Sometimes you get an idea. Sometimes you figure something out on your own. In this case, I saw a comment on a Reddit thread on sleeving the Arkham Horror: The Card Game cards. Someone mentioned that the investigator’s card has the same height as the width of a regular card: 2.5″ (63.5mm).

My goal was to find a mini card sleeve for my investigator cards. Fantasy Flight Games provide sleeves for regular cards and mini cards. The regular-sized card sleeves have a myriad of styles and colors, while the mini sleeves come in one style: clear.

The standard Arkham Horror LCG card size is 2.5″ x 3.5″ (63.5mm x 88mm). The Arkham Horror investigator card size is 1.625″ x 2.4″ (41mm x 63mm). 

I like to use the solid color sleeves for my player cards and have the colors match the character classes:

• Guardian: Blue
• Seeker: Orange / Yellow
• Rogue: Green
• Mystic: Purple
• Survivor: Red
• Neutral: Gray

I have been creating a character and deck of cards for Jenny Barnes, a rogue class. The main class of cards have a green border, so I want to use green-backed card sleeves. I have never been able to find green-backed mini card sleeves, so I decided to make my own out of larger green sleeves.

Follow these steps to make your own investigator sleeves from full-sized card sleeves:

• Get some full-sized sleeves. I like the consistency and quality of the sleeves from Fantasy Flight Games and BCW.
• Insert the investigator card into the sleeve rotated 90 degrees

• Trim the excess sleeve with a sliding paper cutter. I prefer the Cricuit or Fiskars paper trimmers.

I love the results. I hope this hack saves you some time or money. Well, maybe not that, but at least your investigator’s sleeve will match your player card sleeves!

To end the annual event, I attended the Arkham Horror LCG Card Council held live on Twitch to design a new card for Arkham Horror: The Card Game. I got to be a part of the in-person card council last at Arkham Nights 2019 held at the Fantasy Flight Headquarters in Minnesota. I helped design the card, “Shrine of the Moirai BETA”. MJ Newman mentioned during the live stream that this card is coming up in the next cycle!

The Fantasy Flight Team leveraged Twitch polls and chat to help design a new card based on Romana Kendelic’s artwork from Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game. The art is from Ian Hardaway’s Uncanny Presence card from The Sleeper Below series.

The new card will be for Arkham Horror: The Card Game and will be tagged with “BETA” until it is play-tested and released with an upcoming campaign. We spent over an hour debating the class, what makes this card playable, its name, its trait, and what the card does. The conversation + chat + and polls made the whole process enjoyable and productive.

Here’s what the “Exiled Council” came up with…

• Name: Burn After Reading
• Class: Survivor
• Level: 1
• Text: Discard or Exile a non-weakness card in your hand or play area. Discover clues equal to half that cards level rounded up. If you exile that card, remove one doom from the current agenda.
• Cost: 2
• Trait: Insight
• Icons: Will & Intellect

Fantasy Flight Games announced on Twitter that they made a print-and-play version of the card and linked to a high-resolution PDF in the game’s support area. Some changes were made.

Thanks to Fantasy Flight and especially, MJ Newman, Jeremy Zwirn, and Evan Johnson for hosting a great event! Hopefully, we will get to see each other next year!

I was looking around BoardGameGeek and Etsy for any player mats that I could print out and use to play Arkham Horror: The Card Game. While searching, I thought of an idea. “What if the player mat was on transparent acrylic? Then, you could see the awesome artwork on the game table through the player mat.”

I reached out to MomoMonsterCo on Etsy to see if they would provide the artwork assets for their player mats as individual files with transparent backgrounds. They sent me a link to the files a few days later and I had them printed on acrylic using the Custom Acrylic Signs option on Signs.com. These were not cheap, but I really love how they turned out.

In most cases, a game table is just a dedicated surface for playing all manner of tabletop games. They usually include a spongy surface for being able to pick up cards and tokens easily, a wide frame to place your cards or area to write, and cup holders.

I decided to make my own gaming table.

The decision to make my own versus buying was helped by the fact that I had an attic filled with two-by-four pieces of wood and a giant 6’x3′ sheet of subflooring. The previous homeowner was in the middle of some unfinished woodworking projects. Since the sub-flooring sheet was 6’x3′, I made the dimensions of the game table the same. This also means that many gaming mats will fit perfectly. Gaming mats are like giant mouse pads with a print and made of a spongy backing.

