Introduction
Earlier this year, Fantasy Flight Games announced new formats for Arkham Horror the Game – the Legacy Environment, which is Arkham as we have always known it including all cards ever printed, and the Current Environment, which was to be comprised of select products and the most recently released material. At the time of the first announcements, we did not have a full list of what would be in Current. However, with the FAQ update for July 2025, we now have a Beta version of this list making Current truly available now. Because of this, I thought this would now be a good time to write up an overview of the Current Environment, especially for new players trying to make sense of it all or veterans who may be confused.
(Also important note for veterans, the purpose of this essay is to explain and guide, not to criticize the business side of FFG’s direction, break down greater impact on the upcoming design space, or analyze the frustrations that may be arising due to these changes. I have thoughts on these topics too, but you will see only minor commentary on that here. Perhaps in future articles, I will discuss this more!)
Where I’m Coming From
But first, I want to establish who I am so you can hear where this perspective is coming from — and that’s what this article truly strives to be, just one player’s thoughts. All opinions are my own, of course, and I know some may agree or disagree. That’s all fine with me!
So now that that’s stated, hello dear readers! My name is Bryan & I’ve been playing Arkham Horror: The Card Game since it launched in 2016. I’ve been following along with every cycle as they have released, and I own basically a complete Arkham collection (including Barkham Horror!). This game has been a big part of my life as I’ve gone to conventions for it, made lots of great friendships with other players, and of course created this blog (although, I haven’t updated it nearly enough.)
I have also taught many new players to play the game, a few who have even gone on to assemble their own collections and become veterans in their own right. This is what I have in mind particularly as I look at the Current Environment announcement — developing Arkham players I can think of by name and how this news may impact their experience. If you are a new player reading this yourself, then perhaps you may see yourself in that position as well (minus me knowing your name, as that would be creepy!) Hopefully, this establishes why I feel a great pull to consider both Current and Legacy experiences.
What’s In Each Environment
Moving on, let’s establish what’s in each environment. The Legacy Environment is of course easy to describe, as it’s every card without restrictions. If you have a big collection already and you want to use every card in it, rejoice because you can now do what you were already doing but with an extra shiny new term added to it.
Next, let’s look at Current. According to the FAQ, the Current Environment consists of the following things:
- Core Set (whether the old one or the new version)
- The Starter decks (Nathaniel Cho, Harvey Walters, Winifred Habbamock, Jacqueline Fine, Stella Clark)
- The 3 most recently released player card expansions. At the time of writing this is The Scarlet Keys, The Feast of Hemlock Vale, and The Drowned City.
As new cycles come, the oldest cycle will rotate out of Current Environment. So let’s imagine that in 2026 we get the Hypothetical Cthugha Expansion. That means when that arrives, Current will become The Feast of Hemlock Vale, The Drowned City, and the Hypothetical Cthugha Expansion, with The Scarlet Keys getting knocked out.
Because of this, I would like to suggest to new players with limited resources to skip The Scarlet Keys investigator expansion if you have to skip one. Not only is this set going to be knocked out of Current (highly likely in under 1 year if previous release patterns can be relied on), this investigator expansion also includes a lot of material which is not especially beginner friendly. Absolutely buy it if you like! It has lots of fun stuff. But if you are feeling you can only buy 1 to 2 products along with your Core Set this year, I’d say first prioritize Starters + The Drowned City, then Feast of Hemlock Vale. You can also decide to skip Scarlet Keys depending on your resources, and aim to get whatever comes out in 2026. Following this will give you a Current card pool which will be valid for the next edition of the list while remaining mostly complete for the 2025 one.
[Special note: Play groups may also choose to allow promotional or print and play materials in their Current Environment at their own discretion. I will not be going into further detail on this point in this particular article but it is worth knowing.]
If I’m New, Should I Focus on Playing Within Current Environment?
First things first, let’s make it really clear that new players don’t have to play in Current Environment. It is completely fine for new players to play Legacy, and in fact they have been doing so for more or less this game’s entire lifespan without the label of Legacy applied.
But here’s the thing. If you are a totally new player coming in, it’s now 2025 and there are 10 investigator expansions, plus the 5 Starter decks, plus Return boxes with player cards. It’s a lot of content and most of us aren’t made of money to construct a full collection from square one.
