Lovecraftian Board Games

[Dot Liljenquist]

ThoughI knew they were wrapping their KickStarter campaign and thus surely out of their mind with stress I sent off an email request for an interview once their campaign had wrapped and they had a oppurtunity for a breather. Hours later Nigel replied that we might as well have at it. I know I say this with every interview but once again I am humbled by the kindness and generosity of creators within our small corner of the world. Once you see the length and breadth of the replies Nigel gave in response to my queries I believe you will be as well.

LE: Wow, you are the first couple I have met where both are game designers. A friend of mine is a teacher and his wife is a game designer. (Hi Ivan and Tricia!) That must make for interesting conversations. Did you find that your time in the video game industry prepared you for designing board games? Are there any books or other sources you would recommend to others looking to design games themselves?

A game of Lords of Vegas I played with my wife and son that descended into a vicious cycle of power-struggles and gambling between myself and Sarah over a vast sci-fi themed casino right on the strip that resulted in one of us destitute, shambling the remaining vacant lots looking for change!

That one time playing Galaxy Truckers when my crew literally rode a ship consisting of a single crew-quarters and a single cargo bay through 3 encounters after the engines, the guns, the shields and everything else was destroyed by meteors, pirates and god knows what else.

After being available for awhile, it sold out, and Chaosium never reprinted it. Instead, the rights moved to Fantasy Flight Games where it was revamped and the second edition came out in 2005. And they released eight expansion sets, which added new scenarios and sometimes additional boards.

In 2011, FFG released a different game that is set in the same world, Mansions of Madness. In this game, two to five players are involved, one playing the keeper, similar to what is seen in role-playing games. A storyline is picked, and the boards are setup. The keeper controls the creatures and encounters. There were a few expansions. In 2016, a second edition was rolled out. Probably the biggest change is the creation of an application that now fills the role of the keeper, which allows for single player games. At this point, several expansions have been released.

In 2013, FFG released Eldritch Horror, which was more similar to AH, but unlike AH, it has a world-wide setting. Thus instead of running around a town, the players are running around the world. This one can be played by one to eight players. So far eight expansions have been released.

In another, the Old Ones were summoned due to a Dark Pact a player had drawn as a price to rescue a comrade. All of these were random draws but Fantasy Flight had clearly done its work that it always felt thematically appropriate no matter what.

COUNTING, COLORS & CTHULHU is a beautifully illustrated, premium board book from the creators of C is for Cthulhu & Sweet Dreams Cthulhu that teaches numbers and colors using adorable Lovecraft inspired monsters.

This new book features stunning, fully painted illustrations of our beloved creepy, yet cuddly renditions of some of H.P. Lovecraft's most iconic creations. You'll delight to find, "TWO GREEN DEEP ONES,SWIMMING IN THE SEA..."

Get your hands on a PHYSICAL COPY of the first edition of COUNTING, COLORS & CTHULHU, a premium hardcover board book that will make the perfect addition your Lovecraftian library. This is a must have book for Lovecraft or Cthulhu fans of all ages, and especially for the little monsters out there who are learning their numbers, colors...and mythos!

Nothing goes better with a physical copy of the all-new first edition printing of COUNTING, COLORS & CTHULHU than our all-new adorable RAINBOW C IS FOR CTHULHU BABY PLUSH (6 in.) Our plush toys always include crinkle wings, a beanie bum for posed shelf sitting, and a die-cut C is for Cthulhu tag.

Grab a physical copy of the all-new first edition printing of COUNTING, COLORS & CTHULHU plus the triumphant return of our standard sized RAINBOW C IS FOR CTHULHU PLUSH (12 in.) Our plush toys always include crinkle wings, a beanie bum for posed shelf sitting, and a die-cut C is for Cthulhu tag.

Lovecraft is an iconic horror, science, and fantasy writer whose works endure to this day. Lovecraft's stories depict a hostile, uncaring universe and the monstrous beings that inhabit it, threatening humanity. Many board games use the surface images of Lovecraft's storytelling, some with much better results than others.

Updated on January 26th by Isaac Williams: The works of H. P. Lovecraft are an ever-popular theme for a board game. Cthulhu has graced more game covers than Lovecraft would have ever dreamed. This list has been updated with even more of the best board games that draw on Lovecraft's fiction.

