# Elder Sign: Omens for iPad

> Investigator-based board game simulation fighting ancient evils in a museum. (iPhone/iPad app by Fantasy Flight Games.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/elder-sign-omens-for-ipad/id475401686 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Fantasy Flight Games](https://appshunter.io/developer/372272435)
- Category: Games, Board, Strategy
- Price: $1.99 with in-app purchases
- Rating: 3.80/5 from 47 App Store ratings · 162 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 7.0 · 392 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2011-11-03
- Data updated: 2026-08-09
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/elder-sign-omens-for-ipad/id475401686/reviews.md

## What is Elder Sign?

**Please note that this verision of Elder Sign: Omens is iPad only. The iPhone version is sold separately**

“GAME OF THE WEEK” - G4TV.com
TOUCH ARCADE - 4.5 out of 5
148APPS.COM -  4.5 out of 5
GAMEZEBO- 4.5 out of 5 
BOARD GAME GEEK - 3 out of 4

The tense excitement of Elder Sign is now available on your mobile device! Elder Sign: Omens places you in control of up to four intrepid investigators, as they fight to keep all-powerful Ancient Ones from invading our world through a museum’s arcane exhibits! 

*Build a team of unique investigators* 
*Explore an ever-changing museum* 
*Face challenging arcane tasks* 
*Save the world from absolute destruction*
*Expand the horror with two exciting in-app purchases*

Can you stand against the impending arrival of a malevolent Ancient One? 


While Elder Sign: Omens brilliantly conveys the spirit of the Elder Sign dice game, a few noteworthy differences were adopted to optimize the mobile play experience: 

-A limited number of available Ancient Ones streamlines the game play experience while offering adjustable levels of difficulty. Face Yig in normal mode, Azathoth or Tsathoggua in hard mode, or Cthulhu or Ithaqua in very hard mode (in-app purchases required to face Cthulhu and Ithaqua).
-A number of subtle changes increase the peril of defending humanity. For example, the random negative effects drawn every midnight are more challenging, and the frequency of “no effect” results has been decreased. Monsters have likewise been altered to make them more difficult. 
-Finally, there are no Ally cards in Elder Sign: Omens, which further streamlines play while increasing the overall challenge.

## Key features

- Build a team of unique investigators
- Explore an ever-changing museum
- Face challenging arcane tasks
- Save the world from destruction
- Expand with in-app purchases

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: $1.99.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| The Call of Cthulhu | $2.99 | one-time |
| The Trail of Ithaqua | $2.99 | one-time |
| The Dark Pharaoh | $2.99 | one-time |


## What do users think of Elder Sign?

Overall sentiment: mixed

**Pros**

- 🎨 Excellent artwork and atmosphere
- 🎮 Faithful adaptation of the board game
- 🤯 Challenging and immersive gameplay
- 🕹️ Smooth and intuitive interface
- 🎶 Great background music and sound effects

**Cons**

- 🤯 Extremely difficult and frustrating
- 🎲 Heavily reliant on luck rather than skill
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- 🕰️ Lengthy and time-consuming games
- 🤔 Lack of clear tutorials and explanations

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Game crashes when all investigators go insane
- DLC content not properly recognized after updates
- Inability to resume games after crashes
- Bugs with certain mechanics like glyph locks

**Most requested features**

- Difficulty settings to cater to different skill levels
- Ability to skip cutscenes and animations
- Multiplayer support for cooperative play
- More content and expansions to increase replayability
- Integration with Game Center for leaderboards and achievements

## Recent user reviews (10 of 162)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/elder-sign-omens-for-ipad/id475401686/reviews.md

### 2/5 — Good but way too hard

*2025-02-02, version 1.5.0*

I get that you are trying for the bleak hopelessness of Lovecraft but a game should still be fun. This is a lot more frustrating than fun.

### 5/5 — Beautiful and immersive

*2024-08-06, version 1.5.0*

This a beautiful adaptation of an excellent Yahtzee style dice game.  When I started playing, I got very frustrated because it didn’t seem like there was any strategy to the game. Also I lost a lot. Soon though, you learn strategies for party selection, who should be sent to certain locations and when, and how to manage the dice and the items/clues. It’s quite fun. If you’ve played the physical game, there are some differences. For instance, in the physical game you can replace an investigator who is dead or insane. In the app, you cannot. The expansions aren’t implemented in the app quite like the IRL ones but they’re quite good for all that. Just different. Not that I wouldn’t love those IRL expansions, but it’s an old app and what you see is what you get. Hopefully you also will get, and like.

