Ancient horror board game. Hobby World board game "Ancient Horror" Horror of the Ancients board game

Board game "Ancient Horror"

When Ancient Horror made a surprise appearance at Gen Con in 2013, it was largely ignored by board game fans. It seemed to everyone that this was another clone of Arkham Horror, a game, of course, popular, but overgrown with so many additions that no one was interested in the next one. However, gradually the players tried out the new product, and it became clear that “Ancient Horror” is, although based on its motifs, still an independent game, which also has a number of advantages compared to the “original”.

On the Internet, "Ancient Horror" was dubbed "Arkham Horror" 2.0. The original game has become a cult favorite, but this fact does not exclude a couple of serious shortcomings, which we talked about in our review. “Ancient Horror” is an attempt to correct these shortcomings. Are the rules too complicated? Let's simplify. Party too long? Let's make it shorter. Lots of mechanized actions? Let's reduce it. Moreover, the authors of the “second version” did not radically change everything. Compared to other board games, Ancient Horror is still a difficult and long game, but compared to Arkham Horror, progress is obvious.

It is not surprising that in the two years since its debut, Ancient Horror has seriously displaced Arkham Horror. More and more fans of horror board games prefer this lightweight version of the game.

Contents, starter kit

The fact that “Ancient Horror” is a relative of “Arkham Horror” is clearly visible from the box - the design is the same. The publisher simply changed the plot in the picture. The box itself is also richly filled, just like the original game. What's included: game board, 12 sheets, stands and hero tokens, 4 dice, 303 cards in 12 categories and 215 tokens in 13 categories. Such diversity does not promise a quick start to the game. And indeed, even if you know the rules well, the starting layout takes 15-20 minutes.

The new playing field is noteworthy. If in the original game the events took place in the fictional town of Arkham, then in Ancient Horror everything is much larger: the playing field is a map of the entire world, in which the role of locations is played by cities or geographical objects. The essence of the game has not changed, but it looks more interesting. In addition, the global scale of the game made it possible to implement new features related to movement, but more on that below.

As in the original, the game begins with choosing a character. You can choose as you like, some like to do it openly, some like to do it closed, it doesn’t matter. By the way, the characters are not the same as in Arkham Horror, however, it’s difficult to call them completely new - they were all used in additions to the “original”.

The player receives a character sheet, as well as chips indicating the number of his lives and sanity elements. On the one hand, everything is the same as in Arkham Horror, but there is one very important difference. If in the original game the characters had skill sliders and could change the ratio of various parameters before each move, then in Ancient Horror the skills are fixed. And, you know, it’s even more convenient.

Even before the start of the game, you must select an Ancient One. This can also be done both open and closed. Alas, there are only four Ancients, which is not enough for regular games. It’s not stated in the rules, but the players noticed that all the Ancients are of varying difficulty. The hardest thing to win is playing against Cthulhu. The course of the game seriously depends on who opposes the characters, because the goal is to reveal the secrets of the Ancient One, and everyone has their own. The mystery represents a task that must be completed on the map. If players allowed the Ancient One to appear in the world, then they will need to complete an additional “quest” to win. The tasks can vary from “kill a certain number of monsters” to “collect a certain number of clues”, but they are all selected in such a way that it is difficult for players to complete them.

The maximum number of players allowed by the rules is eight. But you can play with small teams of up to one person. When there are few players, each player can take on several characters.

Game mechanics

There are no big differences in the mechanics of the game compared to Arkham Horror. Detectives walk through locations, close gates in the other world, fight monsters, initiate contacts to obtain various “goodies,” and unravel the mysteries of the Ancient One. But there are plenty of differences at the detail level.

The most important difference, in our opinion, is the reduction in the number of stroke phases. In Arkham Horror, each turn consists of five stages, which takes a lot of time, in Ancient Horror there are only three phases, and they are more logical and clearer. Let's say in the first movement phase the player has two actions that he can spend on six possible things, and they must be different. It's easy even for beginners.

The idea with tickets seemed interesting. A player has the right to move only one location per turn (this is just one action), but can also buy a ticket for a ship or train (depending on what location it is in - water or land). On the next turn, these tickets can be used for additional movement.

