Essential Expansions: The Dunwich Horror

Welcome to our new series on game expansions. For some people, us included, games are even better when they get more pieces, rules and ways to play. While not all expansions are created equal, and some disappoint, this series will only concentrate on those we believe add value and longevity, as well as the crucial factor - fun, to all your favourite gaming experiences.

For fans of the excellent Arkham Horror, Fantasy Flight have really pushed the boat out on expansions.

The original game blends RPG elements with the control and reliability of board game rules, your investigators co-operate to fight off the forces of evil and win through against terrible odds.

It is a fantastic game in its own right, and we are proud to stock it.

you can pick up Arkham Horror here

So good is it, in fact, that to date there has been sufficient demand for Fantasy Flight to deliver five whole expansions (three smaller boxes and two larger) with another on the way in 2009.

Dunwich was the first of the big box expansions for Arkham released, and while the smaller boxes like Curse Of The Dark Pharaoh added cards, rules and excitement, the Dunwich Horror expansion adds a whole lot more.

We are pleased to offer this expansion for a a very special price - check it out here

The main addition you get is the small town of Dunwich itself, represented by an additional board that sits above the original to increase the playing area. To reach Dunwich an investigator has only to go to Arkham's train station and pay a dollar for a ticket. Once they have done so, Dunwich awaits them with all new locations and events to face.

Chief amongst these events is the rise of the Dunwich Horror, a super-nasty beasty with variable strength which presents extreme peril and great danger for the investigators. It awakens if too many monsters are absorbed by the many wormholes around the town, so keeping the monsters at bay in Dunwich is crucial. If the Horror does awaken, defeating this abomination will give great rewards, and while it is awake the doom track hastens toward awakening the Ancient One itself, so the players are well advised to vanquish it as soon as possible.

The set contains more of these Ancient Ones for you to face, too. My personal favourite is Shudde M'ell, a giant worm like creature (think "Tremors"!) that destroys parts of town as he stirs in his slumber, meaning somewhere you wanted to go could well be razed to the ground before you get there. Even something as basic as changing the Ancient One you face can have far reaching consequences for the way your game goes, so getting four more in this set really gives a little bit extra.

The rest is mainly additional things for the main game, but there's so much of it included, I'm not sure where to start...

Well, you get eight new investigators like the Psychic and The Expedition Leader who give new ways to play as well as excellent new powers for your use. You also get many new items, unique items, allies and spells as well as all the mythos cards necessary for opening gates in Dunwich.

The new "injury and madness" cards give you the option to take a chance when temporarily insane or unconscious - where you would usually lose half of your equipment and clues you may now choose to take one of these cards instead, but beware! Some of them can cause major trouble and all of them put you at a permanent disadvantage, such as not being able to use a hand, or not being allowed any allies.

Another key introduction in Dunwich Horror is the Gate Burst mythos cards. In the original game, once a gate was sealed that was it - no beasties coming through there any more. With this addition, a sealed gate bursts open and must be resealed. These are easily identified by their red backgrounds and can be removed if you find the dynamic they present a little too long-winded.

Even more new bits in the form of new monsters and the introduction of tasks and missions for the investigators mean that this expansion is more or less essential for anyone wanting more fun from the Arkham system.

Frankly, I own all five expansions and am already saving up for the sixth when it is released. The Arkham Horror game more than any other captures, for me, the ideal cooperative feeling of desperation and victory against the odds, as well as being incredibly tough.

It's fair to say The Dunwich Horror adds a extra difficulty to the game, being as it creates a whole lot of new drains on an investigator's precious time and as it adds the gate bursts.

I would definitely say, though, that if you are planning to purchase just one expansion for Arkham - this is the one to get, though of course I'd recommend all five as worth the investment!

...keep playing!

Alec Chapman for The BoardGameGuru Team

Our Favourites: Co-Operative Games Special

We're big fans of innovation here at BoardGameGuru, and one area of games that is seeing lots of growth in popularity at the moment is Co-Operative games, and their evil twin, Semi Co-Operative Games.

The clue is of course, in the name, as far as co-operative games go. In games such as Arkham Horror and Pandemic, the games rules dictate a way in which the forces of evil or diseases spread across the land, and the whole set of players work together to overcome this problem.

