Arkham Horror LCG’s dog-themed joke game Barkham Horror is actually happening

Fantasy Flight Games, publisher of the Arkham Horror Files series, is turning an April Fool’s Day joke into reality with the release of Barkham Horror: The Meddling of Meowlathotep.

On April 1st of this year, the company announced a new game entitled Barkham Horror: The Dogwich Legacy, which was pitched as the start of an entirely new entry in the Arkham Horror Files series called Barkham Horror: The Card Game. Running off the same engine as co-operative living card game Arkham Horror: The Card Game, The Dogwich Legacy would have been a canine-themed version of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos, with feline atrocities replacing the role of the Old Ones in the original Arkham Horror LCG. If it had actually existed.

If the date of its posting didn’t give it away, then the ludicrousness of the concept most certainly did. Of course there wouldn’t be an Arkham Horror game focused entirely around a conflict between canine investigators and furry abominations.

Until now that is.

Thanks to the positive reception from fans, especially towards the mock versions of several Arkham Horror: TCG cards where characters’ heads were replaced by dogs, Fantasy Flight has decided to release an actual Barkham Horror game.

Barkham Horror: The Meddling of Meowlathotep is an adventure based on the core experience of Arkham Horror: The Card Game. Set in an alternative universe, Barkham Horror posits a world where the forces of uncaring evil are in fact a conglomerate of catty cultists, bent on summoning the terrifying feline monsters who lurk in the depths of space. The Meddling of Meowlathotep is designed to be played as a standalone scenario, but does allow for some investigator decks to include cards from outside the expansion.

Otherwise, players will be choosing from five ‘good boys’ including Bark Harringan, Jacqueline Canine, Kate Winthpup, “Skids” O’ Drool and Duke as they attempt to thwart the ‘catspiracy’ currently happening across six different locations. As with the original Arkham Horror: TCG players will work together to deal with various monster encounters and complete certain missions in order to clear each location.

It’s not just the enemies causing problems, as each canine investigator will have their own weakness as well as their own asset - just like their troubled human counterparts. For example, thanks to his “intense affinity for car rides” “Skids” O’ Drool has the Take The Wheel ability, which whilst dealing damage to enemies also attracts the unwanted attention of Dogcatchers (who prevent your investigators from moving).

The release date of Barkham Horror: The Meddling of Mewolathotep is yet to be announced.