If the first phase of the turn is actions, then the second is devoted to contacts. Depending on the location in which the character is, he can play a regular contact, try to close the gate (contact in the other world) or go on an expedition. Almost certainly, during contact you will have to test one of the skills, but which one is very difficult to predict. This nuance almost nullifies the tactic of dividing responsibilities between characters, they say, one pumps only strength, the second - will, and so on, anything can be useful, but it’s difficult to increase everything at once.

The only possible specialization in the game is strength, because the combat has not changed compared to Arkham Horror. It is still necessary to roll Will (and lose Sanity if you don't roll) and Strength, while other parameters are ignored. If a character is strong by nature, and even armed with an artifact (by the way, they can be exchanged), then such a player becomes a crusher, who is sent to “kill” the most powerful monsters.

The third phase of the move is purely technical. In it, new myth maps are revealed, monsters, gates and evidence appear on the map, rumors and other random events occur that can bring both good and bad to the detectives.

The implementation of the new mechanism for purchasing weapons and equipment can also be assessed as successful. On the playing field, in special cells, various cards with “goodies” are laid out in random order, which can be purchased by spending an action and passing an influence check. “Prices” on the market are very high, and pumping up influence to the required level is not easy, but if you lack a little, you can borrow and get what you want. Naturally, the loan does not go unnoticed for the player. He receives a special fortune card and waits for the payback to come. When exactly it will come, it is unknown what exactly it will consist of, too. It is clear that the player does not have to expect anything good, but the amount of damage varies in different debt cards. The debt system is perfect for a board game of this genre. When a myth is announced, you sit as if on a powder keg: won’t you have to pay this turn? The market and debt system replaced money tokens and the need to go to special locations for things, which in Arkham Horror irritated many players.

Like the original game, Ancient Horror requires players to keep an eye on a doom meter. If you bring it to a critical level, the Ancient One will awaken and the players’ chances of winning will be akin to a miracle. In the new version, movements on this scale depend on a completely new element - the circle of the sign. It moves every turn and indicates by what sign players need to consider hopelessness this time. How many open gates are on the map with such a sign, the hopelessness moves by so many divisions. This rule introduces a new spirit into game tactics - it is important not only to close the gate, but also to do it at a certain moment, until the circle of signs reaches the sign of this gate.

Another important difference from Arkham Horror is the fact that evidence in the game is now strictly tied to locations, and does not appear in a chaotic place. On the back of each piece of evidence there is a location number where it should appear. Clues are also used as a kind of “draw”, when you need to randomly place something on the card. This rule forces you to make a kind of “reset” of evidence and not use it a second time in the game.

The work with maps was different in Ancient Horror. They are now divided into four types: assets (small useful trinkets), artifacts (things that significantly increase a character's power), spells (additional items that allow you to gain certain benefits one-time) and effects. The last thing is the most interesting: there are both useful and harmful options, but the main thing is that the effect works until it is canceled by a special action, which is different for each effect. Among the effects there are very unpleasant cards, such as “curse”. While the player is cursed, he can only pass the test by rolling a “six” on the die (by default it is also a “five”), and this reduces the player’s entire combat potential by half.

These are not all the differences with the base game, but they are the most significant. Otherwise, "Ancient Horror" repeats "Arkham Horror". Let's say, there is a similar combat system, a very similar mechanism for closing gates, and the focus on cubes has been preserved - almost all events in the lives of the characters occur after they pass some skill (that is, the authors of the second game still failed to overcome excessive mechanization ). The feeling of fear and horror has also been preserved, which does not leave the players during the entire round: at any moment something bad can happen to the character. It is also difficult, as in the original game, to win, and this is a conscious calculation of the authors - players must constantly walk on the brink of defeat, and only those who feel this line can win.

conclusions

The modification of the classic board game turned out great. The authors of Ancient Horror took into account the complaints about Arkham Horror and were able to, if not completely get rid of it, then reduce the impact of the shortcomings on the gameplay. The game has become a little simpler and clearer, especially for beginners, a number of confusing mechanics are a thing of the past, game time has been reduced to sane proportions, while the basic values ​​of the game, such as the atmosphere, the literary background of Lovecraft or a variable scenario with the possibility of conducting joint tactics or strategy, have remained .

