Excellent game. Expect to die. A lot.

First of all, in the last week Ive played between 2 to 3 dozen rounds of this and have yet to beat the baddie once. Let me tell you why that is, and also why this game is a fantastic little horror gem. I have a deep seated love for the Lovecraft mythos and a general understanding of what a game emulating Lovecrafts themes should include, and this game does it well.

Anyone that says this game is "too hard" either 1) doesnt understand the nature of the game or 2) the nature of Lovecrafts works.

Let me address these 2 points. First of all, the nature of the game: the foundation of this game is dice rolls. Your ultimate success is based on chance and is altogether subject to RNG. There are certain guidelines that the game abides by (for example, difficulty levels, investigator selections, tool use timing and risks taken) and there is little that you, as a player, can do to manipulate the random aspects of this game. That doesnt mean you are powerless. As I listed above there are ways you can guide the general direction of the game, and influence ultimate goals, abilities and requirements.

Second, subject matter. Lovecrafts universe is a scary place and you as a member of the human race most often will end up succumbing to madness and ultimate failure, which you should expect from a cosmic horror game or piece of literature. Even when you "win", youre still just a meaningless human that doesnt hold a candle to the madness and chaos that is the eldritch existence and its implications.

My first game I had no idea what I was doing and was going on adventures left and right with no thought to what I could do to affect the outcome and often ended in very little success (that is, total failure). I estimate Ive about 2 or 3 dozen plays or so. My most recent game played I got to 9 elder signs (of 10 needed... So close!), and pulled an unfortunate combo of 2 doom tokens at the stroke of midnight which put me over the limit and ended the game. So I have gotten close to winning, once.

It should also be noted that Ive only played this game on easy, that is, against Yig, and have yet to beat him. There is plenty of replay value here as long as you expect not to "win". You should expect to lose, to fight tooth and nail, to claw your way out of insanitys pit, to assess your last game and try to figure out what you could have done differently, or simply get back on the horse that tossed you for the 50th time.

AngryByte about Elder Sign: Omens for iPhone, v1.4.4