Is this a troll game or can you actually win?

[Woeful Wraith]

After about 10 games (and 10 losses) I'm beginning to think this is a troll game, imposisble to win. Most games seem to be 3 out of for turns fail. Mostly becaus ethe investigator fails to roll the one last item needed to finish a turn. Need one skull? You will never roll a skull, ever. Need 7 clues, we'll neve rlet you ever have more than 6 in one roll (even you saved some)!

The last match, I succeeded in 7 out of 8 turns, yet I only had 2 elder signs and 7 ticks on the doom counter, then midnight hit and instantly added enough to the doom counter and finish the game with aloss. So, I am assuming this game is at the very least almost impossible to win if not actually impossible.

I swear, I could have set the fiteen bucks I spent on this game on fire and shoved it up my ♥♥♥ and had a better time.

[HobbyCathartic]

The game series, Eldritch/Arkham Horror are known as "play for 90 minutes and lose" games. Elder Sign is no different.

[Woeful Wraith]

So your answer is "Yes, this is a troll game."

I guess that means the purpose is score as many points as possioble before losing. Well, that certainly isn't what I thouugh I was paying for. I get Lovecraftian is supposed to be odd stacked against you, but always losing just isn't fun no matter what you wrap it in.

[HFM]

I've beat them all except Dark Pharao and Ithaqua using all random investigator teams. Therre are strategies for each one.

The game is part luck (roll of the glyph dice) and part strategy in maximizing your use of artifacts/spells/clues (calling them boons for short from here out), picking the correct tasks for the correct investigator, steering clear of hard to beat tasks until you have enough boons to maximize your chance of winning, managing the elder sign and doom tracks correctly (don't do an investigation with a -1 doom unless you actually have at least 1 doom) etc..

The game takes careful descision making and a little luck to beat, but it is possible and challenging. I definitely lose more than I win. For instance I lost against Cthulhu like 7 times in a row, there's ways to pick investigators that are stronger against Cthulhu, actually there's one strategy where you ONLY PICK ONE instead of a larger team.. but I don't like that it its more fun to have a random team for me. I FINALLY beat it, and with two glyph dice left and got lucky with one peril on a green die and the Wildcard on the red glyph which i turned into a peril (I just uploaded a screenshot to the screenshots section because I was elated!) ,

For instance, some of the things you need to consider. Yellow and Red glyph powers don't have the terror glyph (looks like a tentacled thing). If you are going into an adventure where you need a lot of terror glyphs, it might be a waste to keep those dice around instead of the green ones in the case you need terrors, except for the red which gives you a small chance to change it to a terror.

These are the types of nuances you learn over time.

For instance, when winning an investigation against cthulhu while on the boat (The Ultima Thule) don't forget that if you're about to complete it and you have extra investigation glyphs (magnifying glass) you should drop them all into the investigation pool before winning. That part is critically important and i've forgotten to do it multiple times in my happiness for completing the last task.

Another angle with the boons, if you have an investigator that can add one to an investigation glyph, attack investifations with tasks that have those. If you have an investigator with a boon to auto kill a monster, use that investigator to do one with a monster. If you have an investigator with a boon that can switch any glyph to a lore, use that investigator for tasks that require mutliple lore. There's many things to consider and choose your tasks carefully. And then get lucky with the glyphs. :)

There's many nuances and many different strategies both short and long term to keep track of and consider. It's by no means an impossible game, just extremely challenging.

[justsomeoneelse]

I've played the Arkham Horror board game and our group tends to win. More than once it felt way too easy, actually. Same with Elder Sign here. It certainly IS possible to win. Even with one investigator only (only against Yig so far, but been there, done that).

That said, I do agree that sometimes it feels as if the RNG were stacked against the one missing piece ...

[Devoras]

It does seem that way. My very first turn ever I had my first investigator die on their first adventure they went to. I rage quit on the last game I tried, as my investigators failed every single adventure they were going on. If those idiots were the last hope of the human race, it was all over already.

I did manage to win against the easiest elder one once. It really does feel like the game is cheating sometimes though, such as when you reroll 6 dice five times, and don't get that single lore, tentacle or skull you need.