You need to understand that simplifying and speeding up the game was possible only to a certain extent. The rules still take up 16 A4 pages, and a game lasting less than three hours is a rarity. Therefore, it can be assumed that Ancient Horror is not aimed at attracting new categories of players, but at retaining old fans of Arkham Horror. Those who don't like complex and long games will probably not like Ancient Horror either, but for players who generally liked Arkham Horror, but began to tire of an overloaded script and too long games, this is an excellent replacement .

By the way, both games cost approximately the same - 3,500 rubles. Is it any wonder that Ancient Horror has begun to overtake the original game in popularity?

Darkness has descended on Earth, and the line between reality and other worlds has become so thin that hellish creatures (and not rainbow unicorns, as everyone would like) begin to climb through the opened gates here and there, foreshadowing the awakening of the Great Ancient One. The most courageous and comprehensively developed heroes set off on an exciting and creepy journey around the world to jointly reveal all the secrets and save the world from deadly tentacles.

The Ancient Horror is suspiciously reminiscent of the Arkham Horror (are they really from the same Universe? :)), but this is only at first glance. Instead of a map of Arkham, players will find a map of the world (which, by the way, also has Arkham), as well as simplified and to some extent even improved game mechanics, a rationally reduced number of components, a twisted and variable plot (it depends on the choice of the Ancient One you choose). you will try not to wake up the Myth cards that fall out to you), and many reasons to interact with each other.

Players will have to travel around the world, either on their own, or buying tickets for a train or ship, fight with monsters that deftly crawl out of constantly opening gates, close the gates so as not to blow, collect evidence, make contacts and make sure that the track Hopelessness has not reached that very tragic moment at which the Ancient One’s alarm clock rings, and the whole world comes to a complete and unconditional end.

In order for everyone in the world to live happily ever after, and for the Ancient One to continue to sleep and dream about genocide, you need to uncover three of his secrets (and, alas, these are not repressed childhood memories, and not the code to a safe with cookies), to reveal each of which you will need to perform certain, different actions. So get ready for the fact that you will have to wander around the world quite a bit, either feverishly collecting evidence, then closing gates, or discarding certain cards in certain locations.

Equipment:

• playing field;
• directory;
• 4 cubes;
• 12 stands;
• 12 detective sheets;
• 12 investigator tokens;
• 4 sheets of Ancients;
• 51 Myth cards;
• 36 contact cards in locations;
• 32 search contact cards;
• 24 contact cards in Other Worlds;
• 18 expedition contact cards;
• 16 mystery cards;
• 12 special contact cards;
• 40 asset cards;
• 36 state cards;
• 20 spell cards;
• 14 artifact cards;
• 4 reminder cards;
• 78 health and sanity tokens;
• 43 monster tokens;
• 36 evidence tokens;
• 30 upgrade tokens;
• 20 ticket tokens;
• 20 Ancient tokens;
• 9 gate tokens;
• 4 rumor tokens;
• 1 current expedition token;
• 1 despair token;
• 1 Omen token;
• 1 Lead Investigator Token;
• 1 mystery token;
• rules of the game.

I don't recommend playing poker. No matter how you play, it all depends on what card you draw by chance.
With the same success, you can simply draw cards and see who drew more. As a result: drawing random cards for several hours per game. Primitive, where nothing depends on you.

In fact, when I first played at UA, I had the same reaction. But when you want to win, you understand that the point of the game is to calculate and create such conditions that nothing depends on the die. Win despite the fact that anything can appear on the dice. Probability control, expectation and other mathematics.

In Poker, not everything depends on the cards; a lot depends on behavior during the game. If you enter the game exclusively with good cards, your opponents will fold. This forces you to look for balance and strive to deceive your opponent.
Playing poker with live opponents brings a lot of emotions.
Perhaps if "Ancient Horror" had not been cooperative, it would have been made differently, with less of a coincidence. Of course, there simply must be randomness in a game, just like in life, but here, too, balance is needed.

P.S. Perhaps the number of players was not enough. Mostly there were three of us playing. We played 5 games.