Taking Arkham Horror as an example, each turn you draw a card which shows how evil will progress this turn; where gates to other dimensions will open which spill out evil monsters , where any monsters will move and many special effects too. These cards, in their presentation of challenges and development of the on-board situation are the heart of the game since they take the place of a human "gamesmaster" (such as those needed for roleplaying games) and allow all players to share the same goals.

In Arkham Horror, the players will socialise, agonise and organise together in a bid to defeat the forces of darkness and prevent the games major enemy, or "Great Old One" from awakening. If they do so, the players will usually have to defeat them in combat, but the odds are so often stacked against them in this final battle most groups try to avoid this if at all possible.

It's an intense and exciting game experience as you and your friends or family will fight monsters, explore dangerous and eccentric locales and ultimately try to win the game. The game is extremely tough, however and don't expect to win first time out.

Co-Operative games like Arkham Horror are excellent for groups who want to avoid the usual confrontational aspects of gaming. Since you are all working together there are myriad opportunities for creative problem solving as a group - meaning that valuable social interaction, one of the major advantages of the board gaming hobby over many other pastimes, is maximised.

In terms of complexity of rules Arkham Horror is far more complicated than Pandemic, but whichever you choose it will provide exciting challenges for your friends and family and they come highly recommended.

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If you are intrigued by what was meant by "evil twin" when I mentioned Semi Co-Operative games, read on.

These games are a relatively recent wrinkle in the gaming world, and are a great example of how modern board games are constantly innovating and improving on themes and mechanics to provide satisfying new opportunities for fun and learning.

The most famous example, some would say originator, of this sub-genre, Shadows Over Camelot, was published as recently as 2005. In this incredible game, you and your friends play the part of the brave knights of the round table, and by using the cards in your hand you stave off the forces of evil and try and complete such quests as the search for the Holy Grail, combat with the Black Knight or rescuing Excalibur from the water.

The difference between this and, for example, Pandemic, is that unlike that game not all the players are necessarily on your side - one of the Knights may be a traitor, secretly hindering your attempts to defeat evil while outwardly working for good.

I stress the word "may" in that last sentence, because it is always possible in any game that there is no traitor at all - and false accusations can be as costly as correct ones can be rewarding.

It's a wonderfully nasty twist to the co-operative game concept and makes for some memorable and frequently hilarious game nights.

For example, this weekend I was involved in a game and because I was certain a traitor was somewhere because various very helpful cards had gone missing, discarded no doubt by the nefarious ne'er-do-well that was hiding in the shadows.

I examined my fellow players' actions closely. In time, I became convinced that one of the other players, Sir Bors, was a traitor. He hadn't done anything obviously wrong, but his demeanour and reactions to the evil events seemed a bit off. I made the accusation that he was a traitor, as is my right - only to find he had been loyal all along! This false accusation meant that I had caused two white swords (the loyal knights' "score") to become black swords (and score for evil instead).

So my false accusation eventually led to the fall of Camelot, as the real traitor was elsewhere in the form of Sir Owain.

The great thing about Shadows Over Camelot is that despite the loss to the evil traitor we all agreed to try again immediately, since each game takes only about an hour and a half at most.

A similar idea has been developed into the tie in game for the new Battlestar Galactica series. In this game the humans are trying to protect themselves from the forces of the Cylons, a race of robots who have managed to create exact replicas of human beings as sleeper agents, who infiltrate the fleet and wreak havoc.

The game depicts this struggle by handing out the loyalty cards at the beginning and the middle of the game so someone who has spent the whole game thinking they were human suddenly changes sides. Of course, this is all secret information, so they are able to choose the right moment to reveal themselves and join their robot pals.

An excellent tie-in for fans of the show, since it captures the feeling of suspicion and desperation that pervades the series' best moments, it is also a fantastic game in its own right, presenting a severe challenge for the human players but with excellent game play for the Cylon agents too.

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If you are interested in these or any other games you read about on this blog, our shop at BoardGameGuru is available for you to purchase them. Feel free to send any queries or requests for tailored game packages to paul@boardgameguru.co.uk

....keep playing!

The BoardGameGuru Team