Design

My design was simple. Build a 6’x’3 frame out of the two-by-fours. Add table legs. Put 6’x3′ subflooring panel on top. And, finally frame the whole thing to give the table a small ledge. I used 6″ oak panels from Lowes to build the ledge. The ledge is a separate piece so I can swap out the gaming mat if needed or clean up spills without ruining the whole thing.

Tools and Things

I didn’t have any woodworking tools. So, I assembled a short list of tools and things needed to build this table…

1. Snacks
2. Beverages
3. Friend with tools
   1. Miter saw
   2. Power drill and screwdriver
   3. Power sander
4. Screws
5. Corner brackets
6. Sandpaper
7. Pre-stain
8. Stain
9. Polycrylic sealer

To keep the costs down, I bribed a friend to help me. They get a lifetime pass for gaming action on a cool DIY game table… and, snacks and beverages. The main tool needed was a miter saw. This was used to make nice straight cuts. Other tools needed: a power drill to drill holes for screws and a screwdriver to screw the screws into the holes.

Table Frame

I was only trying to make sure that the outside dimensions were 6’x3′. I made up the configuration on the spot.

Table Ledge

The ledge acts as a frame around the sub-flooring panel. This gives you a nice place to hold cards or write notes. I used corner brackets to square up the ledge and used the sub-flooring panel as my guide.

Table Assembly

The table is three separate parts: frame, subflooring surface, and ledge. Obligatory selfie. First Game = Arkham Horror: The Card Game.

Finishing

For a while, I tried to talk myself out of sanding and staining the wood. The wood had sharp edges and rough spots. It took some convincing, but I decided to finish this off and it made a huge difference. The finishing process took way longer than the assembly.

My Process

• Sanding – so much sanding – this creates a lot of dust – wear a mask – be prepared to clean up dust for months – use 80 grit first, 120 second, and 220 third – be patient
• Pre-staining – apply pre-stain to the wood and let dry – this really helps with staining or so YouTube says
• Staining – apply stain within 2 hours of the pre-stain and repeat
• Sealing – use a water-based polyacrylic sealer to seal the ledge – this will help with spills and cup rings and protect the wood or so YouTube says – let dry for 30 minutes – lightly sand with 220 grit and repeat two more times – it’s worth doing this as many times as you can fit into a weekend

Going Next Level

Deep-Cut Studio creates custom gaming mats for any size surface. I uploaded a custom piece of art to enhance my Arkham Horror: The Card Game campaign. Deep-Cut is based in England and it took less than two weeks to get my custom gaming mat. More on that at a later date.

Here’s how to get an email when the latest news gets announced on the Fantasy Flight Games blog:

• Sign up for a new account at IFTTT
• Select the “rss to email” applet
• Click Connect
• Enter the Feed URL: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/rss/?tags=arkham-horror-the-card-game
• Click Save

Check out more Arkham Horror: The Card Game tips, checklists, and stories chronicling my latest game obsession.

I am obsessed with Arkham Horror: The Card Game and going mad trying to collect everything related to the game. This is my story. Fantasy Flight Games announced Arkham Horror: The Card Game on August 2, 2016, on their website. Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a Living Card Game® based on H.P. Lovecraft’s stories, monsters, and madness.

Collecting a non-collectible card game

A “living card game” means that all of the cards that you need are in the box, and the game can evolve with add-on packs that add new characters, enemies, and plot points. The game is compelling to me. It feels like the right balance of story and strategy… and luck. I am also a collector. I like to collect things related to things that I like. In this case, it should have been easy to collect all of the Arkham Horror: The Card Game cards since they release all of the cards and they aren’t collectible. In a few cases, Fantasy Flight Games released “promo” cards and early versions of the add-on packs. They released these packs at Gen Con, Arkham Nights, or bundled them with books. This interested me even more, to make sure I attend the events or pre-order things directly from Fantasy Flight Games. I keep up-to-date by following the Arkham Horror: The Card Game blog at Fantasy Flights Games, the FFG Organized Play Facebook group, new eBay auctions, and the Arkham Horror LCG subreddit.

