5 Best Lovecraftian RPGs, Ranked

Best Of

The author, H.P.

Lovecraft, is well-known for creating monstrous, other-worldly creatures so terrifying that countless others strive to match them.

Take RPGs, for example.

These days, developers go hard at work, bouncing Lovecrafts ideas off one another.

Lovecraft’s Untold Stories (2019)

Lovecrafts Untold Storiesis like a tribute to Lovecrafts own stories.

Its an action rogue-lite that features five characters exploring various Lovecraft story locations.

Each location has a unique storyline and a set of interconnected mysteries to uncover.

Just like most Lovecraftian RPGs, survival is paramount.

You start to navigate randomly generated Lovecraft worlds and run into ancient monstrosities.

Each players path leads to uncovering certain clues that help fight the Ancient Ones.

You also have distinct weaknesses youll need to keep an eye out for.

Lose it, and its game over.

This game combines exploration and storytelling in the award-winning Victorian Gothic universe of Fallen London.

Chances are youll die a tad too many times.

However, it gets easier once you get the hang of it.

Players take on the role of the captain of a ship in steampunk London.

As captain, your crews lives rest in your hands.

You could also lose your mind the farther you sink down the rabbit hole.

Frequent death comes with the package, from the monsters, catastrophic weather, and even some crew members.

Even so, you do get more than enough chances to redeem yourself.

Diablo III (2013)

Admittedly,Diablo IIIisnt the most obvious Lovecraftian RPG you may think of.

However, it does infuse elements of Lovecraftians other-worldly forces.

Heaven and hell clash inDiablo III, with high fantasy hack-and-slash action and cosmic horror taking center stage.

Fortunately, theCall of Cthulhusurvival RPG does exactly that, despite being severely underrated by most.

To be fair, Call of Cthulhu only loosely adapts the main story.

At least lesser thanCall of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth(2005) does.

Bloodborne (2015)

Bloodborneis, without a doubt, the best Lovecraftian RPG out there.

Players must navigate a cursed town in which a deadly mystery consumes everything it touches.

Surprise, surprise, the game demands entering this city to find a cure for this mysterious plague.

AlthoughBloodborneisn’t a Lovecraftian story, the game’s themes are clearly inspired by the horror author.

It flawlessly adapts the looming dark, oppressive horror themes with a bleak ending while remaining fresh and original.

Also, frequent death is unavoidable, with the game being a dead ringer for Souls-like games.

Evans I. Karanja is a freelance writer who loves to write about anything technology.

When not writing, he can be found playing video games or watching F1.