Learn to Play

Beyond Time and Space…

Assuming that I was sane and awake, my experience on that night was such as has befallen no man before. It was, moreover, a frightful confirmation of all I had sought to dismiss as myth and dream.

–H. P. Lovecraft, The Shadow Out of Time

 

Game Overview

Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a cooperative Living Card Game® (LCG®) in which one to four investigators work together to unravel arcane mysteries and conspiracies, while simultaneously overcoming the personal demons that haunt their past.
Each player takes on the role of a single investigator and builds a deck around that investigator’s abilities. A series of interrelated scenarios creates a narrative campaign through which a broader mystery is unraveled. In each of these scenarios, the investigators move through and explore a number of menacing locations, look for clues that enable them to advance the story, and attempt to evade or defeat the treacherous forces of the Mythos.
As progress is made in the campaign, each investigator gains experience and insight, which allows them to develop in a variety of ways by adding powerful new high-level cards to their deck. But beware: As one’s exposure to the arcane world increases, so too does the risk of insanity. The investigators must protect themselves against this tightening grip of madness, all the while attempting to survive and solve the mystery.

 

Using This Book

This Learn to Play book is written as an introduction to Arkham Horror: The Card Game for new players. It should be used as a guide while learning and playing the first game. We recommend that new players learn the basics of the game using the introductory scenario with the pre-constructed decks described in “Starter Decks” on page 20. The end of this book also contains an introduction to campaign play and rules for customizing original decks. A quick reference of keywords, icons, and important game symbols can be found on the back cover of this book.
The complete rules of play can be found in the Rules Reference book, which also addresses more advanced topics such as the interpretation of card text, the resolution of timing conflicts, and a detailed phase sequence. We recommend that new players become familiar with the game using this Learn to Play book and only look up details in the Rules Reference as they occur in play.

 

A Living Card Game
Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a one-to-four-player cooperative game. One to four players can play using just the contents of this core set. In addition, Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a Living Card Game® (LCG®), and the experience of the game can be customized and enhanced through the purchase of regularly released expansions.
Expansions may introduce new investigators, additional scenarios or campaigns, and new player cards that add variety and depth to investigator decks. While playing through an entire campaign creates the best experience, each scenario in a campaign may instead be played as a standalone adventure. Unlike collectible card games, all LCG expansions have a fixed distribution; there is no randomization to their contents.

 

Components

Examples of the components in the game are presented here for identification purposes. A complete card anatomy can be found on pages 28–31 of the Rules Reference.

 

Fundamental Concepts
This section introduces a number of fundamental concepts important to learning and playing the game.

 

Winning and Losing
Each game is a single scenario during which the investigators are gathering clues and working to unravel a mystery. As the investigators advance through a scenario, they might reach a resolution. Typically, a scenario ends by advancing either the act deck or the agenda deck, which are described below. If the investigators advance the act deck, the scenario’s resolution is typically favorable (and can be considered a “win”); other resolutions are usually less favorable and leave the investigators in a more dire situation.
When any encounter card triggers a resolution—denoted by the text “(→R#)”—the players have completed the scenario and should refer to the resolution text that matches that number in the Campaign Guide to discover what happens next.
Should all investigators be eliminated during a scenario, the “if no resolution was reached” conclusion in the Campaign Guide is used.

Scenario Decks

Each scenario is represented by three distinct decks of cards. These decks provide the investigators with a scenario-specific narrative, objectives, and encounters, including a variety of monsters and other perils.

Agenda Deck

The agenda deck represents the progress made by the dark forces of the Mythos. During the game, the agenda deck gradually advances toward a resolution that is often unfavorable for the investigators. Generally, the investigators want to prevent this from happening.

Act Deck

The act deck represents progress made by the investigators toward solving a mystery or achieving their objectives during a scenario. Generally, the investigators want to advance the act deck to reach a more favorable resolution for the scenario.

 

Encounter Deck
Throughout the game, investigators draw encounter cards from the encounter deck, which represents perils, monsters, madnesses, and other afflictions the investigators must overcome, in the form of enemy and treachery cards.

 

Lead Investigator

 

The lead investigator (chosen during setup) is the player who breaks ties and makes decisions for the group whenever there is a conflict. The lead investigator is identified by the lead investigator token, which they place in their play area.

If the players are required to make a choice among two or more equally valid options (for example, an enemy must move toward the “nearest investigator,” and the two nearest investigators are an equal distance away), the lead investigator chooses among those options.