Following Arkham Horror News

It’s hard to follow what’s going on with Arkham Horror: The Card Game without consistently checking out the Fantasy Flight Games blog. Fantasy Flight publishes many posts a month and they cover many of their active game properties. The news articles about Arkham Horror LCG are important. Fantasy Flight often announces special events where they give out promos for participation or when they announce new products where you get promos by pre-ordering directly from them. It is possible to generate an RSS feed of just Arkham Horror: The Card Game news. I use IFTTT to monitor the RSS feed and send me an email when new posts are published about Arkham Horror LCG.

• Sign up for a new account at IFTTT
• Select the “rss to email” applet
• Click Connect
• Enter the Feed URL: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/rss/?tags=arkham-horror-the-card-game
• Click Save

Arkham Nights 2016

The first Arkham Horror: The Card Game promo debuted at Arkham Nights 2016, held at The Fantasy Flight Games Center in Roseville, MN, on October 14, 2016. Attendees who preregistered for the event received several promos, including an advanced copy of the Curse of the Rougarou scenario pack.

I didn’t attend this event, but this is when I started to notice the extra promos. I asked someone from Fantasy Flights Games about promos. They said the promos should be considered prizes for event participation. Right after Arkham Nights 2016, I noticed people selling their Arkham Horror promos on eBay. This is where avid collectors started their collecting journeys. Very few complete sets of promos exist in the wild, making Arkham Horror LCG fun to collect.

The Investigators of Arkham Horror Book Release

Shortly after Arkham Nights 2016, Fantasy Flight Games announced the release of The Investigators of Arkham Horror, a full-sized, premium book about the investigators. If you were able to pre-order this book, you also received promo Arkham Horror: The Card Game cards, a playmat, and four 12″x18″ posters. The promo cards featured Marie Lambeau and included her investigator card, mini-card, and two signature cards. The playmat is extremely rare and features the boundless and chaotic Ancient One known as Azathoth, with art by Brian Valenzuela.

