# Elder Sign: Omens for iPhone

> Digital board game where investigators battle ancient evils in a museum. (iPhone/iPad app by Fantasy Flight Games.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/elder-sign-omens-for-iphone/id475404533 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [Fantasy Flight Games](https://appshunter.io/developer/372272435)
- Category: Games, Board, Strategy
- Price: $0.99 with in-app purchases
- Rating: 3.60/5 from 67 App Store ratings · 259 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 12+
- Requires: iOS 7.0 · 393 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2011-11-01
- Data updated: 2026-09-10
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/elder-sign-omens-for-iphone/id475404533/reviews.md

## What is Elder Sign?

**Elder Sign: Omens for iPad is sold separately and is only compatible on iPads.**

“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 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 in difficult mode, or Cthulhu in very hard mode (in-app purchase required to face Cthulhu).
-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 horror with in-app purchases

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: $0.99.

**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: positive

**Pros**

- 🚀 Great game
- 🎨 Excellent graphics and atmosphere
- 👍 Faithful adaptation of the board game
- ⏱️ Addictive and replayable

**Cons**

- 🔑 Difficulty too high/unbalanced
- 🎲 Dice rolls feel unfair/rigged
- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🔍 Small UI elements hard to see

**Commonly reported bugs**

- Expansion content disappearing after updates
- Inability to upgrade certain investigator abilities

**Most requested features**

- More Ancient Ones and expansions
- Difficulty settings
- Ability to skip cutscenes
- Multiplayer mode

## Recent user reviews (10 of 259)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/elder-sign-omens-for-iphone/id475404533/reviews.md

### 2/5 — meh

*2025-10-02, version 1.5.0*

Its fun, but i disagree with the statement from the dev saying “some games arnt ment to be beat”

the fact that its hard coded some playthroughs are programmed to be doomed from the start is unfair. it takes all the skill out of the game and has you wondering through out the whole playthrough if this is one of them.

i wish they would get rid of the doomsday patch and revert it back to how it used to be to be upon release. having the game autodecide if youll win or lose at the start, regardless of the probabilities, is unfair and takes away from the experience.

### 5/5 — I love this game

*2025-09-13, version 1.5.0*

I love this game. I will always love this game. The mechanics, the art, the tone. AAA

### 5/5 — An exceptional app, long overdue for an update

*2024-07-05, version 1.5.0*

Elder Sign Omens is a genuinely excellent digital adaptation of the physical board game from fantasy flight. Gameplay is sleek and balanced, and provides a great deal of challenge.

It was wonderful to see the three digital campaigns translated to the physical as the final three expansions, however there is even more physical content.

Given how prevelent digital adaptations of physical games have become, it would really be wonderful if Fantasy Flight were to update Elder Sign Omens with new monsters, new investigators, online and local multiplayer modes, and a Streets of Arkham mode.

And whilst the decisions made to streamline digital gameplay do just that, it might be interesting to provide a ‘Core Rules’ mode, which replicates the board game even more (replacing investigators if lost, Great Old One combat, Allies… etc).

### 5/5 — Excellent implementation of an excellent game

*2024-05-16, version 1.5.0*

Each turn, your investigator has several choices of locations to investigate. You investigate by rolling dice and trying to match them to symbols on the location card. Each investigator has their own special ability. One is immune to terror effects. Can can do more than one match with a given roll. One gets extra clue tokens that let you reroll. There’s a lot of luck of course. It’s dice after all. But there’s considerable judgment and strategy too. And the theme is well done.

### 2/5 — Okay game but major balance issues

*2024-03-25, version 1.5.0*

For .99 cents the game isn’t bad but it’s not good either.  The game has major balance issues with the dice rolls.  To the point it’s frustrating and there isn’t much joy in the game.  Not even the actual board game this game is based off has dice rolls this bad.  Unfortunately, doubt the developers of this app will never look into this balance issue and rework the dice rolls to be more fair as it’s all but confirmed they’ve abandoned this app and have no intent on addressing the dice roll balance issues that have plagued this app since day one.  Buy at your own risk and be prepared to question your sanity if you do buy this app.

### 2/5 — Not well designed

*2023-12-28, version 1.5.0*

I really wanted to like this app because I enjoy the board game version but this is just too awkward to use. It takes several minutes for the game to load after you pick your team and elder god. There should be some way to skip the intro garbage and ust play the game but every time you have to wait for the game to finish the silly little animation thing at the start. I don't play this very often precisely for this reason. I actually tried to play again this morning but the app just locked up during the first quest and I had to restart my phone to get out of it at all. This could have been a great game but it's just not very well designed from a UX standpoint.

### 1/5 — This game is waaaaaay to hard

*2023-02-16, version 1.5.0*

Don’t get or spend any money on it. Even on easy you can’t win. If you like losing EVERY SINGLE TIME then get it. I like FF board games… this is nothing like that, almost unbeatable.

### 1/5 — Abandoned software

*2023-02-08, version 1.5.0*

Hasn’t been updated in five years. Lots of bugs on the iPhone. 13 freezes doesn’t respond to input and so on. Skip it.

### 5/5 — Great Game !

*2022-08-03, version 1.5.0*

I have played omens for a few years and still enjoy it. I have one suggestion, make difficulty a selection in the pre museum screen and not have a difficulty bond to a old one.

### 5/5 — Very good iOS port.

*2022-06-10, version 1.5.0*

This game runs smooth and is true to the table top game. Very few things like spells work a bit different but once you get the rules down super solid. 

The only bummer is if you turn off your phone screen during a movie scene it completely freezes and you lose progress. Exiting by flipping it up out of the way does it too but only during movies. Usually everything loads back in just fine if it is in between turns. 

I defeated Nyarlathotep(no spoilers but SUPER tough fight) my break ended during the movie so I had to shut off my screen and when I came back to it, it was stuck and I lost my entire game. 

I have screenshots of the win and the movies that play but my unlockable character is still locked. 

I will try to win again but that felt like a once in a while good luck streak to win. 

P.S. if anyone from Famtasy Flight sees this, is there a way to restore or get my investigator unlocked? If not no biggie but I am curious.

## Frequently asked questions about Elder Sign

### What is Elder Sign: Omens?

Elder Sign: Omens is a digital adaptation of the Elder Sign dice game. It puts players in control of investigators fighting to prevent ancient, powerful beings from invading our world through a museum's arcane exhibits.

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

Players can build a team of unique investigators, explore a dynamic museum environment, and face challenging arcane tasks. The goal is to save the world from destruction, with options to expand the horror through in-app purchases.

### Is Elder Sign: Omens free to play?

The base game is free to play. However, certain content, such as facing the Ancient One Cthulhu, requires an in-app purchase to unlock.

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

This version of Elder Sign: Omens is specifically for iPhone. Elder Sign: Omens for iPad is sold separately and is only compatible on iPads.

### How does the mobile version differ from the board game?

The mobile version streamlines gameplay by limiting the number of Ancient Ones and removing Ally cards. Subtle changes increase the challenge, such as more difficult midnight effects and monsters, to optimize the mobile play experience.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 1.5.0 — 2017-06-12

This update from Apple will improve the functionality of this app. No new features are included.

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

### 1.4.4 — 2014-12-04

Fix for the splash screen on iPhone 6 and 6+ devices.

### 1.4.3 — 2014-11-22

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.

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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 iPad](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/elder-sign-omens-for-ipad/id475401686)
- [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

## Related topics

[cthulhu](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/cthulhu) · [arkham horror](https://appshunter.io/ios/topics/arkham-horror)

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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 2026-09-10.*