G.F. Lovecraft: Video Games

“The oldest and most powerful of human emotions is fear, and the oldest and most powerful type of fear is fear of the unknown.”

H. P. Lovecraft

On August 20, 1890, in the city of Providence (Rhode Island), a boy was born into the family of jewelry traveling salesman Winfield Scott Lovecraft and Sarah Susan Phillips Lovecraft, blessed by the radiance of an unknown star from the incomprehensible distance of space. A boy who, by the age of 14, will write his first stories and tell the world about the terrible threatening secrets of the universe in the form of terrifying monsters, unknown creatures from the depths of space and aliens from other dimensions. This was “the father of scary stories about incredibly ancient monsters” - Howard Phillips Lovecraft. A writer who, with his bright and wild imagination, changed the concept of horror and created a new direction, which would later be called “Lovecraftian horror.” One of the writer’s close friends, August Derleth, will come up with a general term for this style and specificity - “Cthulhu Mythos”. Numerous authors have written about this general creepy concept: Clark Ashton Smith, Robert Bloch, Robert Howard, Brian Lumley, August Derleth, Stephen King and others.

Lovecraft rightfully occupies a high position in the genre of mystery and horror along with Edgar Allan Poe, from whose works Mr. Lovecraft drew his inspiration. But if Poe or Arthur Machen played with the gloomy kingdom of shadows and cemetery cold, then Lovecraft in his works looked into the depths of these shadows and what he saw there tore the border between logical normality and the incomprehensible chaos of madness. Terrifying slimy creatures, whose age is comparable to the age of the universe itself, burst out from under the pen with each new syllable under the disgusting, soul-chilling howl of devilish flutes and loud disgusting howls. An ancient evil lurking in the depths of icy space and the darkest corners of the Earth, nightmarish cults and blasphemous witchcraft - an eerie madness created by a great genius.

Horror when madness is a blessing for a tormented, inflamed mind.

It should be noted that Lovecraft himself was an unusual person. Since childhood, he was distinguished by his wild imagination. And it was in childhood that turning events occurred in his life that influenced the formation of his creativity. I would like to note that the future writer did not have a beautiful childhood with a loving family. His upbringing was mainly done by his grandfather, a strict and pedantic man, and a couple of aunts. Howard practically did not know his father - he was sent to a hospital for the mentally ill when the future writer was only two years old. The mother was a hysterical and constantly excited woman, and after severe breakdowns and depression she ended up in a psychiatric hospital, the same place, in fact, where her husband was. Both parents died early.

From an early age, Howard grew up withdrawn and lonely. This is how he spent his life, never leaving his native Providence, living as a modest hermit, enjoying the usual feeling of loneliness. He did not like to appear in public, and even his many friends, in fact, were such only through correspondence, which Lovecraft actively conducted, devoting his fellow writers to the latest details of his work.

Since childhood, Howard loved to read. His grandfather had the largest library in the city, containing over two thousand volumes. Here the boy spent all day and night, long hours reading and leafing through ancient tomes. One day his mother caught him reading one of these books. Taking the book from him and leafing through it, the woman fell into a real panic. And she immediately threw the volume into the fireplace. The book by H.G. Wells was called The Island of Doctor Moreau. Mrs. Lovecraft felt that such literature would only harm the fragile psyche of her seven-year-old son. But little did she know that Howard had already started trying to write his own stories.

Another point, which actually influenced his subsequent literature, also takes its roots from childhood. Little Howard was tormented by terrible nightmares almost every night. And every time he screamed heart-rendingly. He even had to be taken from boarding school, because other children had insomnia from his screams. The terrifying creatures with huge black membranous wings in these nightmares grabbed him with their cold paws, and the eerie Lang Valley flashed before his eyes; a disgusting giant emerged from the seething black waters (later Lovecraft would call him Dagon and fully describe this dream in the story of the same name) and grabbed the towering ancient monolith with his scaly hands with sharp black claws; and from the dark skies vile creatures from the depths of space descended to earth. Undoubtedly, Lovecraft took most of the ideas for his plots from his own dreams and nightmares. Moreover, a number of works are entirely focused on the general concept of dreams.

Howard Lovecraft was poor and not very happy. Alas, he lived a short life, making ends meet, in almost complete poverty. The cancer developing in his body slowly devoured the writer. And his works were never published during his lifetime. Most editors regarded such literature as second-rate. And there were more and more tabloid readings. Only after his death, through the efforts of his friends, did “Lovecraftian horrors” appear in the first collections. And in the second half of the 20th century, Lovecraft gained worldwide recognition and popularity, which has not faded to this day. Even now, numerous publishing houses reprint and publish his works over and over again in various collections.