And yes, I agree with you. I expressed myself so radically because the game is, in my opinion, overrated. If I had known that the game was worth 7 points, I wouldn’t have expected much. And since the rating is very large, the rules are quite complex, the duration of one game is quite long, and it is very difficult to gather the required number of people for such a time, the expectation from the game is much higher than from other board games (including poker).

Recently there was just a discussion about the euro versus America.
Congratulations! You are a Eurogamer! Pay attention to this classification and avoid Ameritrash - you will be much less disappointed. For the future, keep in mind that about half of the games in the top rating are the same, if you also buy them without first reviewing them, you will face exactly the same disappointment. Take the euro and you will be happy.
Ameritrash fans gave the game such a high rating, and this game is one of the brightest and highest quality representatives and the rating is well deserved.

Yes, the addition greatly expands the variability. In addition, asset cards and investigator abilities allow him to be partially controlled.
And then - as in life. Search, try, create opportunities and try. Try, thereby creating opportunities and try again.

Unfortunately, there is this issue with the monotony of the cards. You draw, you don’t even have to read the text, but just look at the parameter required for checking and its modifier and then roll the dice.
But, at the same time, the game has expeditions, battles, malicious rumors, shops, different character roles, each leader makes his contribution to the global field.
And I will say that today “Ancient Horror” is the most played board game in my company, played by both girls and those who are rather cool about such events.

You present the lack of influence of randomness one-sidedly. I would still call these processes controlled randomness, because... Depending on the situations, the chosen heroes and goals, you improve someone’s characteristics.
And it is precisely thinking about who needs to do what to solve a problem that makes the game exciting.
And from your position, 90% of board games can be summed up under the line “everything depends on randomness.” And in carcasssonne you draw a random tile, and in a train ticket you draw random cards.

Tournaments are held in Carcassonne, this already says a lot.
In Carcassonne, game theory plays a big role, i.e. ability to cooperate with opponents. You need to be able to prove to your opponent that it is beneficial for him to participate in something with you.
This is a very subtle game where a lot depends not only on the tiles.
Of course, there is a factor of chance in Carcassonne, but in my opinion it is balanced, i.e. sometimes it can be annoying, but if you look at the progress of the game after the game, you understand that there were still chances to fight.

It is useless to compare American and Euro games. These two genres exist for the sake of two different groups of players. You are apparently in the Euro group, then remote control is contraindicated for you, look towards Brass Lancashire, for example, the randomness there doesn’t bother you and the mechanics are amazing.

You are partly right, especially if you play with a bare base. This is a really skimpy demo version.

The situation is corrected, on the one hand, by additional supplements. Forgotten Secrets are required, and at least one additional one with composure tokens is also required, which provide much more room for decision-making, allowing you to control the randomness much more effectively, but to the detriment of other actions. And, of course, the more special stages, the more diverse the parties.

Secondly, this is experience, of course. With experience, the percentage of wins noticeably creeps up when you begin to understand what is important to do at each stage of the game, depending on the situation (development vs. putting out fires vs. moving towards victory).

If random is contraindicated in principle, then nothing will help, of course. If you want to love the game, but the base causes rejection, as it did for me at the beginning, then you need to take extras and the game becomes just a hurricane.

Random is not contraindicated, you want it in moderation. But for now it reminded me of the card-based Pathfinder, which at the beginning seemed interesting, but then suddenly got boring, so that even the “second part” of the game that I bought was never played.
In general, games with cubes are a little off-putting, but for example Warhammer 40k, in my opinion, the role of cubes in it has a very strong influence, but not fatally. If the terminator is stronger than an ordinary space marine, then he will win in any case, no matter how you roll the dice, only with different life points.
"Sickle" is generally gorgeous, because... no cubes. There is randomness with battle cards and factory cards, but this is not a fatal influence on the game, yes, this influence can decide the outcome of the game, but it does not eliminate the chance of winning.
In "Ancient Horror" it happened that after rolling 6 dice, none came up more than four. There were also the opposite cases, when the required combinations fell out from 1-2 cubes. In my opinion, the game mechanics would need to be improved somehow.

If we manage to play again, we’ll try with an addition, at least with one.

