Elder Sign: Omens Review

It's hard to be a fan of board games and not be aware of US based publisher Fantasy Flight Games; not only have they worked with some of geekdom's most treasured franchises, but they've delved in to the dark depths that is the Lovecraftian Mythos and produced some truly chilling games. One of their latest is a standalone card game dubbed 'Elder Sign' and iOS gamers can now get their hands on a digital version tweaked for the platform under Elder Sign: Omens.

The premise is a simple one - you are in control of a group of four people, each with distinct abilities, but all seeking to find enough 'Elder Sign' tokens to prevent the summoning of the dark deity known as Azathoth. In practice this is far harder as you scour a museum packed with haunted items and evil secrets, while monsters and cultists constantly work against you.

Each turn sees you control one of the four available characters and choosing their destination, be it one of the challenges on the board or cowering at the entrance to regain sanity, health and maybe purchase some items. Completing challenges requires you to generate and use randomly assigned tokens on foes or strange objects, unlocking their secrets or defeating the enemy, scoring loot and possibly an Elder Sign in the process.

This is further complicated by some tasks having heavy penalties that affect the game and many challenges will take a toll on your sanity or health regardless of how well you've done, adding a lot of strategy in what order the areas should be completed in.

If you're ever lost as to what to do you can load up one of several comprehensive videos that explain the game mechanics and user interface to help familiarize you with the game.

Elder Sign: Omens is a board game truly worthy of its inspirations, though this also has its draw-backs; the game is unforgiving and approaching challenges casually will make it almost impossible to win. Though this is part of what makes the game so attractive - you're up against truly horrific odds and even in success a penalty must be paid.

Fans of Lovecraft and board games in general should make this their next purchase.