New Investigators - Basics Of Play

Well Met, Investigators:

This article is primarily for all new investigators out there but will also be useful for veterans curious about the interface for play in Eldritch Horror: Digital Edition. The gameplay of Eldritch Horror takes place over three phases: the Action Phase, the Encounter Phase and the Mythos Phase.

In the Action Phase, investigators perform actions to move about the game board and prepare for the tasks ahead.

In the Encounter Phase, investigators fight Monsters or resolve encounter cards on their current space.

In the Mythos Phase, The Lead Investigator resolves one Mythos card. These cards often advance Doom, spawn Gates or raise other challenges that investigators will need to overcome.

For the digital edition, the Action Phase primarily takes place here at what CSDI internally calls ‘the map screen’:

As can be seen, in this instance, an investigator was acquiring a ship ticket. This is one of several actions an investigator can take. During the Action Phase, the investigators may perform the following actions with each action receiving a special symbol denoting the button you would press to do it in the digital edition. They are:

• Steam post image Travel

• Steam post image Rest

• Steam post image Trade

• Steam post imageSteam post image Prepare For Travel

• Steam post image Acquire Assets

• Component Actions*

  *We’re not going to be covering these today due to article length. They will be activated in different ways than the standard buttons.

In the Encounter Phase, players will be presented with encounter cards and monsters, which will alternate them between their view of the map and a roll screen:

Steam post image

During this phase, if an investigator is on a space containing one or more monsters, the investigator must resolve a single combat encounter against each monster on that space, one at a time, in the order of the investigator’s choice. After an investigator resolves all combat encounters, if there are no monsters on the space, the investigator may resolve another encounter.

The Mythos Phase will return players to the map screen. During this phase, the Lead Investigator draws the top card of the Mythos deck and resolves it. In Eldritch Horror: Digital Edition, many of the effects of Mythos cards have been streamlined and will be handled automatically for you. That doesn’t mean your investigators will be completely passive, however.

If you want to explore more of the phases of Eldritch Horror: Digital Edition, we invite you to join us.