When comparing Arkham Horror vs Dead of Winter, the Slant community recommends Dead of Winter for most people. In the question“What are the best scary board games to play around Halloween?” Dead of Winter is ranked 5th while Arkham Horror is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose Dead of Winter is:
Dead of Winter is, on the surface, a cooperative game where players work together to survive an apocalypse. However, every game has roughly a 50/50 chance of a hidden traitor mixed in with the players, whose goal includes making all of the other players lose the game. In every game, regardless of the presence of a traitor, the players will also have their own secret objectives, many of which might look suspicious. So, even if you don't have a traitor in the game, if one of your friends seems like they are hoarding food, you're going to start questioning them. This environment of paranoia is extremely enjoyable.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Lots of expansion boards available
Currently there are 8 licensed expansions on the manufacturer's site. There are also many fan made expansions available online as well thanks to the games large and friendly community. Both the manufacturer's and community expansions add plenty of new content to the game including cards, investigators, board addons, Heralds (mini-bosses), Ancient Ones, spells, and items.
Pro Scales well from solo to large groups
The game supports up to 8 players, which is something of a feat for a game of its size and components. Makes for a great party game due to the size of players it allows. However, at the lower end it can also be enjoyed with one or two players, making it great for intimate gaming session. No matter how few players you have available, you'll be able to enjoy the game.
Pro Great challenge for those that enjoy difficult games
The win conditions of the game are quite slim and require one to know the rules ins and outs, so while not a game for casual players it is a game for the hardcore who enjoy a challenge.
Pro Well-crafted
Big map, lots of items and heroes with their own graphics, player figures on plastic stands; lots of tokens and monster cards made of firm cardboard.
Pro Lots of choices
Each location offers you different opportunities to trade for and to explore. The imaginary hero class (like tank, mage, support, stealth) is up to you and usually not well-tied to hero abilities.
Even when apocalypse comes, you still (might) have a chance to defeat the planetary evil.
Pro Great atmosphere of Lovecraft tales
Your weak heroes have to dive into parallel realities, use magic, defeat unknown guests and apply unique artifacts. Each game's location has its own secrets and 'contacts' with various outcomes — good and bad.
Pro Role-oriented
You either choose by yourself or get a random hero, and play with them the whole party (if you were not killed, of course). You and your hero have skills, items, unique qualities and effects, and their story.
The game itself encourages role-playing elements to dive into the Lovecraftian environment.
Pro Highly cooperative
Though the rules do highlight "best players of the game" via basic calculations, the game itself is aimed towards collaboration. To win, everyone must commit to the victory, and you often forget about the existence of a "best player".
The game allows players to exchange items or help other players via skills, special abilities and magic. In practice, players often compete their tasks in pairs and more, e.g. they close gates in pairs, where one has to clean the entrance from monsters, and the other seals the gates.
Pro Each game is unique
The game starts by choosing a random boss and/or heroes. Each turn begins with the myth phase, whose effects apply from a random card in the deck. These effects include monster movement, game-wide buffs and de-buffs, quests, monster gate breaches, etc. You will never know if you will be able to win the game.
Items and skills are usually taken randomly too.
Pro Spreading mistrust amongst your friends
Dead of Winter is, on the surface, a cooperative game where players work together to survive an apocalypse. However, every game has roughly a 50/50 chance of a hidden traitor mixed in with the players, whose goal includes making all of the other players lose the game. In every game, regardless of the presence of a traitor, the players will also have their own secret objectives, many of which might look suspicious. So, even if you don't have a traitor in the game, if one of your friends seems like they are hoarding food, you're going to start questioning them. This environment of paranoia is extremely enjoyable.
Pro Great horror story
One of the core mechanisms of Dead of Winter is the Crossroads card system. These are cards that are read, in secret, by another player while you take your turn. If, during your turn, you take a specific action (maybe searching at the police station, or moving a character), play is interrupted, and a short blurb of story text is read. Then, the players are faced with a choice that has consequences in-game. Do you help out the band of survivors that showed up at your colony, adding more helpless mouths to feed but gaining more workers in the process? Or, do you send them on their way, knowing the chances of survival are grim? It's wonderfully thematic, immersive storytelling that, unlike many other random event systems in games, is directly triggered by the players' actions.
Cons
Con Very unaproachable
Arkham Horror has a lot of moving parts, its rules are difficult to follow, and the gameplay itself is pretty difficult. This all adds up to a game that is very unapproachable and will take the most dedicated of players to really understand the whole concept put forth.
Con Huge rules
24+ pages of rules. Though they are well-written, highly illustrated, enriched with small data tables, it is easy to forget small details, especially when some critical rule is applied, e.g., for just one type of bosses.
Con Long
The game is very long (several hours).
Con Playing alone or in small team (2-3) is usually easy and boring
Arkham is best enjoyed when played by teams of 4 and more.
Con Long preparation time
Laying out all the things may eat up to 30 minutes (without extensions).
Con Hard to find
It was actually released in 2005 and currently out of stock at official page.
Con Unwinnable for some players
Occasionally through luck of the draw or poor decision making, a player's Secret Objective will become clearly un-achievable, or the achievement of which will lose the game for everyone. When this happens to a non-betrayer mid game it become very frustrating to have to stick it out knowing you cannot share in the win.