### 5/5 — Consistently a go-to

*2023-12-21, version 1.5.0*

I love this game. I love the physical version of the game. They’re about 80% the same game, so don’t expect a direct 1-for-1. That being said, I’ve put hundreds of hours into this app, and I find everything from the UI to gameplay veeeeery good and satisfying. One of my favorite board game apps, hands-down.

### 5/5 — Excellent game

*2023-12-18, version 1.5.0*

Dripping with atmosphere! A great balance between luck and skill. The difficulty ramps up until by the final elder God it feels almost impossible, but with persistence it can be beaten.

### 5/5 — Outstanding

*2023-09-29, version 1.5.0*

Elder Sign is my favorite IPad game ever since it came out.

### 5/5 — Outstanding

*2023-08-19*

Elder Sign is my favorite IPad game ever since it came out.

### 1/5 — Desperately needs a tutorial

*2023-03-19, version 1.5.0*

I want to like this game but as is it is unplayable.  The instructions/help are useless.  The developer needs to add a tutorial.  I've tried half a dozen games and have absolutely no clue how to even play.

### 5/5 — My favorite iPad game

*2022-07-13, version 1.5.0*

Love this game, I’ve been playing it since it came out.

### 1/5 — Rp game

*2021-10-13, version 1.5.0*

Waste of money!

### 5/5 — Absolutely perfect game!!!

*2021-09-22, version 1.5.0*

I really enjoyed playing it on iPad. During these 3 days Since the time of purchase, I have played it nearly a hundred times. It is really addicting. I am definitely going to buy the physical game as well.

## Frequently asked questions about Elder Sign

### What is Elder Sign: Omens?

Elder Sign: Omens is a digital adaptation of the Elder Sign dice game for iPad. Players control investigators working to prevent powerful Ancient Ones from invading our world through a museum's arcane exhibits. It offers a streamlined mobile play experience with adjustable difficulty levels.

### What are the key features of the app?

Key features include building a team of unique investigators, exploring an ever-changing museum environment, facing challenging arcane tasks, and ultimately saving the world from destruction. The game also offers expandable content through in-app purchases.

### Is this app free to play?

The base version of Elder Sign: Omens is free to download and play. However, additional Ancient Ones, such as Cthulhu and Ithaqua, are available for purchase through in-app purchases to expand the game's content and difficulty.

### What devices is Elder Sign: Omens compatible with?

This specific version of Elder Sign: Omens is designed for iPad only. The iPhone version is sold separately. Ensure you have a compatible iPad model to play.

### How does this digital version differ from the physical board game?

While capturing the spirit of the physical game, Elder Sign: Omens streamlines gameplay for mobile. It features a limited number of Ancient Ones for a focused experience, more challenging negative effects, and the absence of Ally cards to increase the overall challenge.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.5.0 — 2017-06-12

This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon.

Updated to support 64-bit iOS devices!
Optimizations to reduce overall file size.

### 1.4.3 — 2014-11-20

Fix for iOS8 store compatibility and other bug fixes.

### 1.4.2 — 2014-02-11

Fixed bug allowing you to select the same investigator multiple times. 
Fixed a problem with scoreboard entry.

### 1.4.1 — 2013-11-18

- Updated tutorial videos including a “Glyphs” tutorial.
- Tap interface (Less drag and drop by tapping the glyph to add to the active task)
- Fixed issue where the store could crash. 
- Bug fixes and layout changes.

### 1.3.7 — 2013-09-11

Ithaqua - Fixed an issue with Ashley causing a crash.

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## More apps by Fantasy Flight Games

- [Hey, That's My Fish! HD](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/hey-thats-my-fish-hd/id432427965)
- [Elder Sign: Omens for iPhone](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/elder-sign-omens-for-iphone/id475404533)
- [Star Wars™ Dice](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/star-wars-dice/id549973398)
- [BattleLore: Command](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/battlelore-command/id931579459)
- [XCOM: TBG](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/xcom-tbg/id953520552)

All apps by Fantasy Flight Games: https://appshunter.io/developer/372272435

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-09.*