Arkham Horror: The Card Game – Promo Card Checklist

• 2016-11 – The Investigators of Arkham Horror book pre-order – Marie Lambeau investigator card
• 2016-11 – The Investigators of Arkham Horror book pre-order – Marie Lambeau mini-card
• 2016-11 – The Investigators of Arkham Horror book pre-order – Mystifying Song
• 2016-11 – The Investigators of Arkham Horror book pre-order – Baron Samedi
• 2017-08 – Gen Con – Leo de Luca – Level 0
• 2017-08 – Gen Con – Leo de Luca – Level 1
• 2017-10 – Arkham Nights – Unexpected Courage
• 2017-10 – Arkham Nights – The Council’s Coffer BETA
• 2017-10 – Arkham Nights – The 13th Vision BETA
• 2017-12 – Invocation – Daisy Walker investigator card
• 2017-12 – Invocation – Daisy Walker plastic mini-card
• 2017-10 – Hour of the Huntress book bundle – Jenny Barnes investigator card
• 2017-10 – Hour of the Huntress book bundle – Jenny Barnes mini-card
• 2017-10 – Hour of the Huntress book bundle – Green Man Medallion
• 2017-10 – Hour of the Huntress book bundle – Sacrificial Beast
• 2017-10 – Hour of the Huntress book bundle – Rules Reference card
• 2017-12 – Ire of the Void book bundle – Norman Withers investigator card
• 2017-12 – Ire of the Void book bundle – Norman Withers mini-card
• 2017-12 – Ire of the Void book bundle – Split the Angle
• 2017-12 – Ire of the Void book bundle – Vengeful Hound
• 2017-12 – Ire of the Void book bundle – Rules Reference card
• 2018-02 – The Dirge of Reason book bundle – Roland Banks investigator card
• 2018-02 – The Dirge of Reason book bundle – Roland Banks mini-card
• 2018-02 – The Dirge of Reason book bundle – Mysteries Remain
• 2018-02 – The Dirge of Reason book bundle – The Dirge of Reason
• 2018-02 – The Dirge of Reason book bundle – Rules Reference card
• 2018-04 – To Fight the Black Wind book bundle – Carolyn Fern investigator card
• 2018-04 – To Fight the Black Wind book bundle – Carolyn Fern mini-card
• 2018-04 – To Fight the Black Wind book bundle – Foolishness
• 2018-04 – To Fight the Black Wind book bundle – To Fight the Black Wind
• 2018-04 – To Fight the Black Wind book bundle – Rules Reference card
• 2018-06 – The Deep Gate book bundle – Silas Marsh investigator card
• 2018-06 – The Deep Gate book bundle – Silas Marsh mini-card
• 2018-06 – The Deep Gate book bundle – Nautical Prowess
• 2018-06 – The Deep Gate book bundle – Dreams of the Deep
• 2018-06 – The Deep Gate book bundle – Rules Reference card
• 2018-08 – Gen Con – Lucky! – Level 0
• 2018-08 – Gen Con – Lucky! – Level 2
• 2018-10 – Arkham Nights – Drawn to the Flame
• 2018-10 – Arkham Nights – Dendromorphosis BETA
• 2018-10 – Arkham Nights – Ikiaq BETA
• 2019-08 – Gen Con – Alice Luxley
• 2019-08 – Gen Con – Subject 8L-08 (5″x7″ card)
• 2019-10 – Arkham Nights – Shortcut (alternative art by Derk Venneman)
• 2019-10 – Arkham Nights – Purifying Corruption BETA
• 2019-10 – Arkham Nights – Shrine of the Moirai BETA
• 2020-06 – Blood of Baalshandor book bundle – Dexter Drake investigator card
• 2020-06 – Blood of Baalshandor book bundle – Dexter Drake mini-card
• 2020-06 – Blood of Baalshandor book bundle – Molly Maxwell ally card
• 2020-06 – Blood of Baalshandor book bundle – Yaztaroth weakness card
• 2020-06 – Blood of Baalshandor book bundle – Rules Reference card
• 2020-07 – Invocation 2020 – Copycat – Level 3
• 2020-07 – Invocation 2020 – Nathaniel Cho (alternative art)
• 2020-07 – Invocation 2020 – Harvey Walters (alternative art)
• 2020-07 – Invocation 2020 – Winifred Habbamock (alternative art)
• 2020-07 – Invocation 2020 – Jacqueline Fine (alternative art)
• 2020-07 – Invocation 2020 – Stella Clark (alternative art)
• 2020-11 – Dark Revelations book bundle – Gloria Goldberg investigator card
• 2020-11 – Dark Revelations book bundle – Gloria Goldberg mini-card
• 2020-11 – Dark Revelations book bundle – Ruth Westmacott ally card
• 2020-11 – Dark Revelations book bundle – Liber Omnium Finium weakness card
• 2020-11 – Dark Revelations book bundle – Rules Reference card
• 2021-10 – Arkham Nights – Wendy Adams (alternative art)
• 2021-10 – Arkham Nights – “Skids” O’Toole (alternative art)
• 2021-10 – Arkham Nights – Agnes Baker (alternative art)
• 2021-10 – Arkham Nights – Daisy Walker (alternative art)
• 2021-10 – Arkham Nights – Roland Banks (alternative art)

Arkham Horror: The Card Game – Promo Scenario Deck Checklist

• 2016 – Arkham Nights – Curse of the Rougarou
• 2017 – Gen Con – The Labyrinths of Lunacy (over-sized packaging, branded with GEN CON 2017 on the front, and tagged “NOT FOR SALE” on the back)
• 2017 – Arkham Nights – The Labyrinths of Lunacy (over-sized packaging, branded with Arkham Nights 2017 on the front, and tagged “NOT FOR SALE” on the back)
• 2018 – Gen Con – The Eternal Slumber (tagged “NOT FOR SALE” on the back)
• 2018 – Arkham Nights – The Night’s Usurper (tagged “NOT FOR SALE” on the back)
• 2019 – Gen Con – The Blob That Ate Everything (tagged 05/2019 on back)
• 2021 – Arkham Nights – Machinations Through Time (over-sized packaging, tagged Arkham Nights 2021 on front)

