If I had to choose one, should I go for this game or Arkham Horror? I see similarities...

Besides the fact that both have horror elements, what similarities do you see?

As I saw from this forum Arkham is a must have! No one writes something big for Dracula.

I personally have both Dracula and Arkham Horror and AH gets played much more often.  But then, my wife loves Arkham and is reluctant to give Dracula an honest try.

She got frustrated with trying to find Dracula pretty early on and hasn't really wanted to play it since.

I'm a big fan of both, but I do find the Arkham is a much richer game.

I'm a fan of both as well, but they are really two very different games with very different play styles. 'Monopoly' and 'Acquire' both have a financial theme but they can't really be compared on the same plane. I'd like to help the thread starter out, but unless he can give me some data to work with he might as well be asking which color he should like better.

Both games are great. My group loves both games - it really depends on whether we're in a "screw with each other" frame of mind or whether we're in a "let's work togther" frame of mind. Whilst there is certainly an element of cooperation in FoD there's also a highly competitive edge against the player running Dracula. AH on the other hand is a purely co-op with the players fighting the game.

I also find that some players new to FoD are uncomfortable with the fact that they have to search for Dracula and they perceive this to be a weakness in the game. My group doesn't have this problem and we get a great kick out of using strategy and tactics whilst the Dracula player slowly sweats wondering if his plan will succeed or not.

Truth be told I really prefer FoD but we play AH a hell of a lot and both games are, IMHO, must haves. 

I also love both games, and agree that the two games can almost not be compared.  They are both extremely evocative of their themes (an FFG specialty), and last a similar amount of time (perhaps Fury is a bit shorter at 2-2.5 hours in my experience).

Remember that Fury is largely a deduction game, and one of cat/mouse, with one player playing the "enemy," such that it is not a true co-op.   Playing Drac can be challenging, but you get better with experience -- timing is of the essence.  For me, playing Dracula against the heroes is great (even if I lose) -- and a better experience than playing Arkham.  But thats just me.

Arkham is a true co-op, and is very fiddly (I dont mind this so much, but many do).  It gets better with an expansion or two, so if you are not prepared to buy King in Yellow and/or Dunwich, replayability declines just a little bit, but youll still get plenty out of the base game.  Im a little put off by the skill-sliders on each character, and think that abilities could have been handled better.  The text on all of the cards, the different monsters, the experiences in different dimensions, and the HIGHLY variable gaming experience when adding expansions, playing with different GOOs/Heralds/Guardians, and invoking differenct optional rules (like wounds, corruption, etc) make this game an extremely replayable "toolkit" when you own all of it!

The weird thing is, even though Arkham Horror is truly a monster of a game with all the expansions and whatnot, you will probably play it much more often thn Fury of Dracula. Fury of Dracula is a great game as is Arkham Horror, and they both take some time to play (read 4 hours?). Still it feels easier to get Arkham Horror to the table then you would get FoD. Fury can be quite an intensive game. Not in bookkeeping like Arkham, but in the play itself. Deducing Dracula's movement and double guessing the Hunters for 4 straight hours can be uhmm tiring. In a good way, but tiring nonetheless. Fury is truly that game you get out on special occassion like Halloween and other Horror-themed nights and people will probably enjoy it and talk about moments in the game but next week , they'll play Arkham Horror, because while AH looks really heavy its much more let-go and just enjoy the show type-of play.

So there's some totally personal advice for you. They're both great games. and you wont regret buying either but id say get Arkham Horror for value vs play, and then get FoD sometime later when you hit the jackpot and you will have a serious quality game perfect for those special occassions that people will remember.

Well, both games are great, but our play group really loves competition and playing against each other, and so Arkham Horror never really did find a place in our regular boardgame-evenings. I dont know why, we all love the Cthulhu-background in Arkham Horror and the effect to refind something from Lovecrafts books in the game is always really nice, but after a few games we all get bored of playing against the game itself with the random movements and so on...

I really think this is the key, which game is the best for you and your group. Find out if they prefer playing AGAINST or together  which each other.

Both great games - I have a personal preferences for Dracula, as do the rest of my gaming group, but they are different beasts.

Arkham is a game where you and your friends are trying to beat the board/scenario.

Dracula is where you and your friends are trying to beat the dracula player. Whenever I teach people to play Fury of Dracula, the only rules they need to understand is turn sequence and movement - all the rest is intuative. And i spend my time saying 'Don't worry about the rules, don't worry about what can happen - just try to think what you think he (pointing at the Dracula player) might be doing!'. It's a game of second guessing your gaming friends ;)

silenceindigo said:

I had exactly the same dilemma;

after reading a bit, decision is made: buy both :)

I think one big reason why Arkham Horror has so many post in the forum is the fact that the game really has a ton of strange rules and situations that isn't really well-explained in the normal rules (or the FAQ that came later on).

Dracula is much easier to grip and play so people might not discuss the game as much but that doesn't make it a bad game...

Svavelvinter said:

Of course, AH has base game + 5 expansions vs FoD base game, so there is a lot more material in AH which naturally leads to more rule discussions. Not saying FoD is a bad game either, just making an observation.

AH (with expansions) is simply a HUGE game, and in my opinion one of the best ever made. I also enjoy FoD. They are both co-operative games (except for the Count of course). Arkham is full of depth, luck and a lot of player interaction. Fury is to me, more of a mind game, trying to outguess the Dracula player. AH plays great as a slolitaire game, as an added bonus.

The obvious solution is to buy both. You won't regret the decision for a moment.

Good gaming,

Count Crapula

You have to ask yourself what are your future plans? Is it only a matter of time before you buy the both of them or do you really have to choose only one?

If you might buy both later on then I say start with Dracula, since it's easier to grasp and explain to fellow players if they are unfamiliar with the complexity of Fantasy Flight Games... 

If you have to choose only one then I say get Arkham Horror. If you choose Dracula you will constantly ask youself what you might be missing or why so many people keep praising this great game. Keep in mind though that if you buy the basegame of Arkham Horror it is only a matter of time before you start glimpsing at the expansions as well. This will suck your wallet dry to get them all but it's worth it in the long run. Do however, play the basegame a couple of times first to get a feeling for the game and do involve your friends before you toss all the expansions into the pile. Also rember that Arkham Horro as of today rarely work with all the expansions at once. It's much better to add 1 or 2 and stick with those for a while before changing into other expansions based on what kind of game you seek.

I have both games as others have said they do provide diffrent experiences,it depends what your looking for in a game as to which you prefer.AH does get a lot more attention as its a more complex game (even without the expansions)and it has the whole Lovecraft Mythos going for it.

Drac is limited to 1 book as background & although some alternative Vampires & Hunters are given at BGG your still chasing a Vampire around Europe.It's still a great game so get both.

OD