Objective of the Game

Welcome, brave investigators, to Arkham, 1926! The Roaring Twenties might be in full swing, but a much darker party is brewing. Ancient Ones, alien entities from beyond space and time, are trying to crash through gates into our world, turning it into their personal ruined dominion. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to stop them! You and your fellow investigators are the only ones standing between Arkham and utter cosmic horror. You'll need to close these interdimensional gates and seal them away before the Ancient Ones fully awaken and devour everything. You can achieve victory in two main ways:

1. Seal six gates: Successfully sealing six gates means you've driven the Ancient One away and brought peace back to Arkham.
2. Close all open gates: If there are no open gates left and you have collected a number of gate trophies equal to or greater than the number of players, you've restored stability to Arkham!

Fail to do so, and the Ancient One will awaken, leading to a terrifying Final Battle where you must defeat it or be devoured!

Preparation (Setup)

Alright, let's get Arkham ready for some cosmic chaos! While the manual doesn't detail every single setup step, here's a general idea of what you'll be doing to get started:

1. Choose your Investigator: Each player selects an investigator sheet, along with their matching investigator token, skill sliders, and starting fixed possessions, money, stamina, and sanity tokens.
2. Shuffle the Decks: Prepare the various card decks, including common items, unique items, spells, and skill cards.
3. Draw Starting Possessions: Each investigator will draw random possessions from the shuffled decks.
4. Place Investigator Tokens: Place your chosen investigator token on your starting location in Arkham.
5. Set Up the Doom Track: The Ancient One's doom track will be set up, usually starting empty.
6. Prepare the Terror Track: The terror track will also be set at its starting level.
7. Place Clue Tokens: Clue tokens will be placed on various locations around Arkham.
8. Prepare Monster and Gate Tokens: The monster marker bag and gate marker bag should be ready for action.

The Game Turn

A turn in Arkham Horror is a frantic race against time, divided into 5 distinct phases. Everyone gets to act in Phases 1-4, starting with the first player and moving clockwise. Once a phase is done for everyone, you move to the next. At the end of Phase 5, the first player marker passes to the left, and a new turn begins. Here's the rundown:

Phase 1: Upkeep

This is your chance to get organized before the real horror begins. Everyone performs these actions *simultaneously*:

1. Lost in Time and Space? If your investigator is currently lost in time and space, you get to move them to any location or street area in Arkham. No clue tokens for you this time, though!
2. Refresh Exhausted Cards: Turn any cards you used last turn (like items or spells) back to their vertical, ready-to-use position.
3. Perform Upkeep Actions: Check your investigator cards and items for any special upkeep actions. This includes:
   • Bank loans: Roll a die. On a 1-3, pay $1. Fail to pay, and you discard all your items and the loan card – no more loans for you!
   • Blessing/curse cards: After a full turn, roll a die; discard on a 1.
   • Deputy of Arkham: Gain $1.
   • Retainers: Gain $2 and roll a die; discard on a 1.
   • .357 Magnum: Spend $1 to refresh, if needed.
   • And other specific items or spells like The Healing Stone, The Voice of Ra, and Heal.
4. Adjust Skill Sliders: This is crucial! Review the board and your situation, then adjust your skill sliders up to your investigator's focus limit. Remember, raising one skill lowers its complementary skill, so choose wisely! Your skills (Speed, Sneak, Will, Fight, Lore, Luck) are vital for everything from movement to combat and spellcasting.

Phase 2: Movement

Time to navigate the treacherous streets of Arkham or the bizarre landscapes of the Other Worlds. Each player takes their turn, starting with the first player.

