Across the globe, ancient evil is stirring. Now, you and your trusted circle of colleagues must travel around the world, working against all odds to hold back the approaching horror

Even Fantasy Flight Games couldn’t squeeze another expansion out of Arkham Horror, and revamping the game would cause all manner of confusion considering its large brood of expansions. So they sensibly created a new game ‘inspired’ by the classic: Eldritch Horror.

This one moves the action out of Arkham and its environs and makes the whole business global. It also streamlines and improves the Arkham Horror rules to make a faster (but not that fast, this is still a long game and will take 2-3 hours at least) and sleeker beast.

Despite my cynicism, this is a clever revamp of the system, with most of the fiddly bits filed off and a greater emphasis on the story. Each of the Ancient Ones has its own deck of research encounters and ‘mysteries’ you must solve in order to stave off the inevitable end of the world. And you can even visit the last locations of defeated investigators for a last bit of story filler, depending on whether they went insane or ended up in hospital … or worse.

Several expansions are already out of the gate (if you’ll excuse the pun) and no doubt they’ll be many more to come—and I’m looking forward to them, as it does feel that there is plenty of room for a gadzillion more cards. An extra board might be difficult though (Moon Horror perhaps?)

Update Log

Rules Summary & Reference

Date Version Changelog
Apr 2022 5.6 Typo fixes, update to a winning condition, clarifications
Apr 2022 5.5 Tiny typo fix to Syzygy, little typography fixes and gender-neutral language
Jul 2019 5.4 Small fix to Masks of Nylarlathotep setup
Jun 2019 5.3 Fixed a minor typo on the reference sheets (“2 different actions”)
May 2019 5.2 Fixed very minor typo in Devoured sections
Aug 2018 5.1 Highlighted actions that need a space free of monsters; clarified Mystery section; removed all unnecessary capitals
Apr 2018 5 Includes all current expansions; complete revamp of expansion section and addition of new summary page with two new actions
Sep 2015 4 Includes rules from the Strange Remnants expansion; extra reference sheet with Focus action added
Jan 2015 3 Includes rules from the Mountains of Madness expansion, minor changes throughout
Jun 2014 2 Includes rules from the Forsaken Lore expansion
May 2014 1 Original release

Foamcore Plans

Date Version Changelog
Apr 2014 1 Original release

42 Comments

  • Warfinger says:

    Fantastic! Thanks so much! You just reminded me that my printer is out of ink…

  • Thomas Covert says:

    Thank you as always. Your work is much appreciated

  • Dan Devine says:

    Just to check – if I already have the previous v2 sheets printed out, am I missing any other changes if I just print the Mountains of Madness sheet? Thanks again for the great work you do!

    • There were a few small changes throughout the document (I can’t remember exactly what they were), so I’d print a new copy. Sorry I can’t be more specific but sometimes changes are done of a period and I forget the exact fixes.

  • Dan Devine says:

    No problem at all, happy to reprint as I don’t want to miss anything! Thanks for the quick response.

  • Jeffrey says:

    Will these plans fit the forgotten lore expansion and wil it fit the cards if they are sleeved?

    • Yes, Forsaken Lore will fit, but no, sleeved cards probably won’t.

      • Jeffrey says:

        Too bad will need an insert that fits sleeve’s thx for the reply

        • I’m sure you can use this as a basis for your own design. Inserts that accommodate sleeved cards usually mean making big design compromises, so on the whole inserts here don’t accommodate the minority of people who sleeve their cards. Of course that doesn’t stop you modifying the designs to your own specs!

          • Gelido says:

            I finished yesterday night my foamcore box and it looks amazing!! The design is brilliant and and the guide is perfect, congratulations Universal Head!

            Regarding the card sleeves I have the all of the cards sleeved and they fit perfectly (I only own the base game but there is plenty of room for at least 1-2 smal expansions).
            The only minor “issue”, due to the card sleeves, is that I can’t reach the end of the box with one finger where the “A” card dividers are placed so I have to get out the big cards in two moves (irrelevant for me).
            Thank you again for your hard work the whole website and content is AMAZING!

  • The8thPagan says:

    Under the Pyramids is on the boat. Looking forwards to that expansion, although another board is going to make the box a bit thick. I may try scanning the side boards, printing back to back and laminating. Or I’m going to need ‘a bigger boat’ 🙂

  • Brett says:

    This stuff is really awesome. I’ll be throwing money at you momentarily. Any chance we’ll get an Under the Pyramids update before Christmas? My sister is a huge fan of Arkham and Eldritch. I thought this stuff, printed and bound would make a nice little stocking stuffer.

    Which would be my only critique, albeit minor, is some of the pages don’t have room along the side to hole punch them for binding. Of course, I may be the only person who thinks that’s a good idea. And of course, I’m sure there is a way I can make that happen my self if I poke at Adobe enough.

    • Thank you Brett, throw away! 🙂 I can’t update this yet unfortunately because FFG haven’t released the rulebook as a PDF and I can’t buy it here yet! I’ll update it as soon as I am able.

      I’m afraid there’s no accommodation for ring binding because, well, you’re the only person who’s mentioned a desire to do so in over a decade of doing these things. 🙂 I find trimming and laminating gives me the best result.

  • Azuuki says:

    Hi, hello!

    Is it somehow possible to get a version of the rules summary without background images? I would be really grateful.

    Thanks.

  • Paul M. N. Haakonsen says:

    The work you have done here with these quick reference sheets/game guides is phenomenal. I must applaud you for this, as it is of great help to speed up the game when in doubt about something, and not having to run through the entire game manual.

