***A small update to this review (four year old at the time I am now writing) is posted below with a follow up after a few years of Cthulhu Wars on the table.***
INTRODUCTION
After five years on this Geek this is my first review. It's a long one and any of you can skim or skip with my blessing; heck, take the extra time you'd gain by doing so and read The Shadow Over Innsmouth instead.
I am writing a review I actually hesitate to write for a couple of reasons. First, I have played the games three times; I would like to have had more plays before putting the review together. Second, I am hesitant to write this review as I am so squarely in what must be the target audience for this game that I may have a challenge for some on this site in having my thoughts on the game being regarded as having a broader relevance. I hope to address this challenge.
I have been playing The Call of Cthulhu RPG obsessively for over twenty five years now and my deep gratitude to <PERSON> creativity goes back just as long. I don't think it's generally realized how much he has fleshed out the Cthulhu Mythos in how it is presently conceived (He created the Dark Young; how cool is that?). His work on Doom, Quake and Age of Empires II is even less known. When this Boardgamegeek member heard that <PERSON> intended to make his definitive statement on the Mythos in board game form, it became the dream game for me. As my personal excitement grew, though, the sheer scale and cost of the project gave many in the BGG a skeptical approach to the game; some commenters even seemed unfairly dismissive. I actually found myself hoping it was "just okay" so I would not feel the pressure of adding my voice to the discussion. I have strived since I joined BGG to have discussions which are sober, constructive and critical so as to maintain meaningful discussions. Despite my love for many games, I never want to be the fanboy, so pathetically distracted by theme and chrome, so easily dismissed.
But it was dropped on my porch last month.
And it was good. It was very good.
Dammit.
THE APPEAL OF THE GAME
As the components and rules of Cthulhu Wars are well presented already on the site, I will keep my rules overview brief and general. The base game offers a medium weight, three to four player experience (two with a less compelling variant, five with an additional expansion faction). 504
Each player controls a faction of dark, cosmic evil competing with other similar factions for the lion's share of the remains of a defeated, dying Earth. Players push and battle each other to control areas, build gates, gain power, achieve personal goals and unlock special abilities in the form of spell books to make their own faction supreme. The player wins who, having acquired all six of their spell books, accumulates the most Doom Points through holding areas with constructed gates on the board and blind drawing Elder Signs. The miniatures are conspicuously monstrous, appealing and evocative but their ostentatious nature runs the risk of obscuring the game that happens to be in this box, too; I'm going to try to talk about that game here.
It is the most wildly asymmetric game I've ever played.
My favorite games include , and . I really, really like asymmetric games. I love the feel almost of role playing, settling into the character of your faction; the more faithfully you inhabit them, the better the mechanics become tools of your play. I love the clamor of the different factions crossing each other, each playing their own game, each trying to sit atop the others in The Game.
Cthulhu Wars' asymmetry is so daring one would think it would be game breaking -- but so far, at least, it's not; it's sublime. I am chuckling hearing how imbalanced some gamers claim one or another faction is, but to this point I believe I have heard from different posters how unbeatable all of the factions are. <PERSON> is the designer who was responsible for balancing the seventeen different playable sides of Age of Empires II (which included dozens of upgrades and unit types); I think that experience likely served him well in playtesting and refining Cthulhu Wars.
In any case, the four base game factions all have different core abilities that give them a significant advantage in the game. In addition, many of their monsters (generally three unique monster types) have or can acquire different powers. In order to win, each faction must satisfy six different goals mostly unique to their faction. Finally, by doing so, each faction unlocks six unique spell books that either give the monsters the powers stated or provide another faction advantage. I have to date played three of the four base game factions. In the words of the designer, <PERSON> bullies; that player becomes a bully in order to win. 366