On a wide scale, Lovecraft became entrenched in popular art: in music, cinema and, of course, the gaming industry, which we will talk about below. But if in the cinema “LaCraftian horrors” are for the most part only distant motifs transferred to our time, then game adaptations rarely stoop to real trash, carefully transferring to the screen the general atmosphere of hopelessness, suspense and terrible mystery.

A distant star shone brightly, illuminating the Lang Plateau with radiant light, and on the incomprehensible unknown of Kadath, looking at the centers of the spheres through space and time, surrounded by colossal creatures, sits Howard Phillips Lovecraft, a mad genius who has looked beyond the brink, on a throne of black onyx.

"Efficiut Daemones, ut quae non sunt, sic tamen quasi sint, conspicienda hominibus exhibeant..."
Lactantium

Numerous games in one way or another use references to Lovecraft every now and then, including The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series, which would seem to be far from the general idea of ​​cosmic horror. However, we will focus specifically on Lovecraftian games and the list is quite solid.

The game is considered one of the best game adaptations of Lovecraft's works. Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, which, despite the poor graphics, numerous bugs and extreme difficulty, had an excellent plot and an eerie tense atmosphere, and some moments made the heart beat faster. This is not surprising - the plot is based on two important stories by Lovecraft: “The Shadow Over Innsmouth” and “Beyond Time.” However, there are also a great many references to other works here. In addition to the setting - the dirty, neglected town of Innsmouth - the game even contains characters invented by the writer, for example, Zedok Allen.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, Cyanide Studios will release a game with a similar name Call Of Cthulhu - Depths of Madness, which is an adaptation of the board game of the same name. The game will be a detective story with world exploration. But there will be no action with numerous shootouts, as in the above-mentioned game. How well the developers will recreate the oppressive gloomy atmosphere and the lurking threat somewhere beyond, we will only know closer to the end of the year.

And next year another game from the developers of quests about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Frogwares) will be released - The Sinking City. This is an adventure quest where a private detective tries to unravel the mystery of the terrible floods that hit a small town. The concept of the game is reminiscent of Lovecraft's magnificent story "The Temple", where the main character in heavy scuba gear - a "metal tomb" - descends into incredible depths, full of nightmarish secrets. So the game will try to instill horror before plunging into the icy darkness of the sea.

Turkish studio Zoetrope Interactive also noted for games based on the works of Lovecraft. In particular, she released a very interesting horror film in the quest-investigation genre - Darkness Within. First part - Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder- was a classic quest, with a magnificent eerie atmosphere and some kind of threatening secret along with the action of certain forces and ancient cults. Second part - Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage- turned into a kind of adventure game with investigations and incredible horrors. And unlike the first game, there is much more Lovecraft here, and the mysterious evil takes shape in the form of the creeping horror of Nyarlathotep, the herald and messenger of the ancient unknown gods.

In 2017, the studio plans to release a new game called Conarium about the confrontation between four scientists and supernatural forces. The following is known about the plot: Frank Gilman, a member of the Department of Anthropology at Miskatonic University, participates in an expedition to Upout, led by Doctor Faustus. He is trying to go beyond human consciousness with the help of the Konarium device. When Frank regains consciousness, he finds himself alone at the expedition base in Antarctica and remembers nothing. He soon realizes that he died while using the device, but then returned, slightly changed, he has someone else's memories, and he remembers places he has not been to. The Doctor has lost something important or gained something terrible. Moreover, death is part of the game itself.

The games from the Swedish studio Frictional Games turned out to be atmospheric and united by the general concept of loneliness and uncertainty - Penumbra And Amnesia, and although there is nothing directly “Lovecraftian” there, the influence of the works of the master of horror is quite noticeable.

A game Alone in the Dark is based on Lovecraft's favorite concept of the horrors of cursed houses. By the way, it is considered one of the best horror films based on Lovecraft. Indie horror White Night is also built on this idea, and although the game actually has little in common with Lovecraft, it is quite remarkable for its noir black and white graphics and eerie atmosphere with oppressive, frightening shadows.

There's no doubt that Bloodborne It is also based on the Cthulhu mythos, or rather uses the general idea and design. In the plot of the game, almost the entire population of the city of Yharnam worships the Great Ones - powerful supernatural beings. The atmosphere of a turn-based indie role-playing game Darkest Dungeon It is also very similar to the works of Lovecraft; moreover, the design of some monsters and spells has a characteristic “Lovecraftian” style.

