Lovecraftian games are oddly overrepresented in IF, both among IF in general, and among great IF games. They seem to be a good fit for the exploratory form of parser IF.
Most of these games hit up all of the big-ticket Lovecraft items: cultists, Eldritch horrors, unspeakable secrets, ancient and terrible symbols, and so on.
1. The Lurking Horror by Dave Lebling (1987) Average member rating: (92 ratings)
MathBrush says:
1987. Infocom's first and only horror game, and one of the first horror video games. Explore the dark secrets under GUE campus. In keeping with Infocom, the game included a lot of tongue-in-cheek references and goofy humor, while managing to still be pretty darn creepy. Contains the Chinese food puzzle, which I found to be obnoxious.
2. Theatre, by Brendon Wyber (1995) Average member rating: (87 ratings) MathBrush says:
1995. One of the last great amateur games before the XYZZY Awards started. This large, sprawling Lovecraftian game is set in an abandoned theatre modeled after a real life haunted theatre in, I believe, San Francisco. This game mimics the goofiness of Lurking Horror at times, but builds up a compelling backstory through diary pages that adds real substance to the game. One of my all time favorites. Has a weaker endgame but a strong opening and middle.
3. Anchorhead by Michael Gentry (1998) Average member rating: (399 ratings)
MathBrush says:
1998. The biggie. Every Lovecraftian game since 1998 has had to stand in this games shadow. Large, polished, well-written, and many people's favorite game of all time. Travel to Anchorhead, a small coastal town, with your husband who has inherited the old family house. I thought about this game off and on for 5 years, and replayed it every now and again. It was so fun to replay that it drove me back into IF.
This game seems to have been inspired at times by Theatre, for instance with telescopes, but only in isolated cases. It's interesting to see how different authors inspired each other down the line.
4. Nevermore, by Nate Cull (2000) Average member rating: (23 ratings) MathBrush says:
2000. A smaller Lovecraftian game. You play as the character in Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven that misses Lenore. A frequent need to use drugs interrupts the gameplay at times. The main puzzles are alchemy based, and the map is small.
5. The Temple, by Johan Berntsson (2002) Average member rating: (10 ratings) MathBrush says:
2002. An IFComp game set in one of Lovecraft's shadowy other worlds. Explore the mysterious city and its dark temple. It was polarizing when it came out; to give some of the picture, Zarf gave it a 9 and said "A nice little story, somewhat marred by weak use of language.", while Emily Short gave it a 2 and said "it’s not remotely scary. Just weird.", also citing some runtime errors.
6. Strange Geometries, by Phillip Chambers (2006) Average member rating: (19 ratings) MathBrush says:
2006. Explicitly shouts out Anchorhead, I believe. A rough and unpolished game that I found somehow compelling; then the big twist hits and your mind is blown. Has all the standard features; small, decaying town with cultists, odd symbols, eldritch horrors, etc.
7. Lydia's Heart by Jim Aikin (2007) Average member rating: (30 ratings)
MathBrush says:
2006-2007. In 2006, Aikin released Last Resort, the first big Lovecraftian game since Anchorhead. It featured a gigantic world crammed with puzzles, with numerous NPCs that interact with each other and you. It had the stated goal of telling a large, serious story.
Many people had issues with the timing and other puzzles in the game, so it was rereleased in 2007 as Lydia's Heart, with more puzzles and more fairness. A must-play for fans of Lovecraft and puzzles. Among puzzle games, I would rank it with Mulldoon Legacy and Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina.
8. Ecdysis by Peter Nepstad (2007) Average member rating: (80 ratings)
MathBrush says:
2007. A game that made me almost want to vomit. Short and linear, a man starts scratching himself after a strange event in the sky. A surreal game featuring some gore. Part of the Commonplace Book Project, which set out to make games based on a notebook of Lovecraft.
