Eldritch Horror

To set up Eldritch Horror, each player first chooses a character, each with unique stats, health, sanity, and starting items. Next, an Ancient One is selected, which dictates the specific mystery cards and special encounter decks used for the game. The Doom track is set according to the Ancient One's card. Various other decks, such as Encounter, Mythos, Artifact, Asset, Condition, and Spell cards, are prepared. Finally, tokens like clues and gates are placed on the board based on the number of players, as indicated on the Icon Reference card.

The primary objective of Eldritch Horror is for all players to cooperatively solve three unique mystery cards before the Doom track reaches zero, which would cause the Ancient One to awaken. If the Ancient One does awaken, the objective shifts to solving a final mystery, typically by defeating the Epic Monster associated with the Ancient One.

Each round of Eldritch Horror consists of three phases: the Action Phase, the Encounter Phase, and the Mythos Phase. In the Action Phase, players take turns performing two distinct actions, such as traveling to adjacent spaces (using travel tickets for extra movement), acquiring items from the reserve by passing an Influence test, trading with other investigators on the same space, or resting to regain health and sanity. The Encounter Phase involves resolving events based on the investigator's current location, which could include fighting monsters, gaining clues, closing gates, or resolving other location-specific encounters. The Mythos Phase introduces global effects by drawing a Mythos card, which can cause the Omen track to move, the Doom track to advance, new gates or monsters to spawn, or other detrimental events to occur.

Eldritch Horror is a fully cooperative game, meaning all players either win or lose as a team. There is no individual scoring; success is determined by achieving the collective objective of the game.

The game can end in several ways. Players achieve victory if they successfully solve three mystery cards before the Ancient One awakens. If the Ancient One awakens (due to the Doom track reaching zero), players must then solve a 'Final Mystery,' usually by defeating the Ancient One's Epic Monster; if they succeed, they win. Players lose if the Doom track reaches zero, the Ancient One awakens, and they fail to solve the Final Mystery, or if all investigators are eliminated from the game.