Arkham Horror: The Card Game – Promo Playmat Checklist

• 2016 – The Investigators of Arkham Horror book pre-order – Azathoth playmat with art by Brian Valenzuela
• 2017 – Invocation – Invoke Thy Name – Eixodolon’s Pet playmat
• 2017 – Holiday Sale – The Jolly Ancient One playmat
• 2017 – Holiday Sale – Beyond the North Portal playmat
• 2018 – Arkham Nights / Invocation – No Rest for the Wicked – Invocation 2018 playmat with artwork from The Night’s Usurper scenario
• 2019 – Gen Con – The Blob That Ate Everything “The Viscous Blob” playmat with art by Guillaume Ducos
• 2020 – Invocation – Copycat
• 2021 – Arkham Nights – Final Hour (goodie bag)
• 2021 – Arkham Nights – Altar (raffle)
• 2021 – Arkham Nights – The Worm (raffle)
• 2021 – Arkham Nights – Patrice Hathaway (raffle)

• 2022 – Arkham Nights – Orphic Theory
• 2022 – Arkham Nights – Gargoyle
• 2022 – Arkham Nights – The Raven Quill

Arkham Horror: The Card Game – Promo Poster Checklist

• 2016 – The Investigators of Arkham Horror book pre-order – Four (4) 12″x18″ art prints with art by Adam S. Doyle, Tomasz Jedruszek, and Magali Villeneuve
• 2018 – Arkham Nights – The King in Yellow 13.5″x19.5″ poster
• 2019 – Gen Con – The Blob That Ate Everything 17″x11″ poster
• 2019 – The Dream-Eaters pre-order – Eight (8) 5″x7″ art prints
• 2019 – Murder at the Excelsior Hotel pre-order – Four (4) 5″x7″ art prints
• 2019 – The Search for Kadath pre-order – Four (4) 5″x7″ art prints
• 2019 – A Thousand Shapes of Horror pre-order – Four (4) 5″x7″ art prints
• 2019 – Dark Side of the Moon – pre-order – Four (4) 5″x7″ art prints
• 2019 – Point of No Return – pre-order – Four (4) 5″x7″ art prints
• 2019 – Where the Gods Dwell – pre-order – Four (4) 5″x7″ art prints
• 2019 – Weaver of the Cosmos – pre-order – Four (4) 5″x7″ art prints
• 2019 – Arkham Nights – “Skids” O’Toole poster
• 2022 – Arkham Nights – Horrific Journeys – 8″x12″ poster

Arkham Horror: The Card Game – Book Checklist

• 2016 – The Investigators of Arkham Horror book
• 2017 – Hour of the Huntress novella
• 2017 – Ire of the Void novella
• 2018 – The Dirge of Reason novella
• 2018 – To Fight the Black Wind novella
• 2018 – The Deep Gate novella
• 2020 – Blood of Baalshandor novella (pre-order includes bookmark featuring cover art by Shane Pierce)
• 2020 – Dark Revelations novella

Tips

Buying Legit Promos

Some promos have shown up on eBay. Be careful when bidding, buying, or making offers. Some promos get released version by Fantasy Flight Games in later releases. Make sure to check the icons at the bottom of the card. For example, Arkham Nights and Invocation promos are marked with a “fire” symbol and the year. The version that was released later has the standard scenario markings. Scenario decks released in advance often have a “not for sale” tag near the UPC on the back, but not all.

Protecting Arkham Horror Tokens

Arkham Horror LCG chaos tokens are 1″ (25.4mm) in diameter. I like to put the tokens inside of a coin capsule. This makes for a nice chunky feel in the chaos bag. I recommend 26mm coin capsules to house the Arkham Horror chaos tokens. They are sold in lots of 100 on Amazon. There are many brands of coin capsules and they all vary in quality. Expect 5% of the coin capsules to have scratches or cracks, or they won’t stay closed.

Want to Buy

I don’t have everything related to Arkham Horror: The Card Game, but I am looking for a few things. If you have one of these items, contact me. I have money, or we can make a trade.

• 2016 – Arkham Nights – Elder sign symbol emblazoned chaos bag
• 2017 – Arkham Nights – Auto-fail symbol emblazoned chaos bag
• 2017 – Holiday Sale – The Jolly Ancient One playmat
• 2017 – Holiday Sale – Beyond the North Portal playmat
• 2021 – Arkham Nights – Playmats (Violin, Worm, and Altar)

References

• ArkhamDB
• The Atlas Agency
• BoardGameGeek Arkham Horror: The Card Game wiki
• Fantasy Flight News

At the Buckeye Game Fest in 2015, I was able to meet and chat with the legendary game design. He was awesome and told me about the early days, mail order games, and reworking the original game to what it is now.