If the players are unsure how to resolve a rules or timing conflict, the lead investigator should resolve the conflict in the manner they perceive as the worst possible at that moment with regard to winning the scenario, and continue with the game. This is known as “The Grim Rule,” and using this rule keeps the game moving without forcing the players to look up every conflict they discover.

 

“In Player Order”

The phrase “in player order” is used to dictate the order in which players resolve or execute a game step. When players are instructed to do something “in player order,” the lead investigator does so first, followed by each other player, one player at a time, in clockwise order around the table.

 

Per Investigator ()

The 󲆃 symbol next to a value multiplies that value by the number of investigators who started the scenario. The number of clues placed on a location and the number of clues necessary to advance the current act are often denoted with this symbol.

 

Locations

Locations represent the various places the investigators travel to during a scenario while looking for clues. Each location has two sides: a revealed side and an unrevealed side. The unrevealed side can be identified by the presence of a keyhole symbol below its title.

 

Ready and Exhausted

Cards enter play in a “ready” position (upright, so that the ability text can be read from left to right). Some game steps and card abilities require cards to “exhaust,” which is indicated by rotating the card 90 degrees (sideways). A card in the exhausted position cannot exhaust again until it is readied by a game step or card ability.

 

Skill Tests

During the game, investigators frequently make skill tests to determine the outcome of various situations. A skill test uses an investigator’s skills, which are represented by four stats found on their investigator card: willpower (), intellect (), combat (), and agility (). The higher an investigator’s skill value, the more skilled they are.

During a skill test, one or more tokens are revealed from the chaos bag, modifying an investigator’s skill for that test. The investigator’s skill must equal or exceed the test’s difficulty for them to succeed. The complete rules for tests can be found under “Skills and Skill Tests” on page 17.

 

Chaos Bag

Throughout the game, the investigators are asked to randomly reveal tokens from the chaos bag to modify their chances of success or failure in a variety of situations. If an investigator reveals a token with a number value during a skill test, apply that modifier to the investigator’s skill value for that test. If a symbol is revealed, refer to the scenario’s reference card to determine that token’s effect.

 

Weakness Cards

A weakness card is a card in an investigator’s deck that has a negative effect when drawn. These cards are identified by the label “Weakness” or “Basic Weakness” beneath the card’s title or artwork. When one of these cards is drawn, the investigator who drew the card must resolve its “Revelation –” ability immediately. (See “Weakness” on page 21 of the Rules Reference for more details on weakness cards.)

 

First Game Setup

To set up the first game, perform the following steps in order. The game is best learned with one or two players.

 

1.Choose Investigator(s):

Each player chooses an investigator and takes that investigator’s pack of cards. If playing solo, Roland Banks is the recommended investigator choice.

 

Roland Banks
Roland is a federal agent in over his head. He excels at dispatching enemies and discovering the clues left behind in the conflict.

Daisy Walker
Daisy is a librarian at Miskatonic University. She is great at discovering clues and supporting her teammates with her various Tome and Spell cards.

“Skids” O’Toole
“Skids” is a slippery ex-con with a heart of gold. He is good at generating resources and using them to take extra actions. He also excels at dealing with enemies, either through combat or evasion.

Agnes Baker
Agnes is a waitress whose powers of sorcery are only just starting to manifest. She excels at using her willpower to defend against the forces of the Mythos, and turning her fear into raw power.

Wendy Adams
Wendy is a scrappy young orphan who can take care of herself. She is skilled at evading enemies and avoiding combat, and can succeed at tests even when the odds are stacked against her.

 

2.Gather Decks:

Each player opens their investigator’s pack of cards, which includes an investigator card and that investigator’s starter deck. Each player places their investigator card faceup in their play area, and then shuffles their starter deck. If the pack is already opened, a complete list of the cards required for all five starter decks can be found on page 20.

Set the investigator card aside and shuffle the starter deck.

 

3. Choose Lead Investigator:

Choose one of those investigators to be the lead investigator for this game, and give that player the lead investigator token and the Campaign Guide.
The lead investigator is the player who breaks ties and makes decisions for the group if there is a conflict.

 

4.Assemble Token Pool:

Place all of the damage tokens, horror tokens, clue/doom tokens, and resource tokens within easy reach of all investigators.

The token pool is the repository for all tokens that are not in play.