The role of the cubes can be reduced, but I would like to exclude fatality. As an example, albeit a terrible example: if, for example, you roll 6 cubes, then at least 2 of them are counted automatically (there is something similar in the Pathfinder card game, although it’s bad there too, and also because of this the game got boring very quickly ).

I would like a mechanic without cubes, like in Sickle (but there is no co-op, so the comparison is not correct).

It is generally incorrect to compare with Serp. I want a remote control, but like in Serpa. Sounds very strange..
They already wrote above that random is contraindicated, rather ameri and cubes are contraindicated.
Don’t sit down to play DU the same way you sit down to play some kind of Brass, Sickle and other Euro games. Yes, not even like in some competitive America... Firstly, all these checks are completely controlled. You buy assets, upgrade your skills in order to roll more dice and, therefore, increase the likelihood of success. Yes, it may happen that even on 6 dice you will not get a single success. But this is the case. It happens in life that you are prepared for something, everything seems to be planned, thought out, but then in an instant something goes wrong and all your plans collapse... Secondly, you don’t need to play in such a way that they say I’m the smartest, the most strategic and how is it that the game bends me with everything so cool due to its random cubes - the game is shit (this is exactly what, it seems to me, desperate Eurogamers don’t like Ameri). But here the game is more about history, about fun, here you don’t need to get mad because you didn’t pass a test somewhere and you didn’t succeed in something. A little imagination and all your character’s contacts will turn into some kind of single adventure, some kind of story with its own successes and failures... I’ll also give an example from my experience. I hope this won't be a huge spoiler. I played with my wife, everything was fine for me, I’ve settled down well, I’ve swayed, I’m traveling, I’m fulfilling goals, etc. And my wife made a dark deal with some shady character in order to keep some kind of artifact for herself. And then, in one of the phases of reckoning, she rolled a one on the cube and it turned out that she owed blood to the children of the black goat cult and was forced to sacrifice her partner in the difficult task of preventing the Ancient One from being sacrificed. And now I’m already lying at the place of sacrifice and she plunges a dagger into me, killing my pumped up character. By your logic, I should be whining here with indignation that I didn’t do anything like that, and the game killed me... BUT! We just laughed at this whole situation, it was so unexpected and so fun that there was no talk of any whining about injustice or randomness. Just laughing, fun and jokes... If you can't play with that attitude, then I think you shouldn't play such games at all..

In general, in DM, defeats often bring more emotions than winning games, or those that you barely managed to win. I remember my game against Azathoth very well:
I find myself in other worlds to solve the last mystery. There I find myself in the future and according to the text the whole world has turned into ruins, from hopelessness (rules the will check) the character goes crazy, the hopelessness track goes down and Azathoth appears and destroys all living things.

That is, in essence, my character saw a real future, the pictures of which gave up, as a result of which he could not prevent it. Such a vicious circle, a paradox, that the future happened because in the past we saw this future)

And in general, this game just gives you the ability to generate random stories (well, here additions are needed so that the cards do not repeat). In general, the game is more about crisis than about victory.

P.s. and as correctly noted, the role of the dice can be easily reduced by adding homerules. The same frame is replete with homerules, because... I consider most of the additions unbalanced and breaking the entire atmosphere of the original game.

If the original game is so difficult for you and every defeat brings you pain, then roll a d10 according to the same rules. Otherwise, this whole claim is simply stupid, if you don’t like the genre, then there’s no reason to play games in this genre. Many people criticize the same sickle because they wanted wargaming from it, but got euros.

The developers, inspired by the atmosphere and grandeur of Arkham Horror, created the board game Ancient Horror, which takes place in the same universe. "Ancient Horror" is a unique, exciting adventure board game created especially for fearless adventurers who are ready to challenge fate and the gods.

The year is 1926 and the world is on the verge of extinction... An ancient and powerful creature is ready to wake up and cover the world we know with darkness. Portals are opening all over the world, from which various monsters are emerging, and ancient cults are rising from their knees. But there is a group of heroes who are willing to risk everything to prevent the impending horror. From the snowy peaks of the Himalayas to the bustling streets of San Francisco, intrepid adventurers set out across the world to collect clues, solve mysteries, destroy monsters, and protect the world from otherworldly threats. Are you ready to join them and put everything you hold dear on the line to save this world?

