I picked this up after enjoying the 2nd ed, and deciding to try it out.
The game has been revamped to be much more modular, in terms of objectives, map, and encounters. Player choice is now much more flexible, with far fewer instances of "oops, I failed to plan for this wildcard issue in my Refresh Phase, and now my entire turn is going to waste".
The rules are now largely summarized to a handheld player reference card, although the Azathoth scenario (recommended for beginners) is still a stiff challenge.
Rules mistakes that we made in our runthrough:
- The Mythos cup requires very precise numbers of tokens. Our first game we just threw one of each, which made the game ridiculously hard.
- Conversely, you draw 2 tokens from the cup per player. We often forgot this and instead just drew 2 tokens at the end of the turn, which then makes the game too easy.
- Picking up clues is now down to encounter luck, but gaining money, putting clues onto the scenario card, and many other events are now player-directed.
- If EITHER the hearts OR the minds of a card have suffered damage equal to their max value, remove the card. We had thought that BOTH the hearts AND the minds of a card need to be at max damage.
We ended up playing the Azathoth scenario (and beating it) as well as the Feast of Umordroth scenario (beating it). We started the Veil scenario but could not finish it in time. Cthulhu we're saving till last of all.