Last modified May 12, 2026 by Jarjar

I belong to the generation that, as children, was traumatized by The Exorcist and Amityville. For years, I had nightmares about them. My curiosity led me to other horror films. As my brain became accustomed to these intense sensations, I developed a particular appreciation for being scared. But I was also fascinated by the originality and creativity of horror filmmakers: how, starting with something nonexistent, they managed to keep us on the edge of our seats and make us experience such intense emotions. A true appreciation for this genre was born within me. I love the supernatural, anything out of the ordinary, anything that, for the duration of a film, pulls us away from the monotony of everyday life.

Fear is humanity's oldest and most powerful emotion, and the oldest and most powerful form of fear is the fear of the unknown.
-HP Lovecraft.

It was in the late 80s, around the age of 13, that I discovered role-playing games. Every lunchtime, we played Dungeons & Dragons. The game fascinated me not only because of everything you could do, everything you could collect and keep, but especially because we lived adventures while helping each other. We talked about it constantly, always planning our moves ahead for the next sessions.

Then I discovered the world of Middle-earth, rich in characters with truly incredible adventures. Years passed, until one day, during a visit to a specialist shop, the cover of a role-playing game caught my eye.

H.P. Lovecraft has inspired many horror authors, including John Carpenter (Halloween) and Stephen King. And to think he only began to be recognized after his death.

The first Call of Cthulhu role-playing game book was released in August 1981. Created by Sandy Petersen and published by Chaosium in English, it marked the beginning of the genre. The French version was first published in 1984 by Jeux Descartes and was an adaptation of the second American edition.

The scenarios in Call of Cthulhu were full of twists and turns and so well-written. I was the game master for my group of friends for a few years before stopping and putting it aside. It was in 2011, with the 30th anniversary edition from the now-defunct Sans Détour, that I was drawn back into this world. I started searching for and buying the various collections (more than forty are available!). A good example is Dementophobia, a book praised by players for its very solid historical and clinical basis. This book uses real medical classifications (like psychoses, neuroses, and emotional disorders) to enrich the gaming experience! Well, I missed out on it, and I still regret it! Then came the 7th edition, and it was the last for Sans Détour 🙁 In December 2018, the publisher Chaosium announced the end of the Sans Détour license, as they hadn't paid royalties for two years. This book series was so well-made, rich, and beautifully illustrated; it's a great loss for the French-speaking RPG community. Edge Studio took over, but unfortunately, it's nowhere near the quality and originality offered by Sans Détour.

It was in 2016 that it was published Arkham Horror: The Card GamePublished by Fantasy Flight Games, this game offers a unique experience that blends board game mechanics with role-playing in the rich universe of H.P. Lovecraft. You can imagine it was an instant purchase for me! =)

OVERVIEW

Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a unique cooperative experience, plunging 1 to 4 players into the chilling world of H.P. Lovecraft. Each player takes on the role of a unique investigator and builds a deck around their character's abilities, while a series of interconnected scenarios forges a narrative campaign where a vast mystery gradually unfolds. Between exploring unsettling locations, searching for clues, and confronting the forces of the Mythos, each game tells a different story, and the consequences of your choices are felt from one scenario to the next. As the campaign progresses, investigators accumulate experience and wisdom, enriching their decks of cards, but beware the madness that lurks around every corner. If you're looking for a game that skillfully blends deck building, storytelling, and mounting tension in a near-perfect Lovecraftian atmosphere, this game definitely deserves a place in your collection.

The game has just been re-released, improved and refreshed.

MY IMPRESSIONS

Arkham Horror: The Card Game is one of the most played games in my collection. I've completed all the scenarios from the first three campaign boxes (Night of the Zealot, Dunwich Legacy, and Road to Carcosa) and started The Forgotten Age with my friend Chuck. They've been wonderful and macabre adventures! =)
I've also played the first scenario of Night of the Zealot several times, both the original and enhanced versions. It's a great introduction to the game, by the way! I recently pulled it out again to introduce my friend Jeff to it at his request, and it made me want to play it again. It also inspired me to write an article about this great and excellent game!

The strengths of this game

Immersion and storytelling
This is clearly its number one strength. The magnificent illustrations place us in a dark and unsettling atmosphere, and the game itself is a little gem, subtly scripted and incredibly immersive. The writing is superb, and the game is considered by many to be the best narrative game on the market. For me, it's by far the best in its category.

Between games, your character evolves: you can acquire more powerful cards or modify your deck with each expansion. It's an incredibly rich system that offers a multitude of possibilities! It's always a pleasure to test new cards and see their impact. A particularly striking example: the dynamite explosion (Guardian).

The role-playing game flavor
What's captivating about the game is grappling with the Great Old Ones, their sinister plans, and their horde of creatures and cultists—almost like a role-playing game, but in card format. You really feel immersed in the story and kept on the edge of your seat.