The Doom That Came to Atlantic City is part of a series of send-ups of Monopoly. It uses similar mechanics to that infamous board game. However, it refines them in many areas. In addition, it completely changes up the fiction. Players control Great Ones attempting to destroy the world through gates in Atlantic City.

The Doom That Came to Atlantic City does have some of Monopoly's pitfalls. It relies on dice for movement and players can lose through sheer bad luck. However, it makes some marked improvements. Players have unique abilities that can turn the game on its head. It's also much faster, often over in an hour. The game isn't revolutionary but it is fun.

Munchkin Cthulhu doesn't do much to rewrite the Munchkin playbook. For the most part, it's very similar to other Munchkin sets. It provides new enemies and cards that are Lovecraft-themed. The only real concessions to the fiction are a new Cultist class and a few cards with sanity-themed mechanics.

Nothing Munchkin Cthulhu does will appeal to non-Munchkin fans. Likewise, it doesn't make unique use of its theme. However, it's the marriage of two simple and popular concepts. It's more content for Munchkin fans that puts a new twist on gameplay. For fans of both Munchkin and Cthulhu fans, it's perfect.

Tides of Madness is a rare Lovecraft game that doesn't focus as heavily on monsters. Instead, it uses Lovecraft's themes of ancient power and the loss of sanity. It uses similar mechanics to its forerunner game Tides of Time. Players assemble a kingdom by drafting cards. Every time they do, they discard one card to use as a relic. The aim is to make as prosperous a kingdom as possible.

However, Tides of Madness changes things up with its madness mechanics. Certain powerful cards have a tradeoff in giving madness. This madness is itself a tradeoff. A moderately high amount can give more points. However, if a player ever amasses too much, they lose immediately. It's an effective gamble that improves Tides of Madness' gameplay.

Many Lovecraftian board games echo the fiction. Players take control of everyday investigators caught up in horror. Shadows Over Normandie takes a very different approach. Rather than battling the forces of cosmic horror with journalists and professors, one player goes to war against them with an army.

Shadows Over Normandie is a wargame spun off from Heroes of Normandie. It pits the Allies against horrific Lovecraftian monstrosities and the Nazi cultists who summon them. The game is complex and can be fairly impenetrable for new players. However, it rewards mastery and can lead to sprawling, exhilarating tabletop battles with a unique theme.

Mountains of Madness' base gameplay is fairly simple. Players have to explore the titular mountain, recover the relic, and escape. To do so, they have to complete the challenges on each section's card. Players overcome these challenges by playing cards as a group that total a target number or range.

Mountains of Madness shines in its restricted communication. Players have a limited time to communicate before putting down cards, and cannot talk once they have. As the game progresses, it places more restrictions on players' ability to communicate. The difficulty increases organically and in a way that makes brilliant use of the game's source material.

Bloodborne: The Board Game isn't directly themed after Lovecraft's work. Instead, it adapts a video game that is. Bloodborne: The Board Game takes the iconic FromSoftware action-RPG and puts it on a game board. Players control Hunters on the night of the Hunt, patrolling Yharnam's Streets to curtail the rising beast threat.

The game is a thoroughly enjoyable dungeon crawler with an intuitive and engaging combat system. The source material's biggest Lovecraftian influences are absent from the base game. Nonetheless, it still replicates the feeling of struggling against an otherworldly threat and persevering against all odds.

Many Lovecraftian games give some grand objective. This might be closing some form of gate or rift allowing threats into the world, or curtailing the assault of a cosmic threat to save the world. Not so with Unfathomable. This game simply tasks most of its players with surviving. They're aboard a ship that has come under attack from Deep Ones.

Most of the players in Unfathomable are humans attempting to survive their voyage to Boston. They have to keep their ship afloat and manage its resources. At least one player, however, plays a hidden Deep One. They aid their fellows by sabotaging the ship and the other players from the inside. The result is a board game of deception and mistrust, with a rising sense of hopelessness.

Fantasy Flight Games publish some of the best-known Lovecraftian games on the market. One of their quicker and less complex is Elder Sign. It has a familiar fictional premise. An Ancient One is attempting to break through into the world, and the players control investigators attempting to stop it.

However, Elder Sign is deliberately easier to play and designed for quicker games. Players take turns exploring rooms. They then attempt to overcome the obstacles in those rooms for rewards. The objective is to stop the Ancient One before it can appear or slay it when it does. Elder Sign isn't the best Lovecraft-themed board game. Nonetheless, it's a good purchase for those who want something simpler.

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