[Weasel Biggs]

There's a certain feeling that Arkham Horror games tend to sort of press on their players. I'd call it being convinced that the game itself is plotting against you. :)

If you're easily frustrated by Elder Sign, then do yourself a favor and avoid anyone who invites you to a nice and casual four-hour run of Arkham Horror. If anything, I'd say the native board format of Elder Sign is a lot easier - largely because there's one extra rule that's been snuck in. If you die, you have the right to pick another investigator and start over.

Elder Sign Omens, in the meantime, limits you to your starting roster.

[Woeful Wraith]

Oh I get that the traditional Lovecraftian setting is almost always a "no win" situation for its protagonists and that works well in books. It doesn't translate well to a board game setting..at least in a single player setting.

I would probably enjoy a multiplayer setting, as you get share your misery with other people. I used to DM a rather unforgiving Ravenloft campaign but that was always in good company and this game would be better played with a group. Instead I feel like I'm playing a computer at Chess on the highest difficulty setting.

[HFM]

The game is definitely not "cheating".

You don't know how many times I have rolled REAL dice and not gotten that one thing I needed in multiple rolls. It's just the way randomness works sometimes. That's why they call it random.

And these mythos games by FF are not easy to win, they are challenging and require careful weighing of odds and options.

[Weasel Biggs]

Originally posted by HFM:

The game is definitely not "cheating".

You don't know how many times I have rolled REAL dice and not gotten that one thing I needed in multiple rolls. It's just the way randomness works sometimes. That's why they call it random.

And these mythos games by FF are not easy to win, they are challenging and require careful weighing of odds and options.

This. After Azathoth, the game takes its kid gloves off, in my opinion. Prior planning can save rolls and determine the outcome of Adventures, and you're really better off playing with a cool head. If you can't focus on the game, chances are you'll burn the wrong glyphs/dice or spoil otherwise useful spells. That's where the cooperative aspect normally comes in, with everyone else coming in and going "Wait! If you do that, you'll screw yourself over later on!"

Sharing the dread is essential. :D

[Kanuvina]

I would say I win 3 games out of 5. The Omens game is missing one fundamental rule that the physical Elder Sign board game has, and that is that you can end your turn after completing one task in an adventure without penalty. For some reason, this game makes you complete the entire adventure in one turn or you fail.

[HFM]

Originally posted by Kanuvina:

I would say I win 3 games out of 5. The Omens game is missing one fundamental rule that the physical Elder Sign board game has, and that is that you can end your turn after completing one task in an adventure without penalty. For some reason, this game makes you complete the entire adventure in one turn or you fail.

Yeah, that would definitely make the game easier if you could back out of an adventure without penalty. That would completely take the strategy and risk of using an investigator that MAY actually die if you rolled horribly out of the equation. You could use this strategy to, say, pick off a monster and run without consequence of failing the adventure/

[Darrell Simmons]

With some experience you can and will win the game most of the time–unless you play against Ithaqua that is.

[HFM]

Originally posted by Version 1.0:

I have won against the first two so far but have lost a bunch of games against Hastur. The issue is that it doesn't feel like win or loss is in my hands as much as the dice. There is also a lack of a sense of progress. I think a lot of this would be alright even with the lossing if I were playing with some one else because then I would at least have a sense of humor about it.

I agree here. This is where the physical board game shines. You could in theory do a pass-n-play with someone if you were sitting together.

I'd love it if they figured out how to get Eldritch Horror built digitally with MP.

[LurkingFear]

Just when I thought I would always allow the world to be devoured I actually won a game. Funny thing...I had increased the difficulty level of the game and, glory be, I won. I'm such a newbie that I'm still sealed in shrinkwrap, but choosing mentally strong characters and becoming familiar with their special abilities is what I focused on. Now if I could only beat the AI in Talisman it would stave off the growing resentment I am feeling for the game...

[Jack Trades]

I finished all the levels, it's not a "troll game" in any way. It's all about learning to stack the dice in your favor.