"Cthulhu. Death May Die" – is a dynamic cooperative game set in the Lovecraftian mythos, which significantly differs from other representatives of the genre. You will be transported to the 1920s, becoming brave and slightly insane investigators who instead of ordinary investigations decide to battle the Ancient One himself! To win, you will need to prepare properly.
The game features six different scenarios and two Ancient Ones that you can challenge: Hastur, the King in Yellow, and, of course, Cthulhu! Each scenario offers an original adventure that can be played with any Ancient One. Thus, you get twelve unique combinations: the scenario sets its game board (here it is modular), contains a description of a specific ritual that needs to be interrupted, as well as its consequences; a description of two additional actions for investigators; contains a set of finding cards, Mythos, etc. The Ancient Ones differ in the cultists and monsters that the investigators will face; their strength and characteristics.
Apart from this variety, the game offers a dozen investigators, each possessing a unique trait and characteristics of fatigue, health, and sanity. Throughout the game, the investigators can improve their skills, and the more experienced the investigator, the closer they are to total madness!
It should also be noted the quality of the components and especially the game miniatures – such a Cthulhu on the board truly inspires fear!
How to play?
After choosing a character, scenario, and Ancient One, players embark on their journey. On their turn, players go through four phases:
Action Phase – the player can perform three actions from six available (two are unique to the scenario). Actions can be repeated, and the basic ones are running, attacking, resting, and trading.
Drawing a Mythos Card – in this phase, the Ancient One draws closer to our world, enemies appear and move, etc. No investigator likes this phase!
Exploration or Combat – in this phase, you either draw a card from the finding deck, which advances you in the plot, or, if you were in a location with an enemy, you fight them.
End of Turn
For the combat part of the game and for checks, dice with various markings are used. You can roll success, failure, and other values. Closely linked to this mechanics is another one – the deeper the investigator sinks into their madness, the more additional dice they roll. In madness, there is power!
Who won?
Players win when they defeat the Ancient One by inflicting the necessary damage, and lose in the following cases: one of the investigators dies or goes insane before the Ancient One's summoning; all investigators die or go insane during combat with the Ancient One; the despair token reaches the last division on the summoning track.
Game Components:
- 45 plastic miniatures
- 17 double-sided board fragments
- 1 game board
- 10 investigator boards
- 64 Mythos cards
- 90 finding cards
- 12 madness cards
- 8 Ancient One level cards
- 2 Ancient One minion cards
- 6 episode cards
- 6 episode monster cards
- 8 special dice
- 5 colored stands for miniatures
- 30 plastic tokens
- 147 tokens
- Game rules
Game Duration: 90 to 120 minutes
Number of Players: 1 to 5