Cthulhu Wars

An odd map, new factions, and an honest bloodbath: Cthulhu Wars knows how to pull you into a table. Then you begin to suspect that the map has plans of its own.

There are choices everywhere. So many that it is not enough to know what your faction can do; you need to work out which moves belong together, and when. That does not arrive at once. It takes games, experiments, and a willingness to lose because another player spotted a connection you had not even noticed.

This is where the interaction bites. In our game, the map's special effect combined with a faction that spreads like porridge, and the map effectively won before anyone had settled in. You start building your plan, someone else keeps spreading, and one effect changes the terms of the conversation. Lovely. Until it happens to you.

That does not make it a bad game. It makes it a game that asks for commitment. If you have already decided to spend 1000-1500 euros on a game, you have probably accepted that learning it may involve a little sweat.

For players with the time and appetite to pick apart its synergies, Cthulhu Wars offers a huge, savage table where victory may come from the ground beneath your feet.