Overview
The game board is made up of locations in Lovecraft's fictional city of Arkham during 1926. Street, building and outdoor locations are featured, as well as otherworldly locations that investigators can venture into. Players each have an investigator, represented by a character card, several attributes, and cards representing items, spells, and other things. As game play progresses, gates to these other worlds open and are represented by tokens placed on the board. Monsters from the other worlds enter through the gates and wander the city. The investigators travel through the city, avoiding or fighting the monsters, visiting city locations to acquire tools, and ultimately entering the gates. After traveling through the other world and returning, the investigator can try to close the gate. While exploring city locations or other worlds, the investigators face random challenges and benefits. As gates open, a "Doom Track" advances; if it reaches the end, a powerful horrific creature known as the Ancient One breaks through into Arkham. In the 1987 edition of the game, this ends the game in failure for the players. In the 2005 edition, this (in most cases) begins an endgame in which the players have a small chance to defeat the creature and win; otherwise they lose.
Read more about this topic: Arkham Horror