    The material for both Eldrith Horror and Arkham Horror is spectacular.

    All printed, laminated and put to use around our gaming table. Looking forward for the version for the recent “Under the Pyramids” expansion.

  • Mikep says:

    Foamcore Box Plans v1 are enough to fit the expansions too?

  • Louie says:

    Just finished up my own insert for these plans. My cutting and gluing work is still pretty clumsy, but overall I feel good about it! Thank you for the plans, and it appears there’s enough space to include Forsaken Lore and/or Strange Remnants as well! Super happy about that!

  • Hey, fantastic work you did there.
    I wanted to ask you if you included the latest updates from the FAQ posted on FFG page?
    If you open the FAQ file you will read: Last updated on January 19, 2016.

    Best regards,
    Simon

  • The8thPagan says:

    Was told by a retailer that the latest expansion, Carcosa, is missing something from box. He didn’t say what, but I’ve contacted FFG to find out what situation is.

    They usually send missing bits and updates for free, but holding off buying for now.

  • The8thPagan says:

    Been a while since I played Eldritch Horror, but Mansions of Madness inspired me to do so. Tried the Carcosa expansion…

    Really think I should cut back on my expansions buying. So many cards. Conditions are the worst, they get so complex with + and – modifiers, especially with Impairments and Advancements.

    The big boxes are good, Under the Pyramids and Mountains of Madness sideboards add to the game, but the small expansions just seem to complicate it.

    Tempted to pull the cards and tokens from those 3, but separating so many cards out is a daunting task.

    • I agree with you; there’s a point where you have to weigh up how often a game gets to the table with how many ‘bulking out’ expansions you get. If I played this all the time maybe I’d be interested, but right now I feel no need to get another one (and I haven’t got Under the Pyramids yet either). The completist urge is expensive and often unnecessary.

  • The8thPagan says:

    Might end up selling it instead, or at least getting rid of expansions. Could do with a clear out to be honest. Some games may never get played again.

  • The8thPagan says:

    Stripped Eldritch back to basics by removing all expansions. Took a couple of hours to separate everything.

    Played the base game vs Azathoth and lost… Completed 3 mysteries, but first one was put back in Mystery deck by a Mythos card….

    Anyway… It needs some of the expansions to bulk out out the decks, had to shuffle three of them when I ran out of cards. Forsaken Lore is obvious one, but not sure after that. I like focus tokens… they help a bit.

    May end up picking and choosing what to add. My game. My choice.

  • The8thPagan says:

    Sorry to hog this feed, but I contacted FFG (aka Asmodee now) to see if they have any plans to print an errata box like they did for the botched Forbidden Alchemy for Mansions of Madness.

    Sadly I was told that was not going to happen. Pity, as the errata is getting rather extensive it’s a tiresome matter to look up flawed text on cards during the game. I may simply remove the flawed cards (unless vital to the game) to avoid looking things up.

  • The8thPagan says:

    I keep trying to resist, but I think it’s my OCD brought on through exposure to the Mythos. …

    http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/9/28/the-dreamlands/

    My will is weak…

  • Aaron Williamson says:

    So is the V4 Summary good to up Strange Remnants, would anything critical be missing if a game included expansions up to Dreamlands?

  • Eric Lebigot says:

    Thanks for the 5.5 update!

    I noticed a small typo: under Tests, “you may spend a Clue” should have a bold “y”.

    There is also theoretically a mistake under Complex Encounters: “move the active expedition token” should be done when *drawing* an expedition card (not after revolving it), as explained under Expedition Encounters in the Reference Guide. I’m not sure if it has any practical impact, but with games with so many effects, I think it’s better to be very precise. 🙂

  • Eric Lebigot says:

    PS: Also, under Devoured, it would be useful to add: “return your Investigator sheet *and token*”.

  • Eric Lebigot says:

    PPS: also, under “Winning Conditions”, the amended version of “The investigators must draw a mythos card but cannot because the mythos deck is empty.” should be written instead, as in the 2017 errata: “If a Mythos card cannot be drawn during the Mythos Phase, the Mythos Phase ends. Then, if investigators have not won the game, investigators lose the game.”

  • Eric Lebigot says:

    PPPS: There is also a small typo under Components: “due to it’s effects” → “its”.

    If you prefer to have all my feedback in one go instead, please let me know.

    • Hi Eric – I’ll do all this in one go, so when you’re absolutely sure you haven’t found anything else, let me know!

      • Eric Lebigot says:

        OK. Here is some final feedback, then (I have read everything but the Player References):

        1. In Expansions > Mystery > “If an epic monster must be defeated” could usefully incorporate the case of multiple epic monsters as described in Cities in Ruins: “However, if the active Mystery requires more than one Epic Monster to be defeated, place only one Health on the card. The toughness of each Epic Monster spawned by the Mystery is reduced by one for each Health on the card.”

        2. Under Dream-quest spaces:”an investigator on a dream-quest space can resolve a dream-quest encounter” should instead be “an investigator on the space *containing the Dream-Quest token* may encounter it by drawing and resolving the top card of the Dream-Quest Encounter deck.”

        I must say that your player aids are my go-to player aids: they’re classy, clear, well-organized and (near) complete, and very importantly, we can count on the same level of quality for all the games you cover, and there are many. The world of board gaming would truly be different without you. 🙂

  • Timothy Alberth says:

    Will the Forsaken Lore expansion be added?

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