The increase in intensity
The further the game progresses, the more chaos erupts! A bit like in role-playing game scenarios, some stories start calmly, then bang, it's total mayhem. At times, you wonder: "How are we going to get out of this?"

However, with careful planning and the right combos, you can eventually pull through… often by the skin of your teeth, while also collecting valuable victory points along the way. It's so satisfying!

The richness of different scenarios
In one of the scenarios, you start off peacefully on a train when, suddenly, it plunges into a completely wacky world! (I'll talk about it in more detail below). It's both fun and very original. Several scenarios are just as surprising; the authors truly have boundless imaginations! It's a pure pleasure to discover them as the adventure unfolds.

My best campaign (so far)

They are all good, but here is the one that stood out slightly in the first four campaigns:

The road to Carcosa
The Road to Carcosa is often cited online as the game's best campaign for its unique psychological approach, where the line between reality and madness blurs. Using the Doubt and Conviction mechanic, it forces players to question their own perceptions through a brilliant narrative that begins in a theater and ends in the surreal. Between its memorable scenarios with their oppressive atmosphere and the introduction of iconic investigators, it's an essential campaign that prioritizes narrative immersion and choices with lasting consequences. Ideal for fans of psychological horror rather than pure action.

But I must also mention this other campaign, the second after the one included in the base game: The Dunwich Legacy. It offers a wide variety of scenarios (casino, train, village, cosmos, etc.), well-supported mechanics, and a rather stunning final boss!

My best screenplay

The scenario in question is called The Essex County Express, and it is part of the Dunwich Legacy campaign.
This scenario takes place entirely on a train bound for the village of Dunwich. It quickly becomes clear that something has gone horribly wrong, and a frantic race ensues to advance from carriage to carriage towards the locomotive. With various possible carriage configurations, this scenario offers good replayability, allowing for games of widely varying difficulty.
It is often cited as one of the most original and tense scenarios in the game, thanks to its mechanic of forced movement towards the front of the train while the horror progresses from behind.

What I like less

Really not much to say!

It's worth mentioning, however, that the game requires a certain investment. Firstly, in terms of time, to fully grasp the rules, but also financially if you want to go beyond the base game. Between scenarios, you'll need to set aside time to review the available cards to make upgrades and adjust your deck.

Setup, on the other hand, takes a good 15-20 minutes: you have to build the encounter decks by searching for cards in your various boxes, and you sometimes get a little lost in the fantastical. The difficulty is also high, especially in solo mode, and some scenarios tend to drag on. I would suggest that the designers aim for an ideal playtime of between 1 hour 15 minutes and 1 hour 30 minutes.

SOLO

One of the great strengths of Arkham Horror: The Card Game is that it was designed from the ground up for solo play, not as a rushed afterthought. In solo mode, you play a single investigator who carries the entire campaign on their shoulders, offering an intense narrative dimension: every decision is yours, and so is every failure. Managing time, resources, and sanity becomes a true strategic puzzle. Deck building takes on paramount importance, since there's no one to compensate for your weaknesses. The pace is tighter and more immersive; some players even claim that this is how the game reaches its full potential, somewhere between a solitary role-playing game and an interactive reading experience.

Personally, I prefer the two-player cooperative experience. It's often difficult to create a single character with enough diverse skills to cover everything. With two players, you get a better division of labor: one can specialize in the investigation while the other manages the combat. As for playing "two hands" (two characters solo), it's a management challenge that isn't always relaxing!

THE DIFFERENT EDITIONS

It's easy to get lost with the multiple reissues and format changes. Here's an overview to help you differentiate between the available versions:

Original Base Set (2016)The original base game only contains one copy of several essential cards, used in many campaigns. To play with 3 or 4 players, or simply to optimize a deck by including two copies of a powerful card, you often had to buy two identical boxes. That's exactly what I had to do.

Revised Core Set (2021) This is the current standard. It includes all the cards in duplicate, enough tokens for 4 players, and a chaos bag. The narrative content (the Night of the Zealot campaign) is identical to the original, but with a few high-level cards added for variety.

REFERENCE WORK

The most beautiful images come from the books of François Baranger, who has taken several collections of H.P. Lovecraft's stories and transformed them into literally breathtaking illustrated novels. They reveal visions that seem to have sprung directly from H.P. Lovecraft's imagination; it's a masterful work!

For more sublime Lovecraftian-style images, I invite you to follow Thomas on X.

CONCLUSION

This game is particularly suited to fans of H.P. Lovecraft's universe and those who enjoy immersive storytelling. While the strategic dimension is certainly present, the game prioritizes atmosphere and narrative over a purely tactical or mathematical approach. It brilliantly succeeds in creating a heavy and oppressive atmosphere, transporting us to the brink of madness and the depths of horror, as we desperately try to save the world from an impending apocalypse.

This is definitely a masterful work that rises to the top of my board game collection!