“If Lady Esprit was right, this ‘roux-ga-roux’ wouldn’t stop killing at three, that’s for sure. But curses? Wolf-people? How could such things be real? Only one way to find out…”

–Curse of the Rougarou

An early morning fog rolls over the quiet streets of Arkham as its people wake and stagger out of bed. Sleepy-eyed, they begin to move, focused only on the tasks that lie before them. They don their coats and caps to ward off the autumn chill, then start upon their way to work. They pass their neighbors, greet the newspaper boy, and arrive at their desks. A distant train whistle howls, and all the while, these people remain completely unaware of the unfathomable terrors that threaten their very existence.

In Arkham Horror: The Card Game, powerful and malevolent beings known as Ancient Ones press against the barriers that divide their realities from our own. And while they lurk just beyond our ability to perceive them directly through our senses or science, they gnaw, nonetheless, at the minds of the psychically gifted and drive them mad. They inspire cults and cultists. They give rise to dark magic and deadly monsters.

Since these Ancient Ones and the terrors they inspire cannot be seen, studied, or measured through traditional means, very few people even suspect they exist. Similarly, their cults gather in secret, in the backrooms and abandoned cellars of closed societies. Their members conceal themselves with hoods and masks, conducting their foul rituals only at night, hidden away from prying eyes. By day, these same cultists may greet you on the avenue, serve you dinner, or educate your children. They draw no attention from the police, but you know something isn't right in Arkham…

You're convinced that recent deaths and disappearances are not the work of wild animals, as the authorities suggest, and so you enter the Mythos through Arkham Horror: The Card Game as an investigator determined to uncover the truth—even if that truth may drive you mad.

Arkham Horror: The Card Game at Arkham Nights 2016

With its blend of traditional customizable card game and roleplay elements, Arkham Horror: The Card Game offers you an entirely new experience within the Mythos. You and up to three friends become investigators, working to solve mysteries and survive the adventures into which your investigations may lead you. And it all begins at Arkham Nights 2016.

The Arkham Horror: The Card Game Core Set make its world debut at Arkham Nights, and every attendee will receive a complimentary copy of the special scenario, Curse of the Rougarou. This adventure leads your investigators deep into a tangle of nightmarish events taking place in New Orleans and the nearby bayous, and it can be played either as a standalone scenario or as one that can be woven into your ongoing campaign as a "side-story."

Friday evening, the game's designers, Nate French and Matthew Newman, will take attendees deep inside the inner workings of their design. This special presentation begins at 6 PM, with time reserved for a Q&A session at its close.

Later Friday evening, after the designers' presentation, and all through the weekend, you'll be able to learn more about the game and play through demonstrations. On Saturday, a handful of lucky attendees will even be able to confront the game's monsters, cultists, and madness alongside designer Matthew Newman.

Finally, if you find yourself driven by an insatiable thirst for knowledge, you can ally with other investigators on Saturday and attempt to solve the mysteries of the Core Set's Night of the Zealot campaign, with or without the added challenges of Curse of the Rougarou. We'll have campaign sheets available for all interested attendees so that you can record and report your results. Who will go insane? Who will be devoured? Will anyone manage to save humanity from certain doom? We'll tabulate your results after the event and share them with the rest of the world.

Terror Grips New Orleans!

"…The headline was sensationalist. Three killings in nine days was enough to spook a town, sure. But you doubt all of New Orleans is gripped by terror, or even knows about the killings. Still, something piqued your interest."

–Curse of the Rougarou

When one reporter's sensational news about a series of savage killings fails to make its way into the Arkham Advertiser, your friend at that establishment decides to contact you, nonetheless, deeming the reports the sort of thing that might suit your eccentric curiosities. She's right, of course, and when you head to Northside Station to book your ticket for New Orleans, you can't possibly imagine the full shape of the horrors that await you…

Designed to be played as a standalone adventure, or added to your campaign as a "side-story," Curse of the Rougarou sends you along a bone-chilling hunt through New Orleans and the bayous of southern Louisiana. Its 62 cards come with all the rules, locations, act, agenda, and encounter cards that you'll need to immerse yourself in a mystery full of malign spirits, murderous beasts, and other hazards—some natural and some decidedly unnatural.