1. Movement in Arkham:
   • Jailbird? If you're in jail, stand up your token, move to the Police Station, and skip the rest of your turn. Better luck next time!
   • Free to Roam: Spend movement points equal to your current Speed. You can move between connected locations or street areas.
   • Monster Mash: If you encounter monsters along your route, you *must* either evade or fight them. Once you initiate combat, your movement ends for the turn. If you successfully evade all monsters, you can keep moving.
   • Clue Collection: If you end your movement at a location with clue tokens, snag 'em!
   • Trading: You can trade money, common items, unique items, spells, the Patrol Wagon, and the Deputy's Revolver with other investigators in the same location at any point during this phase. Trading doesn't end your movement!
2. Movement in an Other World:
   • Area 1: If you're delayed, stand up. Otherwise, move to Area 2 (unless an encounter card says otherwise).
   • Area 2: Check for an open gate in Arkham with a matching symbol. If there is one, you can return to Arkham! If not, you become lost in time and space.
   • Returning to Arkham: Choose an open gate matching your current Other World symbol, move your investigator there, and place an explored marker under your token.
   • Important: Investigators in Other Worlds get no movement points and can't use items that require them.
3. Lost and Delayed? If you're both lost in time and space AND delayed, stand up, you're no longer delayed, and skip the rest of your turn.

Phase 3: Arkham Encounters

Now things get interesting! Each player takes their turn, starting with the first player.

1. No Gate at Your Location:
   • Random Encounter: If you're at a location without a gate, draw a card from that location's deck and resolve the encounter.
   • Special Encounter: Locations with inverted icons have special abilities, often leading to specific items or unique encounters.
   • Street Area: No encounter here, just a moment of eerie calm.
2. Gate at Your Location:
   • Explored Marker? If you have an explored marker, you can attempt to close and/or seal the gate!
   • No Explored Marker?
     • If you started your movement in Arkham, you're *drawn through the gate* to Area 1 of the Other World.
     • If you started your movement in an Other World, place an explored marker under your investigator.
3. Special Rules:
   • "A gate opens!" If a gate opens at your location (or moves there), all investigators present are drawn through and become delayed. This can also affect the terror track and doom track.
   • "A monster appears!" Prepare for evasion and/or combat!
4. Closing and/or Sealing Gates:
   • Method 1: Using Clue Tokens
     1. Attempt a skill check (Lore or Fight, minus the gate modifier) to close the gate.
        • Fail: The gate remains open.
        • Succeed: Close the gate and take it as a gate trophy (unless it's a special gate that can't be taken as a trophy). Remove all monsters with the same dimension symbol from Arkham, the Sky, and the Outskirts.
     2. If you successfully closed the gate, you can spend 5 clue tokens to seal it. Place an elder sign/doom token (elder sign side up) on the location. Sealing six gates is a victory condition!
   • Method 2: Using an Elder Sign (Unique Item Card)
     1. You must have an explored marker for the gate.
     2. Lose 1 sanity and 1 stamina.
     3. Claim the gate marker as a trophy.
     4. Adjust the doom track by removing one doom token and placing an elder sign on the location. This is one of the only ways to lower the doom track!
     5. Return the elder sign card to the box; it's gone for the game.
   • Important: Gates in stable locations or the streets can be closed, but not sealed.

Phase 4: Other World Encounters

If you're in an Other World, this is where you face its horrors. Each player takes their turn, starting with the first player.

1. Draw a Matching Gate Card: Check the encounter symbols on the gate marker and draw gate cards until you find one with a matching border color.
2. Resolve the Gate Encounter: Follow the instructions on the card. If a monster appears, you'll need to evade or fight it. After combat, any monsters that appeared as a result of the encounter are returned to the monster marker bag (unless taken as trophies).
3. Check for Bad Stuff: After your encounter, if you're lost in time and space, or temporarily insane or unconscious in an Other World, you'll face some consequences (see "Bad Stuff").

Phase 5: Mythos Phase

This is where Arkham truly begins to unravel. Only the first player performs these steps.

