Ah, Elder Sign, one of my current favorite games, even though the Luck Entity can be such a tease. Or a monster.

First, non-braggity: my first game of the day was over before it really began. From quick advancement of the doom track for Ithaqua, to investigators not really fit for the adventures pulled from the deck (I went through four investigators, when I play solo with two), to not very good gameplay, I never managed to win over even one adventure. Le sigh.

For the curious, investigators were: Bob Jenkins, Darrell Simmons, Michael McGlen, Vincent Lee. I don’t recall the adventures pulled, except that there was one that locked away a green die, which is even more evil than the ones that lock a red or yellow die.

Braggity: my second game went much better, due mostly to the investigators involved, very slow advancement of the doom track for Hastur, far better luck in adventures and monsters and midnight cards, and better gameplay on my part. Clue tokens, as I’d forgotten in the first game, are the key to success, as they allow you to reroll a failed roll without penalties. You need to attack cards as opportunity allows, as you build up a cache of items.

And allies… allies are certainly powerful, and worth the five trophies you can pull. I only had one, Professor Armitage, but his ability to bring in two spells meant that I could conquer more of the harder adventures earlier in the game, which made end-game easier.

The investigators, who remained relatively hale and hearty throughout the game, were Carolyn Fern and Mandy Thompson (whose two-dice per-turn re-roll saved my bacon at least five times).

I’m incredibly pleased.