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Literary: H.P. Lovecraft Games
November 25, 2009

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.

sorted by reverse year of first publication
  1. Arkham Horror: Innsmouth Horror
    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. Shop
  2. Call of Cthentacle
    James Desborough; Postmortem Studios; 2
    Card game depravity. Shop
  3. Chez Cthulhu
    John Darbro & Steve Jackson; Steve Jackson Games; 2-5
    Set collection amid Cthulhoid invasion of geek existence. Shop
  4. Cthulhu Boardgame
    Felbrigg Herriot; (web-published); 2
    Compete to be the first to collect three artifacts in 1920s England. Publisher
  5. Arkham Horror: The Black Goat of the Woods
    Kevin Wilson, Daniel Clark, Michael Hurley & Tim Uren; Fantasy Flight; 1-8
    Expansion adding a forest cult theme and over 150 cards. Shop
  6. Arkham Horror: Kingsport Horror
    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. Shop
  7. Arkham Terror
    Chris Engle; Hamster Pres; 2-10
    Players represent doctors and patients trying to uncover a plot. Shop
  8. Call of Cthulhu
    Eric M. Lang & Nate French; Fantasy Flight; 2
    Living card game. Shop
  9. Cthul-B-Que
    Jonathan Leistiko; Invisible City Productions; 2-5
    Card and dice game of capturing monsters without getting hurt. Shop
  10. Cthulhu Rising
    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. Shop
  11. Cthulhu: Tora! Tora! Tora!
    Lisandro Gaertner; (web-published); 2
    World War II kamikaze fighters take on Cthulhu. Instructions in Portuguese. Publisher
    board
    The Witch of Salem board
  12. Der Hexer von Salem / The Witch of Salem
    With the help of a master sorcerer, players all work together to save New England and the world from the horrors.
    Review – Shop
  13. Innsmouth Escape
    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. Shop
  14. Munchkin Cthulhu 3
    Fade Manley & Steve Jackson; Steve Jackson Games/Pegasus; 2-6
    "The Unspeakable Vault" expands the game even further. Shop
  15. Mythos Miniatures
    Graeme Dawson & TS S. Fulk; Island of Wak Wak; 2-8
    Skirmish rules for miniatures. Publisher
  16. Die Sterne Stehen Richtig / The Stars Are Right
    Klaus Westerhoff; Pegasus/Steve Jackson; 2-4
    Players play cards to align a grid that provides rewards and capabilities. Shop
  17. Munchkin Cthulhu
    JHG Hendriks & Steve Jackson; Steve Jackson Games/Pegasus; 2-6
    Card game of adventuring, negotiation and bizarre combinations. Shop
  18. Munchkin Cthulhu 2
    Steve Jackson; Steve Jackson Games/Pegasus; 2-6
    "Call of Cowthulhu" expands the game to a pastoral setting. Shop
  19. Unspeakable Words
    James Ernest & Mike Selinker; Playroom Entertainment; 2-6
    Word game. Shop
  20. Arkham Horror: Curse of the Dark Pharaoh
    Robert Vaughn; Fantasy Flight; 1-8
    Expansion around an Egypt/mummy museum exhibit theme adds many new cards. Shop
  21. Arkham Horror: Dunwich Horror
    Kevin Wilson & Richard Launius; Fantasy Flight; 1-8
    Expansion around a small New England town adding 8 investigators, 4 ancients and many more cards. Shop Arkham Horror: The King in Yellow
    Kevin Wilson & Robert Vaughn; Fantasy Flight; 1-8
    Expansion introduces heralds and over 160 cards. Shop
  22. Do You Worship Cthulhu?
    Jon & David Huston; Toy Vault; 5-30
    Moderated party game similar to Werewolf. Shop
    if no image probably out of print
  23. Arkham Horror
    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 – Shop
  24. Cthulhu Skirmish
    Lloyd Krassner; (web-published); 2
    Fighting game with eight different factions available. Publisher
  25. Miskatonic Madness
    Richard Launius; (web-published); 2
    Card drafting and placement with one player trying to wake an elder god, the other to prevent it. Publisher
  26. Tekeli-li
    Toshiki Sato; Japon Brand; 3-6
    A trick taking game in which players avoid taking tricks. Includes 48 cards. Shop
  27. When Darkness Comes: The Nameless Mist
    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. Shop
  28. Call of Cthulhu
    Eric M. Lang; Fantasy Flight; 2
    Collectible card game. Shop
  29. Cthulhu 500
    Jeff Tidball; Atlas Games; 3-8
    Auto racing featuring Lovecraftian passengers and car enhancements. Shop
  30. Hentacle
    James Desborough; Postmortem Studios; 2-4
    Card game depravity. Shop
  31. Necronomonopoly
    John Wick & Annie Rush; Wicked Dead Brewing Co.; 2-6
    Monopoly clone. Shop
  32. Cthulhu Mash
    David M. Miecikowski; Evil Polish Brothers; 1-4
    Fighting game using a modular board. Shop
  33. The Testimony of Jacob Hollow
    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. Shop
  34. De Profundis
    Michael Oracz; Portal/Krimsus Krimskrams-Kiste; 1-3
    Storytelling game. Shop
  35. S-P-O-N-G-E: Fight the Evil
    Jack Reda; (web-published); 2
    Customizable card game. Publisher
  36. The Hills Rise Wild
    Jesper Myrfors & John Tynes; Pagan Publishing; 2-4
    Fighting rules for families of misfits represented by miniatures. Shop
  37. Cults Across America
    Jeff Tidball; Atlas Games; 2-6
    Religious fanatics try to wrest control of the United States. Shop
  38. Mythos
    Charlie Krank; Chaosium; 2-4
    Collectible card game in which investigators must complete stories. Shop
  39. Creatures & Cultists
    Jeff Barber & John Tynes; Pagan Publishing; 3-5
    Card game of summoning Lovecraftian horrors to destroy the world. Shop
  40. Cthulhu Horror
    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
  41. Arkham Horror
    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
    if no image, probably out of print
  42. The Thing in the Darkness
    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
  43. Dark Cults
    Kenneth Rahman; Dark House; 2
    A matter of Life or Death as that's who the players represent in this story-telling card game. Shop
  44. Illuminati
    Steve Jackson; Steve Jackson Games; 2-6
    Card game of influence and world domination includes a Cthulhu group. Review – Shop

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