1. Draw a Mythos Card: This card dictates the horrors to come.
   • Open Gate? Monster Surge! Draw monsters equal to the number of players or open gates (whichever is greater) and distribute them among locations with open gates. Check the Outskirts, terror track, and doom track for further effects.
   • Elder Sign? Nothing Happens! The gate at this location is permanently sealed, and no new gates or monsters can appear here. Phew!
   • Neither? Doom and Gates!
     1. The doom track advances by one token. If it fills, head to the Final Battle!
     2. "A gate opens!" Discard any clue tokens at the location. All investigators present are drawn through the gate and become delayed. Check the gate limit and adjust the terror track if needed.
     3. "A monster appears!" Draw and place 1 or 2 monsters (depending on player count). You don't need to fight them in this phase.
2. Place a Clue Token: A new clue token appears at the location indicated on the Mythos card. If investigators are there, one can immediately take it.
3. Move Monsters: Monsters in Arkham and the Sky (but not the Outskirts) move according to the Mythos card's movement section and their border colors (Yellow: Stationary, Black: Normal, Red: Fast, Green: Special, Blue: Flying). Monsters will always stay on an area with investigators.
4. Perform End of Round Actions:
   1. Activate the Mythos card's special ability (Headline, Environment, Rumor).
   2. Check for "Activity At" or "Close" instructions.
   3. Pass the first player marker to the left.
   4. Return to Phase 1 for a new turn!

End Game and Scoring

The fate of Arkham hangs in the balance!

Winning the Game

You can win before the Ancient One even fully awakens:

• Victory Condition 1: Successfully seal six gates. The Ancient One is driven away!
• Victory Condition 2: If there are no open gates and the players have accumulated gate trophies equal to or more than the number of players. Stability is restored!

The Ancient One Awakens

The Ancient One awakens if any of these conditions are met:

• The Ancient One's doom track is full.
• There are too many open gates (check the gate limit).
• No gate or monster markers remain (you might need to spend trophies wisely to avoid this!).
• The terror track reaches 10, and the number of monsters in Arkham and the Sky is double the normal limit.

If the Ancient One awakens, you enter The Final Battle!

The Final Battle

This is it, investigators! A desperate struggle for survival.

1. Before the Battle:
   • Fill the Ancient One's doom track.
   • Determine the Ancient One's total health (Doom track total x number of investigators at game start).
   • Eliminate any investigators lost in time and space.
   • Discard Environment or Rumor cards.
   • Apply any "Start of Battle" conditions from the Ancient One's sheet.
2. Combat Rounds (Repeat until victory or defeat):
   1. Player Upkeep: Adjust skills, refresh cards, use abilities. No money collection, retainers, or bank loans. You *can* trade.
   2. Investigators Attack! Starting with the first player, each investigator makes one Combat skill check against the Ancient One. Accumulate successes as a group. For every number of successes equal to the number of investigators, remove 1 doom token from the Ancient One's sheet.
   3. Ancient One Attacks! The Ancient One uses its "Attack" ability. Any investigator reduced to 0 sanity or stamina is immediately devoured.
   4. Pass the first player marker left.

You win the Final Battle if you remove the last doom token from the Ancient One's sheet. If all investigators are devoured, Arkham is lost!

Scoring the Game (If you win before the Final Battle)

If you manage to save Arkham before the Ancient One awakens, here's how you tally your efforts:

1. Start with the highest printed number on the Ancient One's doom track.
2. Subtract the terror level at the end of the game.
3. Apply these modifiers:
   • -1 per unpaid/defaulted bank loan
   • -1 per elder sign played during the game
   • +1 per unspent gate trophy
   • +1 per every 3 unspent monster trophies
   • +1 for every sane, living investigator

The player with the most gate trophies gets the "First Citizen of Arkham" title. In case of a tie, it goes to the player with the most monster trophies.

Tips for Winning

Arkham Horror is a brutal game, but a few pointers can help you survive the night:

1. Manage Your Skills Wisely: Your skill sliders are your lifeblood! Don't just set them and forget them. In the Upkeep phase, carefully consider your current location, potential encounters, and the needs of your team. If you're heading into a monster-infested area, boost your Fight or Sneak. If you're aiming to close a gate, pump up your Lore. Remember the trade-offs – a high Speed might leave you vulnerable in combat if your Fight is low!
2. Prioritize Gate Closure and Sealing: While fighting monsters for trophies