What about a two player game with no doubling up on characters? Playable?

Sure, you can even do a one player game and control only one character. It makes it hard to get a lot done, though.

How much (less hard) with just 2 players

My wife and I have played 9 games with just using one character each.  The first time was base game only against Azathoth, and we won.  The next 8 times were with the CotDP expansion as a visiting exhibit.  I believe we lost 3 because of too many gates opening since the visiting exhibit skews up the gate ratio, so less active gates are most likely to open, and lost the final battle.  We then finally won once in Final Battle.  But we wanted to win by either closing or sealing gates, and it took another 4 tries for it to finally happen.

After that, we decided an expansion for only 2 investigators is too much, so the next time it was just us playing, we used two investigators each when we added in the Lurker expansion.

So it is possible, but you usually need to help yourself like base game only, or make sure you have a long doom track to work with.

With a smaller number of investigators (1 or 2) has anyone ever tried making the mythos phase happen only every alternate round or similar, to give the Invs a chance when adding in extra expansions in?

pumpkin said:

I have. In order to not make it too easy, treat the game with 2 investigators as if its 4 investigators who just happen to be exact duplicates of each other.  Outskirts limit is 4 (not 6), Monster limit is 7 (not 5), close victory takes 4 gates in hand, not 2.  Rumors are filled as if there are 4 players, not 2.  Final combat I'd leave at 2 though but everything in the game should be treated as if there are 4 investigators in play. 

I`ve been a gamer, wargamer and role player all my life, and have played in clubs, sociably against friends at home, with wife and kids... but one thing remains constant for me; back in the 70`s I started solo gaming BY CHOICE (thanks to the likes of Donald Featherstone, Terrance Wise, and Charles Grant).

Nowadays, I am pretty much a solo gamer by choice, having invested half a life time perfecting this branch of the hobby. a few of my books, web site, and many of my magazine articles are geared towards showing others the joys of `true` solo gaming.

Incidentally, Arkham horror is perfect for solo play :-)

Mab
 

Playing alone is a good idea to get to know the game, so at least one person knows the rules before playing with others. When you know the game you should give a character card to at least one imaginary friend...;)

Cardinal Nicodemus said:

Go on Youtube and watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJrM7lwChaQ

dear friends

when i play solo sometimes i wish i have an apps that help me play and track stuff and enhance gameplay session.. what if someone develop a 'Arkham Horror Solo player toolkit' that help improve solo play sessions. Could an iPad apps improve gameplay ? lets say someone is making a toolkit to help solo player , what kind of feature is important to track for player who solo using 3 or 4 or even more investigator ? 

- an investigator tracker, showing 4 investigator at once (on ipad big screen) with all his/her stat and showing cards he/she owned ..?

- an automated skill check / combat check / horror check / evade check on single message box (based on investigator stat and item bonuses) ?

- a phase by phase checklist , check list of what to do in every phase (making sure everything is done by rulebook) ?

whats the most important feature that a solo player needs other than the 3 above stuff ?

..

as for group play, are there players who use a DM (dungeon master) as the bad guy (like the keeper in mansion of madness).. the DM spawn gates and monsters (based on mythos card that he draw and only the DM know it).. and the spawn of gates and monster / monster movement is not put on the map but the DM give verbal clues / narrative so other player can guess the monster location and monster type.. the DM keep track of gates and monster movement/spawn location on a small map (preferably on an ipad apps as well)..

regards

mageith said:

Having read the rules for Elder Sign, the clock mechanic seems like it would work in Arkham too, as a good way to keep track about when a mythos phase occurs if you reduced it to less than once per round to make AH more playable with 2 or even a single investigator.

so why is the game unwinnable with just one person playing

I play this with my dad & brother, we always take 2 investigators a piece, and use various expansions to ratchet up the difficulty so that it stays interesting.

Having only 1 investigator who runs a streak of bad luck leaves you twiddling your thumbs most of the game.  With two investigators, you still have one doing something, so you remained engaged in the game.

Oh, and definately plan on getting a few (all!) expansions, they are very much worth it!

It's only sad if you're like me and can't find other Mythos-obsessed Cultists to play with :-(

Then again, it's not sad at all cause I have a blast every time....plus in a podcast  recently Richard Launius said he first started designing co-op games BECAUSE he had no one else to play with, so maybe Arkham's best played solo after all?.....

wewingtonheetanicus said:

Far from it. It's just that, most of the times, the Ancient One will awaken and you 'll have to combat him. 1 on 1 vs. him though is easier than combating him with several investigators. Still, if you keep losing, all you have to do is pick Mandy. That girl rocks.