Cardboard Corner: Review of "The Dream-Eaters" expansion to Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Note: This review covers the deluxe expansion The Dream-Eaters, as well as the six Mythos packs which complete the campaign. It will not contain any spoilers save the roots of story which introduce the campaign as a whole and the new investigators. All other card, scenario, and story details will be untouched.

To date, each of the five Arkham Horror campaigns has given players a fresh take on the game without abandoning its first principles—a wonderful feat. Thus while gathering clues and killing monsters are a given for any scenario, exactly how that happens has always changed itself up in crunchy, wonderful ways. If there is a secret to the game’s success, that might just be it. Those waiting for the shoe to drop and Fantasy Flight Games to release a dud campaign, however, will have to continue waiting with “The Dream-Eaters”.

Rather than an eight-part campaign, “The Dream-Eaters” is actually two four-part campaigns: the dream-side and the waking-side. It's able to be played independently (four in a row for the dream side and four in a row for the waking side) or together (like a ping pong volley of eight between the two sides). As such, designers have taken a step in a new direction to offer players a package somewhere between the standalone scenarios and the longer campaigns—a breath of fresh air for those who thought stories in eight parts were too lengthy but wanted more than stand-alones. The other opportunity it provides is the chance to put all those player cards released to date to good use. Players will need two investigator decks rather than one to tackle the entire campaign. With twenty-six possible investigators (assuming you have all the expansions to this point), it can feel like being in the candy store. Given each campaign is only four parts, there is less room for collecting and spending experience points, however, designers are more generous with victory points, meaning you are able to upgrade faster than normal. Overall matters more dynamic and diverse in this campaign, it’s just what you’d expect from dreams.

In a delightful bit of metafictional play, the story of “The Dream-Eaters” takes place at multiple levels. The waking-world level, which likewise stands at the meta-level of Lovecraft himself, sees pulp writer Virgil Gray publish a story in a local Arkham magazine. Describing a bizarre dream, the magazine starts receiving mail from readers who have had the exact same dream after reading Gray’s story. Enter our trusty Arkham investigators. Two investigators volunteer to read the story and go into the dream world to see if what readers are saying is true. Watching over them are two other investigators protecting their subconscious forms. Arkham being Arkham, and Lovecraft being Lovecraft, things quickly spin out of control on both sides. Talking cats, swarming zoogs, infinite stairwells, spiders, spiders, spiders, and so much more begin appearing in the campaign, ultimately blurring the line between dreams and the waking world. Only hardened investigators have a chance of getting through all the levels of story, and to the bottom of Gray’s fiction and/or/etc. Reality.

Like all campaigns to date, “The Dream-Eaters” includes five new investigators. Tommy Muldoon is a rookie cop who loves to help his friends but with little experience on the job sometimes slips up and leaves them hanging. Tony Morgan is a bounty hunter who gets extra money taking down enemies, but who has an enemy with a bounty—of the supernatural variety—chasing him. Patrice Hathaway is a violin player capable of fast moves with her fingers in how cards fly in and out of her hand, but who sometimes loses control when things get too fast and furious. Luke Robinson is a highly unique mystic in that he has a location all unto himself, a dimensional place he transports himself to via a gate box. Trouble is, he can get stuck there, and has to fight to get out. And lastly the researcher Mandy Thompson who puts her occult skills to excellent use, easily finding clues. Trouble with the occult is when you dig too deep… All in all, another excellent round of investigators with highly unique skills and capabilities.

But beyond new story and investigators, “The Dream-Eaters” also adds new elements to the game. Two new card types are added: Bonded and Myriad. Yes, I’m aware Bonded was actually added in the last scenario of “The Circle Undone”, but it was literally only six cards. In this campaign they receive better treatment in terms of quantity, as well as a variety of interesting ways—upgrades, weaknesses, and more. Expanding people’s deck sizes while adding a hint of the occult, Bonded cards are kept in a separate deck, and activated when their parent card is played from the player's deck. The second is Myriad cards, which are a simple thing: three such cards are allowed into the players’ deck rather than the standard two.

And there are further additions to gameplay. Swarm is a new enemy type that plays with the player’s understanding of monsters. Multiple copies of enemies attacking at once, players will need to fight off swarms of monsters—an aspect exploited by spiders, zoogs, and other small, annoying enemies.

I will avoid spoilers, but I have to mention—mention—the two bosses in “The Dream Eaters”. One is perhaps the simplest super villain released to date, and yet it's simplicity works effortlessly well. Essentially a jump scare, players opening closet doors will get a surprise. The other is something much more complex, at least in the physical sense. The layout of the cards appropriately representative, it is likely the most immersive, the easiest to suspend disbelief boss to date. I hope FFG does more of this in the future.

Highly subjective I know, but in my personal list of favorite Arkham campaigns to this point I would rank “The Dream-Eaters” at number two (behind “Path to Carcosa”). The diversity inherent to two interlinked mini-campaigns, the variety of options available in the new investigators and card types, and the levels of story, pulp to meta, conscious to unconscious—all offers players a rich, holistic experience worth savoring. The manner in which the two campaigns bounce off one another is also intelligent and playful. Luke, Patrice, and Tony offer unique special abilities that are huge amounts of fun to play. And the self-awareness with which designers put all the pieces together shows an even greater appreciation of player intelligence. Great campaign, the Arkham bandwagon keeps rollin’ strong.

The following are the seven packs released, though I imagine players will soon be able to purchase them all in one box with FFG's new business model.

The Dream-Eaters (deluxe expansion)

The Search for Kadath

A Thousand Shapes of Horror

Dark Side of the Moon

Point of No Return

Where the Gods Dwell

Weaver of the Cosmos