5.Assemble the Chaos Bag:

Place the 16 chaos tokens shown to the right into the chaos bag. Return the rest to the game box.
(When setting up future games, refer to the desired difficulty setting for your scenario or campaign.)
 

6.Take Starting Resources:

Each investigator takes five resources from the token pool and places them near their investigator card. This is the investigator’s resource pool.

 

7.Draw Opening Hand:

Each investigator draws five cards from their deck. If a weakness card is drawn any time during setup, set it aside and draw an additional card.
Each player may take a single mulligan at this time by setting aside up to five of the cards just drawn. Then, they draw an equivalent number of cards, setting aside weaknesses as normal. A mulligan is recommended if a player has a poor starting hand (i.e., a hand with no assets).
At the end of this step, all set-aside cards are shuffled back into the investigator’s deck. 

Weaknesses are set aside, then shuffled back into the deck.

 

Scenario Setup

The remaining setup steps contain scenario-specific information for the first scenario in the Night of the Zealot campaign. Open the Campaign Guide to page 2 and follow along with the setup instructions for “The Gathering” while performing these steps.
These instructions are written as though Roland and Wendy are the two investigators in the game, but you may have different investigators or a different number of players during your first game.

 

8 Gather Scenario Cards:

Open the pack labeled “The Gathering.” This pack contains all the cards required to play the first scenario. If the pack is already opened, consult the sidebar to the right for a list of all cards needed to play “The Gathering.”
Each card included in any scenario is part of an encounter set, indicated by its encounter set icon. For future games, refer to the Campaign Guide in order to tell which encounter sets should be gathered according to their encounter sets (explained below).

 

The Gathering Card List
This is a list of each encounter set and all cards required for
“The Gathering” scenario:
Æ The Gathering (16 cards): #104–119
Æ Rats (3 cards): #159
Æ Ghouls (7 cards): #160–162
Æ Striking Fear (7 cards): #163–165
Æ Ancient Evils (3 cards): #166
Æ Chilling Cold (4 cards): #167–168

 

Encounter Sets
To set up a scenario, players must gather all the cards of each encounter set shown for that scenario. Each encounter set is represented by an icon that appears on each encounter card in that set.

When gathering encounter cards, gather all copies of each ard in the listed encounter sets. Use the encounter set numbers (#/#) at the bottom of each encounter card to aid you.

 

9. Set Agenda Deck:

Assemble the agenda deck by stacking the agenda cards from The Gathering’s encounter set in sequential order (so that “1a” is on top, “2a” is next, etc). These cards are “What’s Going On?!,” “Rise of the Ghouls,” and “They’re Getting Out!”

 

10. Set Act Deck:

Assemble the act deck by stacking the act cards from The Gathering’s encounter set in sequential order (so that “1a” is on top, “2a” is next, etc). These cards are “Trapped,” “The Barrier,” and “What Have You Done?”

 

11. Place Reference Card:

Place the scenario reference card for “The Gathering” (card 104a) next to the agenda deck.

 

12. Place Locations:

Following the setup instructions on page 2 of the Campaign Guide, put the Study into play (card 111). When a location is put into play, it enters play with its unrevealed side faceup. Then, set aside all of the remaining locations.

The unrevealed side of a location can be identified by the presence of a keyhole symbol below its title.

 

13.Assemble Encounter Deck:

Following the scenario’s setup instructions, set aside the Ghoul Priest (card 116) and Lita Chantler (card 117). Then, take the remaining encounter cards and shuffle them together to create the encounter deck.

 

14.Read Scenario Introduction:

Read the scenario introduction for “The Gathering” followed by the text on the faceup agenda and act cards (“What’s Going
On?!” and “Trapped”).

 

15. Place Investigators:

Each investigator begins play in the Study. Place each investigator’s minicard next to the Study to represent their current location. When the investigators are placed in the Study, it is revealed. Following the normal rules for revealing  location, place clue tokens on the Study equal to its clue value when it is revealed.

The Study’s clue value is 2 . Clue tokens equal to two times the number of players are placed on the Study when it is revealed.

 

Round Sequence

Arkham Horror: The Card Game is played over a series of rounds. During a round, the investigators encounter the terrifying forces of the Mythos, explore mysterious locations, fend off dangerous enemies, and finally collect their bearings in anticipation of the next round. Each round is divided into four phases:

 

1.  Mythos Phase (skip during the first round of the game)
2.  Investigation Phase
3.  Enemy Phase
4.  Upkeep Phase

Important Note: During the first round of the game, skip the mythos phase and begin with the investigation phase. The mythos phase is described on page 13.
Once all four phases are complete, the round is over and play proceeds to the mythos phase of the next round. Each phase is described in detail below.

