Cthulhu Games
H.P. Lovecraft never revealed much about his monstrous creations. What we aren’t told about the monsters, the unrevealed horror, is far worse than any horror we experience from reading about Cthulhu, his physical features, his appearance. Look at the first appearance of Cthulhu, in “The Call of Cthulhu.” Lovecraft says that Cthulhu ruled the Earth at one time and that prophesy suggested he would rule it again one day. That story introduces the activities of Cthulhu’s cult; we see them making contact with the monster deity.
More interesting than any description of Cthulhu himself are the inner-workings of the Cult of Cthulhu. These humans worship the eventual return of Cthulhu to his rightful place ruling Earth and do all they can to bring Cthulhu to the rest of the world.
There’s a real life Cult of Cthulhu built around Lovecraft’s most famous
creation. Cthulhu pops up in song lyrics, tattoo art, flash fiction, even in
Internet memes. Stephen King has written
Lovecraftian horror influenced by
the Cthulhu Mythos, and games based on Cthluhu and the Cthulhu Mythos are
popular across all media.
Cthulhu Board Games
Board games are enjoying a renaissance, thanks to increased interest in all vintage and retro toys and creative new board game titles from indie game companies spreading word-of-mouth online. Here’s a look at Arkham Horror, the most popular Cthulhu board game right now.
Arkham Horror
Two versions of the board game Arkham Horror exist. The first was printed by Chaosium in 1987. Chaosium also produces the Call of Cthulhu RPG. The second version came out in 2005 from Fantasy Flight Games. The second version is an updated and upgraded version of the Chaosium game, and is worth a purchase if you enjoy the first version.
Arkham Horror is a co-operative game, where players represent characters in a fight against horrible Lovecraftian monsters that are attacking the streets of Arkham. The characters, style, and story are all inspired by HP Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, and endless supplemental materials alter game play, change the rules, and expand the scope of your Lovecraftian board gaming.
Cthulhu Card Games
Ever since the Wizards of the Coast collectible card game Magic: the Gathering made such a splash in the mid-90s, collectible card gaming has been a busy market, with new games and new card sets appearing all the time. Card gaming and H.P. Lovecraft are a natural fit, considering the wide possibilities for card art and gaming decisions.
Mythos
Mythos was a card game that represented Chaosium’s first shot at the CCG market. Mythos was more of an atmospheric and story-based game than WotC’s popular Magic game, but it was similar in many other ways. The game contains a starter deck and five expansion packs with names like “Expeditions of Miskatonic University,” “Cthulhu Rising,” and “The Dreamlands.” The game play of Mythos is fun. The game never really caught on, though most Lovecraft fans that I’ve shown the game to have responded well.
In Mythos, you play an investigator trying to solve a mystery without going insane. You have 13 cards to play from your deck, and several other ability cards and artifacts to help you finish the game. Each mission provides experience as well as a little bit of insanity, always a threat in the world of Lovecraft. The big problem with Mythos was that it was a difficult game to play right out of the deck. Thankfully, Mythos lack of popularity means the cards are cheap these days, and every pack of Mythos cards is guaranteed to contain two rare cards.
Tekeli-li
Tekeli-li is another Cthulhu Mythos card game, this time a trick-taking card game produced in Japan based on the Cthulhu stories and Mythos. The game first appeared in 2005. Tekeli-li is similar to Hearts--the object is to avoid taking tricks. Cards used in the game are things like Necronomicon, Azathoth, Byakhee, Cthugha, Cthulhu, Deep One, Fire Vampire, and Nyarlathotep. Players are playing to avoid capturing “unnamable” markers, and the winner is the player with the least markers. The other players are said to have gone insane. This is a fun translation of the Cthulhu Mythos, but seems like it’d be difficult to find outside Japan.
The Call of Cthulhu Living Card Game
More along the lines of the collectible card game is Call of Cthulhu, a CCG game by Fantasy Flight Games released in 2004. This is more of a straightforward strategy card game than Chaosium’s Mythos, with less attention paid to mood and Lovecraftian horror and more game rules and traditional card game play. If you prefer card gaming over the atmosphere of Lovecraft, Call of Cthulhu is probably more your style.
