Elder Sign Board Game Review

General overview of the game

"Elder Sign" is a cooperative board game in which the players, each assuming the role of a unique investigator and working together, fulfill a common task - try to prevent the awakening of the great evil and the destruction of the whole world, by individually solving various types of puzzles, tasks and preventing mysteries with the help of rolling dice. , which appears in Arkham City Museum.

The rules of the game are written in an understandable way, and one reading is enough for the players to be ready to jump into the adventure. For a beginner, they might seem too bulky, but in fact, their size is deceiving, as they contain good examples from the game about its progress and how to correctly interpret its components.

For those who are looking for something new and want to try something more from the wide world of board games, this game is the perfect place to start. Not too easy and not insanely difficult.

But for those who are already familiar with the other games in the Arkham files series like Arkham Horror, Eldritch Horror and Mansions of Madness, but haven't tried this yet, I highly recommend that you do because it will be just as interesting and will give the impression of playing a “pocket-sized” version of these great games.

Game progress

The game is designed for 1 to 8 players.

Although it says on the box that the minimum number of players is 1, which is possible by managing and taking turns with several investigators in a row, it is not really recommended to play alone or in pairs, as it does not allow you to properly use the synergy and capabilities of the individual abilities of the investigators. And several bad losses in a row can create an antipathy to try again.

Based on the experience of playing this game regularly, it should be said that the optimal number of players is 4-6.

Because when you reach the other extreme - the indicated maximum number of players (8), a lot of time is spent on unnecessary conversations and judgments about what would be, if it were, and why it shouldn't be otherwise. :) Which in turn stretches one game almost twice as long.

The game begins with each player choosing an appropriate investigator role, receiving the appropriate starting items, choosing the great evil whose influence will be fought and which needs to be silenced forever, and creating a playing field of 6 adventure cards.
The player who makes the first move is chosen by mutual agreement. He/she chooses the adventure card he/she wants to solve, places his/her investigator icon on it, and makes the necessary dice rolls to complete the tasks indicated on that card.

The basic rolling dice contain 6 different symbols on each of them, and to complete the given task, it is necessary to roll a certain combination of them in one roll.

Depending on whether this attempt is successful or not, the investigator receives a reward and all sorts of benefits, or is punished - losing some of their possessions, adding evil power, or losing some of the important remnants of sanity/life. The turn then passes to the next player to the left, who, like the first, chooses an adventure card and takes all possible actions to resolve it.

To make the game more interesting and the decision-making process of the players more punctual, a time mechanism is in effect! A clock is used which is advanced 3 divisions after each player's turn. Every time the clock strikes midnight, various bad things start to happen - the investigators gradually lose their minds, become weak, monsters appear or the great evil begins to wake up. That and all sorts of other "nice" things that complicate life, but at the same time make the ants run a little over the backs of the players.
The weird thing is that one full clock cycle is 12 hours and is considered 1 "day" in the game. Well, I guess time goes differently in Arkama than here! :)

And so the game goes until all the investigators have worked together to banish the great evil for good, or it wakes up, and then it must be fought face-to-face.

It should be noted that constant communication with the other players is a must throughout the game, because making decisions and taking actions alone will lose the feeling that this is really a cooperative game and that the end result depends on the joint efforts of everyone.

Components

As with most board games that have so many components, the problems with this one start right after it's all taken out of the box for the first time.

The main element of the game is tarot-sized adventure and investigator cards, which basically make up the playing field, but to make it all more interesting, there is also a whole bunch of small cardboard sticks - intelligence, life, evil, Elder Sign , monster tokens, additional abilities, weapons , magic and ally cards ( mini American size) and 8 dice.

Either the lucky player who just bought this game will accept that he will have to keep everything in many small bags and with difficulty take it out and put it back every time, or he will just visit a tool store and buy several plastic boxes with convenient compartments for all the elements for storage.

But despite their number, these components are of very good quality, and there is no need to worry about the color of the chips even after 20 times of playing.

As for the cards included in the game, here is a suggestion from my side - in order for the game to be preserved better, those cards should be put in covers, which will not only highlight the visual appearance of the game, but also give an opportunity to mix them better.

Visual design

The "Arkham files" series and the game maker "Fantasy Flight Games" (FFG) stand out in the board game market with very carefully visually designed board games. And "Elder Sign" is not neglected in this regard. Spend an extra 5 minutes unboxing this game and enjoy it with your own eyes. It's worth it!

But it's not just the game's packaging that's admirable. Its components are not far behind.

On each of the adventure cards there is a very beautiful drawing and a small excerpt from the works of HP Lovecraft, which, unfortunately, is often missed while playing. Because all the attention is devoted to the tasks of each card, which need to be solved and which are also highlighted and presented in a way that pleases the eye.

In this game, even the monster token designs are very nicely done despite their small size.

When you buy the expansions of the game, you can see that the FFG artists have taken their development even more seriously, and the cards included in them are already more beautifully designed, with drawings on both sides.

Also, FFG have put a lot of thought into the design of the box inserts, which is appropriate for the particular expansion or base game. The only problem with them is that if the cards are put into covers, then unfortunately there is not enough space for them in the place intended for them. But there is nothing to worry about - the inserts can be removed and beautifully adjusted to your needs.

Extensions and a vision for the future

At the moment, the game manufacturer FFG offers a base game and 6 game expansions in the "Elder Sign" product line.

Expansions allow both to increase the possibilities of the base game, mixing them together with each other, and also offer players completely new game scenarios (which, due to their mechanics, must be played mostly in stand-alone mode), forcing the investigators to hit the streets, moving them from the Arkham Museum to the Egyptian pyramids on the edge of the desert or sent on a journey to the snowy and untouched nature of Alaska, where an ancient evil awaits resurrection.

As for the future, FFG representatives have not yet published information about future expansions, but knowing other commercial success stories of this company, I think we can expect new adventures very soon.

Overall assessment, pros and cons

Pluses:

+ very beautiful visual design,

+ interesting game mechanics,

+ many extensions.

Minuses:

- the gameplay is based on a high probability factor,

- many small components.

In my view, the game is perfect for families with children, as well as for seasoned and hardened players who want to challenge their luck a little and use less strategic thinking.

The large number of adventure cards, dice rolls, and investigator roles available while playing just the base game will make each game unique and different from the last.

Board Game Geek rating: 7.0

Author: Jānis Presis

*Images from personal archive.