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After a sinister cult conducted an eldritch rite to clear the way for a transdimensional Ancient One and its minions to enter our reality, you arrived at their ritual site too late to prevent the summoning. An iridescent rift slashes across the sky, heralding the nightmarish creatures that pour into the ivy-covered halls of Miskatonic University. As howls and screams cut through the night, there is only one path left for your fearless investigators—hold back the horde and find some way to reverse the summoning. Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce Arkham Horror: Final Hour, a fast-paced, fully cooperative board game playable in under 60 minutes! Your team of one to four investigators must hold back an endless tide of monsters and search for the ritual components you need to put an end to the insanity before time runs out and Arkham falls into chaos. The odds against you are astronomical, but if you fail, this will indeed be the final hour for Arkham… and the world.
THE WRATH OF GODS The cult behind the Ancient One’s summoning may have escaped your grasp, but they left many clues behind. If you can find them and piece together some way to reverse the ritual before time runs out, you may be able to banish the Ancient One and save Arkham. You have eight rounds to accomplish this task before the Ancient One reaches its full strength and the world falls into chaos. Each round begins with the Action Phase—your investigators use their actions to protect the campus and uncover clues while monsters attempt to destroy them. This is followed by the Ancient One Phase, where the summoned beast strengthens its hold on the world, spawning more monsters through the growing gates scattered around the campus. With each round, your task becomes more difficult as more monsters pour in, threatening to overrun the campus. Time is against you, and you must hurry to deduce the proper ritual components before your time runs out.
HUMANITY’S LAST DEFENSE In order to protect the campus and the world from the Ancient One, you will need to step into the role of Arkham’s bravest investigators. You may choose between six of the strongest characters in the Arkham Horror Files universe, including Jenny Barnes, Tommy Muldoon, and more! Each investigator has their own set of skills and unique ways to contribute to the group through their action card deck. These action cards let you move across campus, fight monsters, or search for clues to reverse the ritual. You must prioritize and balance your actions with the rest of your team, working together to defeat enemies and find a way to undo the ritual. Each action card features two effects: a top effect that offers purely positive effects, such as letting you fight monsters or protect locations, and a bottom effect that may allow you to investigate but leaves monsters free to wreak havoc. Your team must resolve the top effect of two action cards and the bottom effect of two cards, which you determine by playing priority cards, your team’s only means of communication. You have no choice which action card you play, but may choose any of the priority cards in your hand to express to your team the importance that your top action be resolved—the lower the number of your priority card, the more likely it is that your top action will be resolved. But even this comes with risks. Certain priority cards may strengthen the Ancient One and put your team in even greater peril. Balance and communication will be the key to your survival.
REVERSE THE RITUAL But just holding back the swarm of monsters will not be enough to save Arkham. In order to end the madness and earn victory, you must also investigate in order to deduce which priority cards you need to help reverse the rite. Even if investigating also causes negative effects, it may be worth it if it brings you closer to your goal! As you search the campus, you’ll flip clue tokens to uncover clues in the form of ritual icons. Each game of Arkham Horror: Final Hour will require a different icon to reverse the ritual and your goal is to have as many priority cards as possible with the right ritual icons when you attempt to undo the rite. In order to deduce which icon you need, you must flip as many clue tokens as possible to eliminate possibilities. When the first copy of an icon is revealed, that icon’s chance of being needed for the ritual is reduced; if another clue token showing that icon is revealed, it is no longer a possibility. Once you determine which icon you need, you are ready to attempt the reversal ritual.
If you are all in agreement, your team of investigators may attempt to undo the cult’s ritual at the end of any round. However, you cannot share information about which priority cards you have in your hand. All you can tell your team is whether you are ready to reverse the ritual or not. When you attempt your own eldritch rite to counter that of the cult, each investigator commits three priority cards from their hand, and if the number of cards with the correct ritual icons is at least twice the number of investigators, the ritual will be undone and Arkham will be saved! But if you fail, the fate of the world is forfeit. The stakes are impossible, the odds astronomical, but you are one thing standing between your city and destruction. You cannot abandon them now. EVERY SECOND COUNTS Now that an Ancient One has broken into our reality, time is running out until the world falls into chaos. Your mission is simple—what has been done must be undone. Head up, eyes forward. No backing down now.
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