There have been many expansions to the original card set, and Fantasy Flight Games is producing their 8th cycle of expansion. Call of Cthulhu is part of Fantasy Flight Games new LCG line of games, where the word “collectible” is replaced with “living.” In FFG’s Living Card Games series, every player has access to the same pool of basic cards and must build the best possible deck rather than buy expansion packs and rare card singles to collect the best possible deck.
Cthulhu Video Games
Like any other medium, video games contain tons of Lovecraft references. From the Shub-Niggurath beast at the end of Quake to passing references in shooters and mystery games, Lovecraft’s Mythos is all over the world of PC and platform games.
Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
Dark Corners of the Earth is a first-person horror adventure game based on the Cthulhu Mythos. The most straightforward Lovecraftian Cthulhu game, Dark Corners of the Earth is set in and based on the setting of Lovecraft’s “The Shadow over Innsmouth.” Lovecraftian influence in the game includes a “Dynamic Sanity” feature whereby seeing monsters and having certain experiences affect your sanity. The game also lacks those annoying heads-up displays that get between the player and the game atmosphere, so it looks more like a movie or animated series. Two follow-up games are planned: “Destiny’s End” and “Beyond the Mountains of Madness.”
Prisoner of Ice
This PC game promised 70 hours of game action. Based loosely on Lovecraft’s novel “Mountains of Madness,” Prisoner of Ice puts you on a voyage to the Antarctic aboard a Royal Navy submarine. You’re an American agent working for Naval Intelligence trying to stop a Nazi plot. A combination of horror and espionage drama, Prisoner of Ice was a faithful Lovecraftian computer game, but few copies were printed, and it can be hard to find today.
Cthulhu RPGs
Chaosium released the first edition of the Call of Cthulu RPG in the early 80s, and it was the first role-playing game to be set in Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos universe. Since that time, Call of Cthulhu has gone through five editions, been translated into over a dozen languages, and won countless gaming awards.
TSR included a chapter in Deities and Demigods, a source book for Dungeons and Dragons, called “Cthulhu Mythos.” Chaosium also included an “H.P. Lovecraft Creations” chapter in its Runequest collection of monsters, The Gateway Bestiary. Role-playing fans have been interested in the Mythos for years, since the Golden Age of RPGs and well into the current role-playing scene.
Call of Cthulhu RPG
Call of Cthulhu was the brainchild of Sandy Petersen. Sandy Petersen moved on to create popular PC games like Doom and Quake. Call of Cthulhu belongs on any respectable list of the top RPGs.
Trail of Cthulhu RPG
Licensed by Chaosium games, Trail of Cthluhu is a great standalone game that updates the old role-playing system found in the Call of Cthulhu RPG. Trail of Cthulhu is more of an investigative game that assumes player success. In Trail of Cthulhu, for example, failure is only possible if it is interesting to the scope of the game, in which case a “roll to succeed” is made and affects player experience.
Cthulhu Games Online
Online gaming is a big market now, too, and of course Cthulhu is represented. Online games are like interactive RPGs that take place in real time and invite users from all over the world to participate at once. This lends itself well to the Lovecraft universe and Lovecraftian gaming that emphasizes cooperation over accomplishing individual goals.
Arcane
Arcane is an interactive horror / mystery online game where you solve a Lovecraftian mystery in a spooky setting. You race against the clock trying to solve various mysteries. Warner Bros. and gaming designer Sarbakan released this game in 2001, though it was soon forgotten. The mood isn’t Lovecraftian enough for real Cthulhu Mythos fans, and the games are pretty simple compared to more modern interactive gaming.
Cthulhu has maintained his popularity over the years. It is strange that such a frightening creature should pop up all over the place, but maybe not so strange after all.
We're a culture obsessed with horror and mystery, and Lovecraft's Cthulhu stories are stocked with those elements. It's no surprise there are so many board games, card games, and computer games based on the creepy and nightmarish world of Lovecraft's Cthulhu.