TOP 10 best games based on Lovecraft: Cthulhu and madness in projects of various genres

Games based on H. P. Lovecraft have been produced since 1993 — during this time a lot of interesting good stuff has been released. For example, the other day the Russian publisher 1C released an excellent retro shooter Forgive Me Father. What other games about Cthulhu are worth paying attention to? Now we'll tell you!

Despite the abundance of games based on Lovecraft, the developers have not released purebred FPS about darkness and madness. If there was shooting, it was often executed crookedly. Fortunately, the Polish studio Forgive Me Father has corrected this omission.

The plot tells about a hero who comes to a mysterious town to meet a relative. Alas, the poor fellow is immediately overtaken by a lot of troubles: normal people have disappeared somewhere, monsters and cultists are roaming the streets, and the surroundings are overgrown with incomprehensible rot. Fortunately, the arsenal is full of guns and abilities — they will help deal with the creatures.

At first, the hero is attacked by frail converts who die after a couple of hits. However, they will soon be replaced by deadly creatures that will withstand a dozen hits and not even blink an eye. They will surround, press from all sides and shoot from a distance.

You will be able to survive thanks to a rich arsenal and cool abilities that allow you to slow down time, deal more damage, and so on. Plus, don't forget about the mechanics of madness: the faster the hero destroys the creatures, the more he goes crazy, increasing the damage.

However, the main advantage of Forgive Me Father is its visuals. The artists did an impressive job when drawing the locations, monsters, and effects. As a result, the picture will make you stop more than once, enthusiastically looking at the environment and two-dimensional sprites of mobs.

Of course, there are also a lot of disadvantages in the project. The complexity is overwhelming in places. The distance between save points will make the developers curse more than once. Locations sometimes have too much strange fog and dark areas.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth was released in 2005, but is still considered one of the best Lovecraft games. Anyone who has experienced a psychological thriller will never forget the escape from the hotel and the fight with Dagon.

The main character of Dark Corners of the Earth is a detective who once experienced something terrible and ended up in a mental hospital. Since then, he has partially come to his senses, but a new assignment in Innsmouth will again turn his life into a nightmare. On the very first night, aggressive men will start knocking on the detective's door, the streets will be filled with aggressive citizens, and aggressive monsters will be encountered in the darkest corners.

The hero constantly had to fear for his life. He received wounds, fractures and contracted an infection — all this had to be treated with special consumables. However, the main danger was madness: having encountered something frightening and inexplicable, the detective's hands began to shake, his legs tremble, and he himself completely went crazy.

In addition, the game had an interesting plot and an enveloping atmosphere of despair. It's no wonder that gamers love Dark Corners of the Earth so much. The game also had problems like clumsy shooting and a couple of boring levels, but its advantages clearly outweighed it.

The development of The Sinking City was carried out by the Ukrainian studio Frogwares, known for detective stories about Sherlock Holmes. By the way, once the creators already sent a detective to the world of Cthulhu, but this time the story turned out to be more Lovecraftian, and there was no place in it for the master of deduction from Baker Street.

Even though the hero of The Sinking City was not Holmes, the mechanics were not very different from previous Frogwares projects. Another detective arrives in a mysterious flooded city and begins to unravel the mystery of his hallucinations. At the same time, the locals willingly accept the guest and even entrust him with cases that the police cannot cope with.

The detective's trick is his paranormal abilities. He can see the past, easily finds illusory obstacles and travels through realities. However, you can't do without standard deduction either — you still have to delve into the palaces of the mind and analyze the evidence. Frogwares has long learned to come up with exciting investigations, and this time the team coped with the task again.

Alas, it feels like the studio was in a storm during development — probably due to a conflict with the publishers. There is no other way to explain why The Sinking City has such terrible combat and so much unnecessary running around.

Despite the shortcomings, the developers made a decent game with fascinating investigations and cute Lovecraftian visuals.

Call of Cthulhu is the same game that was developed simultaneously with The Sinking City and indirectly became the cause of scandal. However, the only thing that unites the projects is the setting, where there is a place for Cthulhu and other powerful creatures. The rest of Cyanide Studio's creation is original.

According to the plot, another detective, crippled by life, arrived in a strange town. Alas, the locals were not very friendly. To get anywhere, the hero had to use the skills of eloquence, psychology, deception, and so on.

It is curious that all the perks were upgraded, but even the maximum level did not guarantee success. Somewhere off-screen, an invisible master rolled the dice and decided whether the detective passed the test.

However, behind the controversial but interesting mechanics lay an ordinary walking simulator. The detective explored the area, found important objects and carefully avoided the attention of enemies, whom he could not even stun. Fortunately, the plot turned out to be suitable, and the presentation was intriguing.

The main thing that Cyanide Studio managed to do was convey the atmosphere of madness. Over and over again, encountering something inexplicable, the hero flew off the rails more and more and plunged into a world of darkness. The game readily reminded us that in the face of powerful creatures, people are pitiful grains of sand.