How to play

"Ancient Horror" is a cooperative game for 1-8 people. Each player chooses one of twelve investigators, who differ in health, sanity, and five skills: knowledge, communication, attention, strength and will. Traveling around the world, detectives solve puzzles, fall into traps and fight monsters. Also, during the game, players will receive various useful items, find allies, artifacts and spells. Each round of the game takes place in three phases:

• The Action phase, in which players move around the playing field, buy necessary items, allies and various services, as well as tickets for ships and trains, to move around the world faster
• Contact Phase – During this phase, players enter into one of three contacts: combat, location, and token contact. Most often, a card is drawn to a certain type of contact, which describes events, positive or negative.
• Myth Phase - In which the lead player draws a Myth card and resolves that card's effects in that order. Each of the effects affects your part differently

Who has won?

In order to win, a group of researchers must solve three riddles that are unique to each Ancient. But, if the hopelessness token reaches zero, the Ancient Evil awakens and the investigators have to fight it in open confrontation. If the players fail to win, then the world becomes covered in darkness and all of humanity loses.

Game Features

The epic board game "Ancient Horror" was created especially for fans of the "Arkham Horror" series, as well as fans of mysticism and the works of Lovecraft. The game will immerse you in a gloomy atmosphere, where every step you take affects the future of the whole world. You will be able to travel around the globe, try to decipher secret messages and defeat otherworldly creatures. The game has several difficulty levels and is suitable for both interested beginners and experienced detectives. And each of the Ancients has a unique deck with riddles and its own characteristics. Will you now be able to sleep peacefully at night, knowing that the Ancient Horror is almost awake?

The end of the world is getting closer!

The year is 1926, and the world is on the brink of disaster. Somewhere beyond known reality, an ancient and incredibly powerful being awakens, threatening to wipe out humanity from the face of the Earth. Portals to other worlds are opening on all continents, terrible monsters are roaming and disgusting cults are spreading. Only a handful of brave detectives understand what is really happening. These staunch defenders of humanity must join forces in the fight against the Ancient One. They had the fate to visit the most remote corners of the globe, fight with nightmarish creatures and reveal the terrible secrets of the “Ancient Horror”!

Ancient Horror is a team-based adventure game for 1-8 players based on the world-famous Arkham Horror. Each player chooses one of twelve investigators, who differ in health, sanity, and five skills: knowledge, communication, attention, strength and will.

Traveling around the world, detectives solve puzzles, fall into traps and fight monsters. Also, during the game, players will receive various useful items, find allies, artifacts and spells. Each round of the game takes place in three phases:

1. Action phase, in which players move around the playing field, buy necessary items, allies and various services, as well as tickets for ships and trains, for faster movement around the world.

2. Contact Phase - during this phase, players enter into one of three contacts: combat, location, and contact with a token. Most often, a card is drawn to a certain type of contact, which describes events, positive or negative.

3. The Myth Phase, in which the lead player draws a Myth card and resolves that card's effects in that order. Each of the effects affects your party differently.

In order to win, a group of researchers must solve three riddles that are unique to each Ancient. But, if the hopelessness token reaches zero, the Ancient Evil awakens and the investigators have to fight it in open confrontation. If the players fail to win, then the world becomes covered in darkness and all of humanity loses.

▼ Equipment

Playing field;
rules of the game;
directory;
4 cubes;
12 stands;
12 detective sheets;
12 investigator tokens;
4 sheets of Ancients.
Cards:
51 Myth cards;
36 contact cards in locations;
32 search contact cards;
24 contact cards in Other Worlds;
18 expedition contact cards;
16 mystery cards;
12 special contact cards;
40 asset cards;
36 state cards;
20 spell cards;
14 artifact cards;
4 reminder cards.
Tokens:
78 health and sanity tokens;
43 monster tokens;
36 evidence tokens;
30 upgrade tokens;
20 ticket tokens;
20 Ancient tokens;
9 gate tokens;
4 rumor tokens;
1 current expedition token;
1 despair token;
1 Omen token;
1 Lead Investigator Token;
1 mystery token.