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Howard Phillips Lovecraft (August 20, 1890 - 1937) wrote horror, fantasy, and science fiction. His invention was cosmic horror, the idea that life is incomprehensible to human minds and that the universe is fundamentally alien. His protagonists gamble with sanity, especially in the Cthulhu Mythos, a series of loosely interconnected fiction featuring a pantheon of human-nullifying entities.
Lovecraft's works have inspired an impressive number of board and card games.
Spotlight on Games > Thematic Ludographies
Ian Richard; DVX; 1-4; 60
Deck-building game in which players represent investigators who recruit
followers and acquire special items to fight monsters. It is possible
that all players lose.
Jim Dietz and Richard Launius; Jolly Roger Games; 2-6; 45
Storytelling card game about how player characters with variable
powers defeat a monster.
Keith Baker; Cryptozoic Enterntainment; 2-4; 45
Roll-and-move game of racing to be the first to obtain six gates.
Liz Spain; Voodoo Bunny; 1-5; 120
Deck-building game in which players equip their ships with resources
and crews, defeating Lovecraftian encounters as they appear. The winner is the
first to discover the last location and discover Atlantis.
Martin Wallace; Treefrog Games; 2-5; 90
Based on
"A Study in Emerald" by Neil Gaiman,
which mixes the Holmes legendarium
with that of H.P. Lovecraft and Cthulhu, mankind fights an underground
war against the Old Ones, who have taken over as rulers in all the
major nations of the world. Several historical figures from the late
nineteenth century are included. This is a deck-building game, akin to
Dominion,
with a map,
in which players try to take over/steal cities, attack one another and
let loose vampires and zombies. Players also each have one
of two secret identities, either pro- or anti-Old Ones and first win
or lose as a team; the true one is the best performer on the winning side.
See also the Sherlock Holmes list.
Keith Baker; Looney Labs; 2-6; 30
Lovecraft-inspired variation on the traditional
Fluxx card game.
Dann Kriss; Dann Kriss Games; 2-10; 15; 8+
In this card game reminiscent of
Old Maid,
players form pairs from matching or linked cards,
draw a card from another player and play a card for a special game effect.
The "maid" is the The Great Old One.
The game is won by amassing the most points, except for whoever winds
up with the Old One.
Corey Konieczka and Nikki Valens; Fantasy Flight; 1-8; 180
Cooperative game set in the entire world on a theme similar to
Arkham Horror.
Each Ancient One comes with its own decks of Mystery and Research
cards. Cards contain tasks, locations of gates, monsters and clues.
On a turn a player either resolves combat or builds up the character
by reading a narrative from an encounter card.
More streamlined and likely shorter than
Arkham Horror,
and with more pleasing artwork, it is no longer really about closing gates,
but about solving mysteries, which generally means collecting sufficient
clues. These pop up around the board from time to time, though players
can have encounters in London to make this more likely. Success in
this one is more likely to depend on whether players manage to draw
a significant weapon like the lightning gun, which is extremely powerful.
Includes 12 different investigators, 250 tokens and 300+ cards.
Solitaire rules are provided.
Luke Peterschmidt; Fun to 11; 2-4; 60; 8+
Deck-building game in players build opponent decks.
Players represent rival houses at Miskatonic University whose
sanity is gradually eroded by the faculty.
Players buy friends and send faculty to rivals.
Keith Baker; Atlas Games; 2-5; 60
In this card game each player tries to drive a set of characters insane.
The plastic cards are transparent, allowing
stacking of multiple modifier cards on a character card to alter its
stats or undo other card effects.
Can be combined with Atlas' earlieir game, Gloom and its many
expansions.
Richard Launius and Kevin Wilson; Fantasy Flight; 1-8; 90
Cooperative dice game that shares themes with Arkham Horror.
Players seeking elder signs endure adventures in a museum before one
of the Ancient Ones appears. If this happens, a battle ensues.
Corey Konieczka; Fantasy Flight; 2-5; 120
Built along the lines of a role-playing game, one player is the
Keeper who control the monsters while the rest are investigators
looking for answers while trying to retain their sanity.
Storylines are pre-designed.
Steve Jackson; Steve Jackson Games; 2-6; 5; 6+
Players take turns rolling a custom 12-sided die depicting
tentacles, elder signs, etc. Results permit reducing or stealing
the sanity of opponents. The Cthulhu result takes from everyone.
Includes eighteen glass marbles.
Kevin Wilson & Richard Launius; Fantasy Flight; 1-8
Expansion adding personal stories for the characters, the town of Innsmouth
board, 16 more investigators, 8 more ancients, 2 more heralds and over 300 cards.
James Desborough; Postmortem Studios; 2
Card game depravity.
John Darbro & Steve Jackson; Steve Jackson Games; 2-5
Set collection amid Cthulhoid invasion of geek existence.
Jonathan Leistiko; Invisible City Productions; 2-5; 20
Welcome to the annual Miskatonic Bar-B-Que Cook-Off. You.re racing against your opponents to transform freshly-summoned monsters into mouth-watering dishes.
Felbrigg Herriot; (web-published); 2
Compete to be the first to collect three artifacts in 1920s England.
Publisher
Kevin Wilson, Daniel Clark, Michael Hurley & Tim Uren; Fantasy Flight; 1-8
Expansion adding a forest cult theme and over 150 cards.
