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Author Topic: Which Call of Cthulhu Board Game  (Read 5744 times)

Offline Ballardian

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Re: Which Call of Cthulhu Board Game
« Reply #15 on: November 01, 2015, 03:42:10 PM »
I'll put in another vote for Eldritch Horror, for the reasons already expounded by others.'Shadows...' is also a great game - there are minis to put together, but nothing that would  challenge anyone who's ever been a miniatures gamer or previously made a model. One thing to bear on mind though  is that if you have only one of the box games (either City Of The Ancients or Swamps Of Death) it'll only support four players -  with both boxes it'll do six (more than that & everything grinds to a halt).
 It's a dungeon crawler a la Descent, but doesn't need someone to take the evil side, the game mechanic handles all the interactions with the monsters. Your characters improve over games, gaining experience & finding loot/equipment & have the opportunity to go to town between quests in order to buy stuff (improved weapons, medicine, dynamite - you will need someone carrying this !) heal injuries or mutations & other character related things.
The minis supplied are pretty good, with the monsters being more so (they get plenty of use in other games, such as Strange Aeons) - in general I'd say it's a blast & has proved popular at the game club I attend.

Offline lugiber

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Re: Which Call of Cthulhu Board Game
« Reply #16 on: November 01, 2015, 04:07:22 PM »
I'd say that Eldritch Horror is a great game as well.
There are some things that bugs me about the game as well as my gaming group. And I think those things need mentioning.

1.) There are occasions where you simply draw the "wrong card" and die as a consequence. (You can still participate in the game with a new investigator though.)
2.) Many times you are just too far away to participate in solving the mysteries. And that can feel like you are left out of the game.
3.) It's incredibly hard to win the game. And if you do, it always feels that you've won because you are lucky rather than that you played a good game.

But these are just my opinions.

Edit:
I see that no one has mentioned Cthulhu Wars. There's an ongoing kickstarter here:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1816687860/cthulhu-wars-onslaught-two

Check it out!
« Last Edit: November 01, 2015, 04:10:19 PM by lugiber »

Offline pw

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Re: Which Call of Cthulhu Board Game
« Reply #17 on: November 01, 2015, 06:23:04 PM »
Thanks everyone, and thanks for the review Pijlie, very helpful. Cthuhu Wars I like the look of too. It looks like I'm going to need to apply for funding at some point to get all of this gaming goodness!

Offline Cubs

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Re: Which Call of Cthulhu Board Game
« Reply #18 on: November 01, 2015, 06:47:36 PM »
I knew I shouldn't have clicked on this thread. This is going to cost me, I just know it.
'Sir John ejaculated explosively, sitting up in his chair.' ... 'The Black Gang'.

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Offline lugiber

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Re: Which Call of Cthulhu Board Game
« Reply #19 on: November 01, 2015, 09:44:47 PM »
Haha!
I hearhear you guys! I own all the stuff mentioned in this thread (including all the Arkham Horror minis). And it costs a fortune!
Cthulhu wars is an expensive game, but the minis alone makes it worth every cent/penny. Just browse through this forum and you'll see some really awesome paint jobs. Gameplay is really really good as well. It's one of the top 100 boardgames on bggbgg (if I remember correctly).

Offline ced1106

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Re: Which Call of Cthulhu Board Game
« Reply #20 on: November 07, 2015, 08:18:41 AM »
Arkham Investigations is a Cthulhu-themed version of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective. It's free and you can play a game in an evening. It's less horror than criminology.

Eldritch Horror and Arkham Horror take *hours* to play. But you can play the game until you complete one mystery instead of three. While you won't be able to say that you won the game, you can certainly experience quite a bit of game up to that point.

Cthulhu Wars is an asymmetrical power area control game. The designer, Sandy Petersen, was the author of the Call of Cthulhu RPG. There's not that much horror in the game, and each player plays their own faction, and there's a learning curve to learn how each faction plays.

Call of Cthulhu RPG one-shot scenarios can be played in an evening, and the scenarios are well written. Chaosium has a free QuickStart rulebook and scenario. You can also play my rules-light Cthuilhu Dice RPG on RPGGeek if you want a more cinematic experience.
Crimson Scales with Wildspire Miniatures thread on Reaper!
https://forum.reapermini.com/index.php?/topic/103935-wildspire-miniatures-thread/

Offline CPBelt

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Re: Which Call of Cthulhu Board Game
« Reply #21 on: November 10, 2015, 12:26:13 AM »
I play Arkham Horror because my son and I like its immersion. Eldritch Horror might be quicker but doesn't do it for us. We play AH using custom scenarios, which can be downloaded. They play quicker, but make thematic sense since you only play with monsters that make sense for the scenario. Some of the scenarios are easier, some harder. It's a blast that EH really can't reproduce IMO. A game this way takes only a couple hours. YMMV.
« Last Edit: November 10, 2015, 12:28:18 AM by CPBelt »

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Offline Murmel

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Re: Which Call of Cthulhu Board Game
« Reply #22 on: December 14, 2015, 11:31:38 AM »
Arkham Horror is mechanically flawed, but it's theme and immersion more than make up for it. For the few times I managed to play, it has always been great. Few, very few other games could hold my attention for six hours and still have me want to play it again the next day.

Eldritch Horror is mechanically improved/streamlined but it takes away nearly all of the aformentioned theme and immersion. It feels more like a 'system' or a puzzle instead of an ancient godlike being you fight and it feels a lot more gamey. Game the system and win.

Elder Sign and Cthulhu Realms are fillers, but I'd still play them over Eldritch Horror. While Cthulhu Realms is a true filler, I'd rate Elder Sign as more of a 'meaty' filler type game. It's beautifully represented too.

My personal preference lies with Mansions of Madness. Perhaps it's the human, unpredictable aspect that the randomness in Arkham Horror has, the beautiful presentation, miniatures and it oozes with atmosphere while it's playtime is relatively short. Opposed to the above four, I'm always willing to play Mansions. I feel it depicts Lovecraftian Horror best.

Offline mdomino

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Re: Which Call of Cthulhu Board Game
« Reply #23 on: December 16, 2015, 02:03:05 AM »
I'd be interested to know what parts of AH you consider mechanically flawed? I agree that Eldritch Horror feels more abstract. I would also be interested in those thematic downloads for AH.
Mike D

Offline CPBelt

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Re: Which Call of Cthulhu Board Game
« Reply #24 on: December 16, 2015, 02:50:58 AM »
I'd be interested to know what parts of AH you consider mechanically flawed? I agree that Eldritch Horror feels more abstract. I would also be interested in those thematic downloads for AH.
Mike D

You can get them at FFG's website below. Look for the League 1 scenarios under Player Resources for the pdfs. Those are the base scenarios. They also have more scenarios there. I hope you enjoy them.

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/arkham-horror/

Offline pw

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Re: Which Call of Cthulhu Board Game
« Reply #25 on: December 20, 2015, 08:43:23 PM »
I'm really interested by the abstract (game-the-game) vs immersive gameplay. Which is great because it means that now I need both AH and EH! Thanks for the very interesting comments.

 

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