Curse of the Rougarou will be made available for purchase through FFG's in-house Factory at a later date, but for now this adventure is an exclusive opportunity for our Arkham Nights 2016 attendees.

Early Design Insights

One of the highlights of any Arkham Nights event is the chance to meet and speak with the designers and developers of your favorite games. This is again the case in 2016, and Arkham Horror: The Card Game designers Nate French and Matthew Newman will be sharing their insights into the game's design, starting at 6 PM on Friday evening.

What might you learn about the game's design and development? We've decided to ask some questions of our own:

FFG: What was the inspiration for Arkham Horror: The Card Game?

NF: "The vision behind Arkham Horror: The Card Game is that of an LCG® that is inspired by and captures elements of the RPG experience. We began with a simple idea: your deck is your character. From this starting point, a number of exciting possibilities arose: campaign play in which early decisions impact future scenarios, decks that 'level up' as an investigator gains experience (along with new cards that may be acquired through play), flaws and weaknesses that help define an investigator and also inform the way the investigator is played, free-form turns in which a vast array of possible action decisions are available to an investigator, and strong cooperative elements."

FFG: The game can be played in standalone adventures, but you recommend campaign play as the preferred format. What do you like about this format?

MN: "We were excited by the idea that decisions could occur during gameplay or during story resolutions that had both a mechanical impact on your deck or the cards in play, and also a narrative impact on the overall campaign’s story. Sometimes players might make a story decision based purely on their own moral compass. Some decisions may force the players to decide what they think will give them an edge in later scenarios. We often strove to provide no right or wrong answer—only the investigators’ choice and the consequences of that choice. This provides a lot of exciting tension during the first playthrough of a campaign, but also enhances replayability, as players may choose different paths in subsequent playthroughs.”

FFG: Sounds fun. Do you have any fond memories from playtesting you’d like to share?

NF: “One of the best moments that came up as we were developing the game occurred when I drew a weakness at a climactic moment in the final scenario. We had just found the location we had been searching for, and one of my weakness cards showed up: a Stubborn Detective (Core Set, 103) who—falsely!—believed I had done something wrong. We're nearly ready to solve the mystery, and this detective tried to arrest me! It was the worst timing ever, but a great over-the-table gaming moment.”

FFG: That detective always seems to show up at the wrong time, and he always leads to new tensions. Of course, he's not the only source of tension. We've discovered there are quite a few tense moments in this game. Do you have any favorites, Matt?

MN: “Many of my favorite moments come from the chaos tokens and the way they affect players psychologically. Investigators have many ways of balancing the scale in their favor, but the chance of catastrophic failure always looms. Drawing the coveted elder sign token when an investigator attempts a seemingly impossible task often leads to actual shouts of joy. But the reverse is also true, and the chaos bag sometimes leads to great storytelling moments where a simple task turns surprisingly dire—just like in the best horror stories!"

Enter the Mythos

Brittle brown leaves rattle down an Arkham alley as a cold wind blows. The moon hangs luminous behind a screen of clouds. A sudden acrid tang spills into the air, sending rats from their holes in a fright. There's a spark, a shudder of electricity that comes from nowhere, runs along the ground, and trails off to the horizon…

The boundaries between worlds have grown perilously thin, and a gate has opened. Arkham Nights 2016 takes place in Roseville, MN this October 14-15 and marks the debut of Arkham Horror: The Card Game as part of a whole weekend of Lovecraftian horror.

UPDATE: These otherworldly gates never stay open for long, and this gate has now closed. Arkham Nights 2016 has sold out. We look forward to meeting all those daring souls who stepped through the gate to join us, and we encourage those of you still on the other side to come join us in the Mythos when Arkham Horror: The Card Game arrives at retailers. Be sure to pre-order your copy today!