock Vale during a festival, facing mutated wildlife and a sinister presence. Day and night cycles impact gameplay dynamics.
The Drowned City
The latest expansion pits you against the awakened Great Old One, challenging you to save the day.
Other Ways to Expand Your Arkham Adventures
Starter Decks
Add investigators to your roster with these affordable starter decks, offering a cost-effective way to expand your options. While potentially less powerful than campaign investigators, they provide valuable additions to your collection.
Scenario Packs
These standalone packs offer shorter, self-contained adventures, perfect for a smaller dose of Arkham Horror action. "Murder at the Excelsior Hotel" is often recommended as a beginner-friendly entry point.
Return to Boxes & Parallel Investigator Packs
Return to boxes offer revised and expanded versions of select campaigns, while Parallel Investigator Packs provide alternate versions of existing investigators with unique abilities. These are often considered collector's items due to their limited availability.
The Bottom Line
Arkham Horror: The Card Game offers a captivating and endlessly replayable experience for fans of Lovecraftian horror. Its solo and multiplayer options, combined with the extensive range of expansions, provide a wealth of investigative possibilities. While the game presents a challenging experience with elements of chance, its streamlined setup compared to the board game makes it a more accessible entry point into the Arkham Horror universe.