 

The Investigation Phase

In the investigation phase, the investigators take center stage. What they choose to do depends on the circumstances and the investigator in question.
During this phase, each investigator takes a separate turn. The investigators, as a group, choose which investigator takes the first turn. When that investigator’s turn ends, choose an investigator to take the next turn, and so on, until each investigator has taken their turn.
Each investigator has three actions during their turn that may be used to perform a variety of tasks. An investigator may perform any of the following, as many times as they would like, and in any order, provided the investigator has an action available to pay for that task.
On their turn, an investigator may use an action to:

 

• Draw 1 card.
• Gain 1 Resource.
• Activate an <act> (action trigger) ability.
• Engage an enemy at their current location.
• Investigate their current location.
• Move to a new connecting location.
• Play an asset or event card from their hand.
• Attempt to Evade an enemy engaged with them.
• Fight an enemy at their current location.

If an investigator is engaged with one or more ready enemies, performing any action other than Evade, Fight, or activating an ability with either a Parley or Resign designator in its text causes each of those enemies to attack the investigator. (See “The Enemy Phase” on page 15.) This is called an attack of opportunity.

An investigator may end their turn early if there are no other actions they wish to perform. To indicate that an investigator’s turn is over, flip their mini-card facedown, to its black-and-white side.
Unused actions are lost and cannot be saved for future turns. After each investigator has completed their turn, play proceeds to the enemy phase.
Each action is described in greater detail in the following pages.

 

Tutorial Tip
At the beginning of the game, the investigators are trapped in the Study. How should they proceed?
In this situation, some actions are better than others. If an investigator has asset cards in hand that seem as if they might be useful, that investigator should consider using the Play action to play one or two of those cards—this will ensure that the investigator is prepared when an unexpected challenge or enemy comes their way. There are also clues in the Study; the investigators should consider using the Investigate action in an attempt to find these clues so they can advance the act deck. Alternatively, the Draw action and the Resource action could be useful in helping an investigator build up cards and resources for later in the game.
 

 

Draw
The investigator using this action draws one card from the top of their deck.

Resource
The investigator using this action gains one resource from the token pool. (Resources are often used to pay for cards and effects.)

Strategy Tip: Spending actions to draw cards and gain resources can be effective when you have a specific card you need to play, but it is often timeconsuming and inefficient. Use these actions when you aren’t sure what to do, or as a last resort!

Activate
The investigator using this action resolves an 󲅹 (action trigger) ability on a card in play that is under their control, on an encounter card at their location, or on the current act or agenda card. Abilities on cards not in play (such as in an investigator’s hand) cannot be activated.

 

Play

When an investigator uses this action, that investigator selects an asset or event card in their hand, pays its resource cost, and plays it. A card’s resource cost and cardtype are found in its upper left corner.
To pay a resource cost, the investigator playing the card must move a number of resources equal to the cost from their resource pool to the general token pool.
The rules for playing each cardtype are as follows:

 

•  If the played card is an event card, the investigator resolves its effects, then places it in their discard pile.
•  If the played card is an asset card, the investigator places it in their play area. It remains in play until an ability or game effect removes it.
•  Skill cards are not played. For their abilities and icons to be used, these cards must be committed to a skill test from an investigator’s hand (“Modifying Skill Values for Skill Tests” on page 17).

Cards with the “fast” keyword do not cost an action to play.

Slots
Slots restrict the number of asset cards of a specific category an investigator can have in play simultaneously. The slots available to an investigator are: 1 ally slot, 1 body slot, 1 accessory slot, 2 hand slots, and 2 arcane slots.

The icons above indicate that an asset counts against an investigator’s capacity for the indicated slot(s).z If an asset has no slot symbols on it, it does not take up any slots.
If an investigator wishes to play or gains control of an asset and lacks an appropriate slot, the investigator must choose and discard an asset or assets under their control to make room for the newly acquired asset.