What Current allows you to do is start to build a collection with a power level that is suitable to win campaigns, particularly the upcoming campaigns which are mainly being designed with Current power levels in mind. (This does not mean you are doomed to fail older campaigns but sometimes, they do skew to being more difficult to accommodate the increasing power of the card pool at the time.)
Basically, the Current Environment can take you from “I want to play the game but have no collection” to “I have a suitable collection to approach the content that is being released”. For many new players, that’s a fantastic entry point that you can feel confident about.
Important Caveat for Potential New Collectors
Now let’s add the detail that you are a new player who also is so excited that you want to own lots of product, especially Legacy product, and you are willing to spend the extra money to do this. You should know that content which is not on the Current list may at some point go out of print. It’s important to clarify out of print doesn’t mean it’s impossible to buy it or that stores can’t sell it. However, some product may become much harder to acquire over time as FFG seems to be focused primarily on supporting the product on the Current list. Firm details on which products this will happen to & when to expect this are not out yet. I would not recommend going out and panic buying The Dunwich Legacy or The Path to Carcosa just yet. But I will give you a little wink, wink, nudge, nudge, that if you are in this category of incoming players, you will want to acquire product sooner than later.
Of course, products being retired is a sore spot among the community for the Current Environment conversation and perhaps a longer deep dive into this topic may be needed in the future. But for now, that’s what you got to know to stay on top of things.
Is the Current Card Pool Good for New Players?
Ok, so my dear new reader, we are fast forwarding a little bit along our supposed journey of becoming an Arkham player. We have a Current card pool, and now we are looking at it and asking ourselves, is this material beginner friendly? Am I going to be able to comprehend what’s going on with the card pool I was just told to buy?
For the average new player, the answer is currently yes, but notably not with all the content. You can make solid decks for true first timers by focusing mainly on the Core and Starter decks, which are generally beginner friendly by design. You can then dip in to the other cycles to support your deck’s needs. That’d be my initial recommendation if you are making something for the first time.
Moving on to the 3 cycles on the Current list, you may encounter some cards that are harder to use or come from archetypes that are not fully supported due to cards they depend on falling out of Current (this last point is especially true of Feast of Hemlock Vale which is highly supported by the older expansion, the Innsmouth Conspiracy). It is possible that in the future we see new or reprinted cards which fill the gaps. But for now, understand that the expansions on the Current list aren’t there because they are somehow the 3 most optimal cycles for a brand new player. They are just the 3 most recent ones.
That being the case, I’d recommend if you see something that confuses you as a new player or makes you say “Why would anyone want this?”, it’s okay to put it down for now. It’s entirely possible the card you’re looking at makes more sense when viewed in connection to previously released material (or it’s just a weird card – this also happens.) There are plenty of cards for you to work with already to get playing. With experience, the benefit of other cards will become more clear.
Overall, you can definitely make decks that are both strong and easy to use in Current. However, not every player card in Current is a great choice for brand new players. Prioritizing Core and Starter cards early on can help you feel less overwhelmed by complex choices without sacrificing too much power. As you start to learn the game, branching out will become easier and easier!
Conclusion
To summarize, if you are a new player with limited resources who is looking into entering Arkham Horror: The Card Game, the Current Environment is a good option for you. You will find plenty of good expansions here to start playing & you will be able to construct decks which are strong enough to clear current and future content. You will also be able to source these products more easily as FFG is prioritizing Current products compared to the older products.
If you are a new player who wants to experience the full breadth of the Mythos, you can ignore Current Environment or use it as a starting point but you will overall be looking to Legacy. Be advised in this case that acquiring some product may be more difficult in the future (and you’ll find in the case of a few products, it is already difficult to get them now.) This is not to dissuade you from building a collection but just to be realistic about what to expect.
And of course if you are an old Arkham vet, you can always enjoy business as usual and keep a watchful eye towards new releases. You may want to give Current a try for the challenge of limiting your card pool or to to see what the incoming player experience is like, but you are by no means required to do any of that.
No matter what your experience level or what environment you play, my main hope for everyone is to have fun playing Arkham. So with that being said, happy investigating to all!
Supporting Material From FFG
LCG Fireside Chat (approx. 40 min long)
https://www.youtube.com/live/mdqD8AsDtOs?si=tqFCWkly0U_KaJV2
Designer Journal from Nate French
New FAQ Update (July 2025) Including the first Beta List for Current Environment
https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2025/7/11/a-change-in-the-mythos/
Rite of Seeking 