Chronicle of Innsmouth: Mountains of Madness is a suitable entertainment for gamers who miss classic quests like Broken Sword and Grim Fandango. At the same time, despite the cartoonish visuals, the authors managed to tell a dark story based on the works «The Shadow Over Innsmouth» and «The Ridges of Madness».

The script tells the story of a detective who comes to his senses near Innsmouth. At the same time, his body is torn to pieces, and his hands do not obey — but what happened to him? This remains to be seen. At the same time, the hero needs to escape from a dangerous city, solve ritual murders, and also find himself in the mind of Lovecraft himself.

The gameplay of Mountains of Madness matches the genre. We wander through locations, look for valuable items, solve riddles and discover new areas. All this is familiar to connoisseurs of quests, except that there is an order of magnitude more horror and nightmares in PsychoDev's creation. If you love the genre and Lovecraft, pay attention to the game.

Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder claims to be one of the best Lovecraft games thanks to its excellent storyline. It is not surprising that the project received a continuation, and then a re-release with improved graphics.

The premise is standard: a hero who must be a sad detective, a ritual murder, a huge mansion — all the cliches are in place. However, as you progress, the intrigue thickens, and the riddles surprise you quite well. The writers cleverly mixed several of Lovecraft's stories and managed to come up with an exciting story.

If we talk about gameplay, Darkness Within is a standard point and click quest. The hero wanders around a huge mansion, looking for objects that can be thrown into a backpack, trying to open locked doors and solving puzzles.

Thanks to the re-release, the visuals of Darkness Within are not too outdated, and the gameplay will appeal to fans of quests and Lovecraft.

Conarium is one of the most unusual Lovecraft games. Still, it's not often that gamers are dropped off at the South Pole. At the same time, the blizzard and ice floes do not interfere with experiencing the signature atmosphere of madness and doom. The idea is not new for Lovecraft's novels, but developers usually prefer a different setting.

It is curious that the hero of Conarium is not a detective. He doesn't remember anything about himself at all. The only memory suggests that the South Pole is around, and he himself died when he used a mysterious device. So what is happening, what did the character do, and what to do now? The answers will be interesting.

Perhaps the intricate story is the main advantage of the project. This is not surprising, since we are talking about a walking simulator, which cannot do without a good script. To unravel many mysteries, the hero will have to read notes, collect objects and occasionally run away from enemies, who, if they get close to him, will not leave a chance.

The authors should also be praised for the visuals, which are captivating both in terms of design and quality of textures. Conarium has plenty of strengths — it's not surprising that at the Kristal Piksel ceremony the game was named the main hit of 2017. Perhaps the award is not the most authoritative, but the fact itself is impressive.

Lust from Beyond is a horror adventure full of surrealism, unpleasant scenes and, of course, depravity. It was lust that became the main theme of the project. If you pick up the game, be prepared for the fact that the tastes of the developers are very specific.

The plot tells about the Cult of Pleasure, which knows how to use sex to travel into the mysterious world of lust and pleasure. The only thing missing is a chosen one, capable of traveling beyond the boundaries of familiar reality, not only in theory, but also in practice — the hero is just one of these.

As a result, gamers will have to admire sex scenes in different circumstances and with the most amazing partners. Among them there is a place for both pretty ladies and charismatic two-headed kids or monsters.

However, the character will not only indulge in debauchery, but also engage in more familiar things. Explore locations, solve riddles, run away from cultists and even fight bosses.

Who said that games based on Lovecraft must be immersed in an atmosphere of madness? The authors of Tesla vs Lovecraft rethought the writer's work and released a driving shooter with a top-down view. It is not surprising that the result turned out to be suitable, because the developers already had the hit Crimsonland behind them.

The plot is about Nikola Tesla, who does not like Lovecraft's fiction. The worst thing is that Cthulhu, shoggoths and byaks actually appear in reality and are about to destroy everything. Fortunately, Tesla has already designed a powerful robot and is ready to fight back the monsters.

The gameplay of Tesla vs Lovecraft is simple but fun. A huge number of guns, crowds of various enemies, a spacious arena — all this is good entertainment. Perhaps the shooter lacks variety, but it's still worth paying attention to.

In Darkest Dungeon there are no direct intersections with Lovecraft, but there are so many references that it is impossible not to include the game in the collection. Moreover, Red Hook Studios managed to create a true masterpiece that will appeal to many hardcore fans.

The plot tells about brave heroes who, for the sake of wealth and a higher goal, are ready to look into dungeons full of dangers. To get out alive, you need to skillfully use abilities, look for the weaknesses of enemies and take care not only of the physical, but also the mental health of the group. If someone on the team goes crazy, it will be hard for everyone.

The further the heroes move through the plot, the more intersections with Lovecraft they will find. The Cove location is clearly inspired by The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Some characters seem to have been taken straight from The Mystery of Charles Dexter Ward. And no matter how brave the heroes are, as soon as they look into the face of a true nightmare with one eye, darkness will envelop their souls.

Darkest Dungeon can be criticized for its monotonous gameplay and sometimes over-difficulty, but otherwise the game turned out to be top-notch.

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There are many worthy games based on Lovecraft — unfortunately, not all of them fit into the selection. What projects do you recommend? Write in the comments!