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As a result of the success of the “Call of Cthulhu” role-playing game, Lovecraftian
board and card games began appearing.
- Arkham Horror, Chaosium (1987)
- This game won a couple of awards for its design, but wasn’t much of a commercial success.
It pits players, co-operatively, against an army of monsters that are spilling through
“gates” onto the streets of Arkham. An interesting bit of trivia is that several of the
buildings shown on the mapboard (artwork by Steve Purcell) are based on actual buildings in Essex
County, Massachusetts. The buildings (and their real-world origins) include City Hall (Custom
House, Salem), Historical Society (1727 Town House, Marblehead), Hospital (Jeremiah Lee Mansion,
Marblehead), Newspaper (East India Marine Hall, Salem), and Silver Twilight Lodge (Pickering House,
Salem). Long out of print, copies have sold on rec.games.board.marketplace and eBay for upwards of
$75.
- Arkham
Horror, Fantasy Flight
Games (2005)
- Not just a reprint of the earlier Chaosium game, but a complete re-design. Although the
concept of the original game remains, every component has been updated and new elements of gameplay
have been added. However, with these new mechanisms has come slightly greater complexity.
Expansions so far include “Curse of the Dark Pharaoh”, “Dunwich Horror”,
and “The King in
Yellow”.
- Call of Cthulhu CCG, Fantasy Flight Games (2004)
- Much simpler than Chaosium’s “Mythos”, this game is much more likely to draw in
new players. The card art is also much more attractive, but the simpler mechanisms give the game a
somewhat mechanical feel and detract a bit from the atmosphere.
- Creatures & Cultists, Pagan
Publishing (August 1992)
- Once players have killed enough of their opponent’s cultists, they can then attempt to
summon their cult’s god. A silly card game with fiddly rules that first appeared in The
Unspeakable Oath. The game was re-printed in Germany and was re-printed in the U.S. by Eos Press.
- Cthulhu
500, Atlas Games (2004)
- A humorous mix of stock car racing and Lovecraftian horror. The mechanism at the heart of this
game is very clever, although the damage rules are a bit confusing.
- Cthulhu
Mash, Evil Polish Brothers (2003)
- A random tile hack-and-slash game that can be played solitaire, multiplayer, or cooperatively.
Several reviewers have commented that the game feels like a board game version of a video game,
with players killing monsters and collecting power-ups.
- Cults Across
America, Atlas Games (June 1998)
- Essentially an area-movement wargame with a humorously Lovecraftian theme. Each player
controls a cult attempting to dominate the U.S. by either collecting sufficient Victory Points or
by controlling a string of adjacent cities from coast to coast. Combat is resolved by protracted
die-rolling and the game can take far too long for something so light.
- Dark Cults, Dark House
- A card game for two players who play the roles of Life and Death. One attempts to keep the
protagonist alive while the other tries to kill him off, but this is more a story-telling
experience than a game. The beautiful black-and-white illustrations on the cards (by
“Eymoth”) are enough to make this game worth purchasing.
- The Hills Rise
Wild, Pagan Publishing
- A miniatures game in which players play one of four factions vying for control of the
Necronomicon so they can summon their god and win the game. Unlike most miniatures games,
this is played on a square board consisting of sixteen 6" tiles that the players arrange before
play begins. Also, the “miniatures” are cardstock figures that are folded so they
stand, similar to Steve Jackson Games’ “Cardboard Heroes.”
- Illuminati, Steve Jackson Games
- A table top card game based around the concept of secretive illuminati groups plotting world
domination. One of the standard illuminati groups is “The Servants of Cthulhu,” their
objective being to destroy 8 “regular” (non-illuminati) groups.
- Illuminati: New World
Order, Steve Jackson Games
- This collectible card game version of Illuminati includes a card for the “Servants of
Cthulhu” and the “Necronomicon.” In addition, the “Fraternal Orders”
card displays what appears to be a gold statue of Cthulhu.
- Munchkin
Cthulhu, Steve Jackson Games
- Steve Jackson Games’ line of “Munchkin” games has spawned over a dozen spin-offs
and expansions, and the Cthulhu Mythos was not spared. Players assume the roles of investigators,
cultists, and “monster whackers” taking on such creatures as Aughost Derwraith,
Nightie-Gaunts, and Shrub-Niggurath.
- Mythos, Chaosium
- Chaosium’s foray into the collectible card game arena. The game began with a
“Starter Deck” and then added five expansions: “Expeditions of Miskatonic
University,” “Cthulhu Rising,” “Legends of the Necronomicon,”
“The Dreamlands,” and “New Aeon.” In addition, a non-collectible “Standard
Game Set” was created. The “New Aeon” deck includes “The Internet” card which features the old home page of
The H.P. Lovecraft Archive.
- The Necronomicon, Simulations Publications, Inc.
- In the “Feedback” column of the March 1981 issue of Ares magazine, the folks
at SPI proposed a boardgame to be called “The Necronomicon.” Here is their description
of this game:
The Necronomicon. The ancient gods are eager to break loose, and
the times are now propitious for their return. The dark gods’ agents travel across the land
in search of the dread book, The Necronomicon (also known as Al Azif, written by the
mad poet Abdul Alhazred). The gods, however, are not above trying to outdo one another, to gain
the advantage of being the first to come into the world again, and they have instructed their
agents to do anything to gain control of the rare book. The Necronomicon would be a
game of quest, in which the players become agents for their favorite god of the Cthulu [sic] mythos
and go out hunting for the mystical tome. Often the quest leads a player into the realms of a
rival god (each god’s power is a magnet for the book) who may act as ally or enemy. Once the
book is discovered, it is a race against time to release the ancient god before rival players or
irate locals interfere. The Necronomicon would contain a 17" x 22" map of the world, 100
cardboard playing pieces, simple rules. To sell for $6.
Unfortunately, this board game never saw the light of day...
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