Kevin Wilson & Richard Launius; Fantasy Flight; 1-8
Expansion adding a
board, 8 investigators, 4 ancients, 2 heralds, 3 guardians and
more cards and monsters.
Chris Engle; Hamster Pres; 2-10
Players represent doctors and patients trying to uncover a plot.
Eric M. Lang & Nate French; Fantasy Flight; 2
Living card game.
Jonathan Leistiko; Invisible City Productions; 2-5
Card and dice game of capturing monsters without getting hurt.
Reiner Knizia; Twilight Creations; 2
Tile placement game; one player tries to summon Cthulhu while the
other tries to prevent this. Points are gained by placing numbers
in rows and columns.
Lisandro Gaertner; (web-published); 2
World War II kamikaze fighters take on Cthulhu. Instructions in Portuguese.
Michael Rieneck; Kosmos-2008; 3-4
With the help of a master sorcerer, players all work together
to save New England and the world from the horrors.
Review
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Darrell Hardy; Twilight Creations; 2-5
One against many game of a student trying to save his friends and
escape Innsmouth; opponents represent Deep Ones.
Fade Manley & Steve Jackson; Steve Jackson Games/Pegasus; 2-6
"The Unspeakable Vault" expands the game even further.
Graeme Dawson & TS S. Fulk; Island of Wak Wak; 2-8
Skirmish rules for miniatures.
Publisher
Klaus Westerhoff; Pegasus/Steve Jackson; 2-4
Players play cards to align a grid that provides rewards and
capabilities.
JHG Hendriks & Steve Jackson; Steve Jackson Games/Pegasus; 2-6
Card game of adventuring, negotiation and bizarre combinations.
Steve Jackson; Steve Jackson Games/Pegasus; 2-6
"Call of Cowthulhu" expands the game to a pastoral setting.
James Ernest & Mike Selinker; Playroom Entertainment; 2-6
Word game.
Robert Vaughn; Fantasy Flight; 1-8
Expansion around an Egypt/mummy museum exhibit theme
adds many new cards.
Kevin Wilson & Richard Launius; Fantasy Flight; 1-8
Expansion around a small New England town adding 8 investigators, 4
ancients and many more cards.
Arkham Horror: The King in Yellow
Kevin Wilson & Robert Vaughn; Fantasy Flight; 1-8
Expansion introduces heralds and over 160 cards.
Jon & David Huston; Toy Vault; 5-30
Moderated party game similar to
Werewolf.
Kevin Wilson & Richard Launius; Fantasy Flight; 1-8
Explore the town of Arkham and attempt to stop unmentionable horrors from spilling into the world.
Review
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Cthulhu Skirmish
Lloyd Krassner; (web-published); 2
Fighting game with eight different factions available.
Publisher
Richard Launius; (web-published); 2
Card drafting and placement with one player trying to wake an elder
god, the other to prevent it.
Toshiki Sato; Japon Brand; 3-6
A trick taking game in which players avoid taking tricks. Includes 48
cards.
Todd & Kerry Breitenstein; Twilight Creations; 1-6
Expansion kit for When Darkness Comes,
a tile-based game with role-playing aspects,
offers new rules, 6 new scenarios and a new campaign.
Eric M. Lang; Fantasy Flight; 2
Collectible card game.
Jeff Tidball; Atlas Games; 3-8
Auto racing featuring Lovecraftian passengers and car enhancements.
James Desborough; Postmortem Studios; 2-4
Card game depravity.
John Wick & Annie Rush; Wicked Dead Brewing Co.; 2-6
Monopoly clone.
David M. Miecikowski; Evil Polish Brothers; 1-4
Fighting game using a modular board.
Frank Bustamante & Michael Nickoloff; Third World Games; 2-6
Card game in which
each player's character explores the town of Castle Bay encountering
dangers and hoping to uncover the mystery.
Michael Oracz; Portal/Krimsus Krimskrams-Kiste; 1-3
Storytelling game.
Jack Reda; (web-published); 2
Customizable card game.
Jesper Myrfors & John Tynes; Pagan Publishing; 2-4
Fighting rules for families of misfits represented by miniatures.
Jeff Tidball; Atlas Games; 2-6
Religious fanatics try to wrest control of the United States.
Charlie Krank; Chaosium; 2-4
Collectible card game in which investigators must complete stories.
Jeff Barber & John Tynes; Pagan Publishing; 3-5
Card game of summoning Lovecraftian horrors to destroy the world.
Mirukii Fujimoto; Sho-Kikaku; 2-5
Card game of 1920s adventurers
attempting to stop one of the six great daemon lords entering the world.
Review
Charlie Krank, Richard Launius, Sandy Petersen & Lynn Willis;
Chaosium; 1-8
Explore the town of Arkham and attempt to stop unmentionable horrors from spilling into the world.
Review
Matthew J. Costello, Steve Jackson & Warren Spector; Steve Jackson Games; 1
Solo adventure of a journalist investigating the disappearance of a
college do-ed.
Review
Kenneth Rahman; Dark House; 2
A matter of Life or Death as that's who the players represent in this
story-telling card game.
Steve Jackson; Steve Jackson Games; 2-6
Card game of influence and world domination includes a Cthulhu group.
Review
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