 

Move

The investigator using this action moves to a connecting location.
Move that investigator’s mini-card to any other location marked as a connection on the investigator’s current location (see below). A location’s connections are indicated by the icons at the bottom of the location card, each of which match an identical icon in the title area of one or more connecting locations.
If the connecting location is unrevealed, turn the location to its revealed side when an investigator moves to it. Remember to place the indicated number of clues on the location when this occurs (see “Locations” on page 4).

 

Investigate

The investigator using this action investigates their current location in an attempt to find clues. That investigator makes an intellect (󲅲) test against the shroud value of that location:
If the skill test is successful, the investigator discovers one clue from the location. When an investigator discovers a clue from a location, that player takes one clue from the location and places it on their investigator card.
If the investigator fails, no clues are discovered.

 

Advancing the Act Deck
The act deck represents progress the investigators can make in a scenario. Generally, the investigators advance the act deck by spending, as a group, an appropriate number of clues. Spent clues are returned from the investigators’ cards to the general token pool. Advancing the act in this way does not cost an action and may be done during any investigator’s turn. The number of clues required to advance to the next act can be found at the bottom of the current act card’s text box.
If the current act has a boldface “Objective —” instruction, that instruction either supplements or replaces the procedure for advancing the act deck described above.
To advance the act deck, flip the current act over to its “b” side, follow the instructions on the back, and set it aside, out of play. The next card in the act deck becomes the new current act. When advancing the act deck, the investigators keep any clues in excess of the required amount.

 

Engage

The investigator using this action engages one enemy that is at their location (either not currently engaged with an enemy, or currently engaged with another investigator). To engage an enemy, the investigator places that enemy in their threat area.

Strategy Tip: Engaging enemies lets you evade them or safely attack them without risking hitting your partner. Use this action to take the heat off your fellow investigators!

 

Evade

The investigator using this action attempts to evade one enemy they are engaged with. The investigator makes an agility (󲅱) test against that enemy’s evade value.

If the skill test is successful, the investigator evades the enemy; the enemy is exhausted, and the engagement is broken. Move the enemy card from the investigator’s threat area to the investigator’s current location to mark that it is no longer engaged with that investigator.
If the agility test fails, the enemy is not evaded and remains engaged with the investigator.
Strategy Tip: Evading enemies can be crucial to success. Exhausted enemies do not automatically engage investigators, do not perform attacks of opportunity, and do not attack during the enemy phase. If you are unarmed or need to get away from a deadly enemy, consider evading it instead of performing a futile attack.

 

Fight

The investigator using this action attacks one enemy that is at their location. That investigator makes a combat (󲅳) test against the enemy’s fight value.
If the combat test is successful, the investigator deals one damage to the attacked enemy. Some weapons, spells, or other special attacks may modify the amount of damage dealt. Place a number of damage tokens equal to the amount of damage dealt on the enemy. If, at any time, an enemy has damage on it equal to or greater than its health, the enemy is defeated and placed in the encounter discard pile. If the bottom of the enemy’s text box indicates that it provides victory points (indicated by the “Victory X” keyword), place the card in a shared victory pile instead of discarding it.
If the combat test fails, no damage is dealt to the attacked enemy.

Important Note: If an investigator fails a combat test against an enemy engaged with another investigator, the damage value of the failed attack is instead dealt to the investigator engaged with that enemy.

 

A Cooperative Game

There are many possible choices during the investigation phase. The investigators are encouraged to work together and plan out what they hope to accomplish each round. The order in which the investigators take their turns, and the actions each investigator performs during their turn, can mean the difference between success and failure.
While the investigators may plan their turns as a group, each individual player has final authority over the actions their investigator performs. For further guidelines on investigator communication, see the “Table Talk” sidebar below.

 

Table Talk
Arkham Horror: The Card Game seeks to establish a roleplaying experience in which each player takes on the role of a specific investigator. The nature of the game encourages players to work together and communicate, but players are also encouraged to stay “in character” as much as possible while doing so. The game’s areas of hidden information (the cards in a player’s hand and deck) exist to maintain the feeling that each investigator is a unique individual in the game world, and makes their decisions without complete and perfect knowledge of what everyone else knows or is thinking. A good means of maintaining this illusion is to not name, read off, or allude to individual cards that are hidden information (i.e., in a player’s hand or deck).
For example: Wendy wants her partner, Roland, to take an investigate action, and she desires to communicate that she can help. Instead of saying something like, “Take an investigate action; I can commit Perception” or, “Investigate our location; I can contribute two icons,” Wendy stays in character by saying, “You should investigate. I can help!”