Arkham Horror the Card Game Carnevale of Horrors scenario pack review

I am a big fan of the Arkham Horror Card Game, and when the print on demand pack LINK came out, I wanted to try it.  It was tough, but great fun, and then i saw another print on demand pack has been released.  Carnevale of Horrors... which of course required a good look.  It does have the same issues as the last Print on Demand product i looked at, as in an odd smell, and the cards are a slightly different quality to normal, but sleeved you will not really notice.

"And He shall put on the semblance of men, the waxen mask and the robe that hides, and come down from the world of Seven Suns to mock…"
     –H.P. Lovecraft, Whisperer in Darkness

While revelers throng the streets of Venice, masked conspirators advance their sinister agendas, shadows envelop the city, and something terrible rises from the lagoon…
Now available via FFG's in-house manufacturing, Carnevale of Horrors is a new, sixty-two card scenario for Arkham Horror: The Card Game that may played standalone or may be added as a "side-story" to your ongoing campaign. Its mysteries lead you and your fellow investigators far from the quiet, New England shores of Arkham. You'll cross the Atlantic and partake in the Carnevale of Venice. But while this festival begins with music, mirth, and merriment, it quickly spirals into abject horror.
The sun vanishes, and screams erupt throughout the city. You want to save as many innocents as you can, but everyone is wearing masks. Who are the villains, and who are the victims? In this Carnevale of Horrors, you must race quickly through the layers of mystery and conspiracy, lest the cultists and their sacrifices summon a being of unfathomable malice!

What Lies Beneath the Mask?

Held annually during the ten days leading up to Shrove Tuesday, Carnevale di Venezia is a celebration famous for its music and its masks. Participants parade through the streets with excessive celebration before their Lenten fasts. On its surface, Carnevale is a vibrant and colorful spectacle that runs throughout the entirety of the city, along crowded streets, over bridges, along the Canal-side (Carnevale of Horrors, 9), and past many of the city's most beautiful buildings.
However, there's something odd about this year's celebration. Although it has been a part of the city's cultural identity since the 11th century, Carnevale has been in decline since it was outlawed by the King of Austria in 1797. So why has the celebration now returned to Venice in such strength? Is there a sinister plot behind its return?
Additionally, there's the fact that the festival is almost synonymous with its masks—masks that conceal the identities of all those who wear them. And while each type of mask is steeped in tradition and laden with meaning, you'll be more concerned that as you're scouring the city for clues, they make it nearly impossible to tell an Innocent Reveler (Carnevale of Horrors, 21) from a sinister cultist like Don Lagorio (Carnevale of Horrors, 17) or Salvatore Neri (Carnevale of Horrors, 19).

Accordingly, throughout Carnevale of Horrors, you'll be challenged to navigate the parade of Masked Carnevale-Goers traveling clockwise from location to location. You'll need to be careful as you try to discern the identity of each different Masked Carnevale-Goer, and you'll need to use that information to prevent the city's conspirators from ushering forth a new age of darkness and despair.
If you are playing in Campaign Mode, you may even be able to make use of the adventure's four new Mask assets in your future adventures. Any one of these items may serve you as an invaluable and material reminder of all that you endured and learned in Venice. Of course, you'll first need to spend three experience to travel to Venice, and it will prove no easy matter to thwart the conspirators…

A Celebration of Terror

With its sixty-two cards, Carnevale of Horrors transports you to a city of masks and mysteries. You'll be thrust forward by the momentum of a lively throng, parading through the city streets. You'll feel the impending approach of doom as you try to peer beneath each new mask. As the sun sets and night approaches, you'll recognize—to your dread—that what you first saw in Venice was only the surface. There are far greater and more terrifying truths lying deep beneath the streets and the waters of the city's canals…
Carnevale of Horrors comes with all the act, agenda, location, and encounter cards that you need to enjoy its adventure as a standalone adventure or as a side story in your ongoing Arkham LCG® campaign. Additionally, it comes complete with rules and five player cards—one ally and four Mask assets—that you can only add to your deck after concluding your investigations in Venice.

Now is this a "must have" purchase since it is the print on demand service, and very hard to get in the UK? well, no..... it doesn't contain any of the main campaign story line, so you don't need to worry about missing any of it, but on the other hand.....  It will though add another really fun stand alone adventure to your options, that can have effects that MAY carry on into your campaign.  It was a great adventure, hard though, but a different style to the ones that have come before, and that makes it well worth grabbing if you can pick it up.... then air it (just to get rid of that nasty print on demand smell) and sleeve it and you will have a great fun experience.  Its going to provide a very different playing experience from the main campaign, and that's one of the really exciting things about the game, seeing what the developers can do with it.


It comes in with an RRP of £14.99 so head on over to your local game store and grab yourself a pack.

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