Lurker at the Threshold: Better than the Average Small Box

So the seventh Arkham Horror expansion was released recently; the fourth of the "small box" expansions. Having played with it a few times now, I believe it is the best of the small boxes, but I have to admit that's not necessarily saying much... Much as I love Arkham Horror and the system as a whole, I've never been a huge fan of the small box expansions.  Sure, if you're a completist or AH addict you're gonna get 'em, anyway, and it's always nice to have some new items and Mythos cards and location cards to add to the pile, but I've usually been a little disappointed with the specific original content added with each small box expansion.  And it's not a matter of being disappointed with the content itself... some of it is very clever and interesting... but more about the lack of involvement most of that new stuff will end up having in your typical games.  I mean, when was the last time you had a Cult Encounter, or drew an Exhibit item, or were Barred from a neighborhood, or received a Blight?  Sure, one of those things will pop up every once in a while, but unless you specifically feature a particular small box expansion in a game, you're not likely to come across those things very often.  Heck, even when you do feature a small box expansion you may not happen to encounter any of those things.  When you throw down $25 for an expansion, you kind of expect to see it come into play with at least some measure of importance.  In that sense, Lurker at the Threshold seems to be more worthwhile than the others in that it includes a few things that are guaranteed to show up in your games.  The value those things will add to your games may not necessarily be that high, but at least you'll get to experience them.

Here's what's new in the Lurker expansion...