9. Dead Cities by Jon Ingold (2007) Average member rating: (31 ratings)
MathBrush says:
2007. Another Commonplace Book Project game. Featuring an innovative interface with multiple windows, graphics, a persistent inventory list, and so on. Really different from other Lovecraftian games, as it features on more of a relentless horror without blood, squishy monsters, or so on. Features many endings and a horrifying but exciting book.
2009. One of the largest games in all of IF, this was an Intro Comp game that got completely fleshed out. It is Lovecraft horror set in Shakespearean times, featuring cameos by Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, and John Dee. All characters speak in modern language, fortunately, and the game includes some interesting simulations of Renaissance technology. Not too hard, but very well-polished.
This game has a scene that references many of the earlier games, including (I believe) Anchorhead, Theatre, and the Lurking Horror.
In 2013, Marshal Tenner Winter released two detective games based on Lovecraftian ideas. This first game is based on a book by Lovecraft, and as such the story framework is fairly good. You explore the story of a man in an asylum. The game is mid-sized, somewhat spare, with some bugs in writing and programming.
12. Castronegro Blues by Marshal Tenner Winter (2013) Average member rating: (11 ratings)
MathBrush says:
This is the second of those two games from 2013. In this one, you play the same detective, this time investigating an old family that has dominated a New Mexico town for centuries. This game has the same sort of issues as the previous game, with a bit less bugs and a larger map.
13. Hunger Daemon by Sean M. Shore (2014) Average member rating: (64 ratings)
MathBrush says:
2014. The winner of IFComp. A truly amusing parody of Lovecraftian games. You play a bored cultist whose family is trying to destroy the world. An entertaining contrast to the earlier, darker games.
14. Cragne Manor by Ryan Veeder, Jenni Polodna et al.Show other authorsAdam Whybray, Adri, Andrew Plotkin, Andy Holloway, Austin Auclair, Baldur Brückner, Ben Collins-Sussman, Bill Maya, Brian Rushton, Buster Hudson, Caleb Wilson, Carl Muckenhoupt, Chandler Groover, Chris Jones, Christopher Conley, Damon L. Wakes, Daniel Ravipinto, Daniel Stelzer, David Jose, David Petrocco, David Sturgis, Drew Mochak, Edward B, Emily Short, Erica Newman, Feneric, Finn Rosenløv, Gary Butterfield, Gavin Inglis, Greg Frost, Hanon Ondricek, Harkness Munt, Harrison Gerard, Ian Holmes, Ivan Roth, Jack Welch, Jacqueline Ashwell, James Eagle, Jason Dyer, Jason Lautzenheiser, Jason Love, Jeremy Freese, Joey Jones, Joshua Porch, Justin de Vesine, Justin Melvin, Katherine Morayati, Kenneth Pedersen, Lane Puetz, Llew Mason, Lucian Smith, Marco Innocenti, Marius Müller, Mark Britton, Mark Sample, Marshal Tenner Winter, Matt Schneider, Matt Weiner, Matthew Korson, Michael Fessler, Michael Gentry, Michael Hilborn, Michael Lin, Mike Spivey, Molly Ying, Monique Padelis, Naomi Hinchen, Nate Edwards, Petter Sjölund, Q Pheevr, Rachel Spitler, Reed Lockwood, Reina Adair, Riff Conner, Roberto Colnaghi, Rowan Lipkovits, Sam Kabo Ashwell, Scott Hammack, Sean M. Shore, Shin, Wade Clarke, Zach Hodgens, Zack Johnson (2018) Average member rating: (25 ratings)
MathBrush says:
Perhaps the biggest traditional parser game of all time, with 500K+ words and almost a hundred puzzles. Every kind of horror possible (except for extreme grotesqueness), including multiple Lovecraftian takes on horror.
15. Ascension of Limbs by AKheon (2020) Average member rating: (19 ratings)
MathBrush says:
Own a Lovecraftian antique shop. Simulation game.
16. D'ARKUN by Michael Baltes (2021) Average member rating: (13 ratings)
MathBrush says:
Big, generally polished game about exploring two towns and learning about evil going ons.