And while I am writing these lines, the distant stars of Canes Venatici are blinking mysteriously in the black sky. And somewhere out there, outside the solar system, in the black depths of space, the idiot god Azathoth is tossing and seething under the wild howl of demonic flutes. Mad Nodens rushes through space, driving a flock of terrible black creatures with faceless heads and huge membranous wings, and the spheres of existence connect and diverge in multiple ways, as was predicted and as has already happened, which the mystical Yog-Sothoth knows, for he is the present and the past, the coming future and the multiplicity of events. Deep underwater, in the strange and incomprehensible to human understanding of R'lyeh, the ancient Cthulhu sleeps with a host of his creations. Ordinary human vanity and miserable stay on planet Earth pale before incredible events of universal proportions. Man is just a toy in the cold clutches of nightmarish forces. And the familiar world is collapsing under the terrifying facts of reality and the unfolding secrets of the Universe.

“That which lives in eternity is not dead,
With the death of time, death will die."
H. P. Lovecraft

Do you love horror, horror and Lovecraft as much as we love them? Share your favorite horror games. By the way, I wonder if you remember the moment when a book, movie or game really scared you for the first time? Or did this never happen?

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Howard Phillips Lovecraft. The name of this iconic figure, who gave impetus to the development of horror literature at the beginning of the last century, is one way or another familiar to everyone, and it does not matter whether a person has read the works of Lovecraft or not (after all, he invented Cthulhu!). Surely, many of you at one time scoured the entire Internet in search of games based on Lovecraft's stories, however, like me, they were not satisfied. In fact, there are very few such games, I don’t mean those projects that are simply inspired by Lovecraft, have a couple of references to him, or use similar techniques, but games that take his stories as a basis and follow strictly the canons of the unique horror subgenre developed Howard. Grid71 is with you and in this post I will tell you about the 5 best games based on the works of Lovecraft.

Shadow of the Comet

I selected the first game in my top specifically for real old-school players or for those who just sometimes like to remember their childhood and shake the old days. Shadow of the Comet, released in 1993, brought Lovecraft into the gaming industry for the first time.

The game takes place in 1910. Young photographer John Parker arrives in New England, in a place called Illsmouth (I think the reference is clear), isolated from the rest of the world. It was here back in 1834 that a certain Lord Boleskine went to observe Halley’s Comet, which flies by once every 75 years, because he read somewhere that it would be best seen from Illsmouth. And he managed to see her, only something so terrible appeared before his eyes that the poor fellow lost his mind and spent the rest of his life, drooling, in a madhouse. Parker was very interested in this case, and, having studied all of Boleskine's documents, decided to repeat his experience. However, upon arriving in Illsmouth, he encountered not only the "good-natured" local inhabitants, but also a conspiracy orchestrated by members of a secret society who worshiped the great Ancient One, waiting in the wings at the bottom of the ocean.

By the way, the surname “Boleskine” is a reference to the first part of Alone in the Dark, which was created by the same developers. Of course, there is a bit of “Lovecraftianism” in AitD, but still it is not at all a “game based on Lovecraft”, which for some reason many people call it

The player had to survive those 3 days that Parker had to spend in Illsmouth to unravel the mystery of the comet and the ominous cult, and at the same time save humanity from the awakening of Cthulhu. And all this is wrapped up in a good old classic adventure game. An interesting detective story, a gloomy, truly Lovecraftian atmosphere, creepiness, a sea of ​​mucus... what else do you need?

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

From 1993 we are instantly transported to 2005, when the famous Dark Corners of the Earth was released. She told us the story of detective Jack Walters, who, after another police operation, when Boston law enforcement officers had a chance to encounter a sect of fanatics, went crazy and was imprisoned in Arkham Asylum. Several years later, shrouded in the fog of amnesia, Jack returns to the activities of a detective and gets involved in an extremely complicated and no less dangerous case, which will lead him not only to the very bottom of Innsmouth society, where he will encounter members of the Order of Dagon, but also with the minions of Dagon himself. a sea deity, but in addition to Innsmouth he will be taken to Devil's Reef and even to places the mere sight of which would make a normal person lose his mind.

We live on a quiet island of ignorance in the middle of a dark sea of ​​infinity, and we should not swim long distances at all...

Dark Corners of the Earth differed (and still differs) from all other projects in its system of the hero’s mental state. Not a single game has yet surpassed or even repeated the experience of the developers from Headfirst Productions. The hero goes crazy not only seeing something supernatural, but he also has very real phobias, for example, fear of heights or insanity at the sight of corpses torn to pieces. As a result of this, Mr. Walters could not only experience various kinds of hallucinations, but also completely go crazy and commit suicide.

Otherwise, it was an excellent detective story with an emphasis on realism, an inimitable oppressive atmosphere of horror hanging over the hero, crooked in its individual aspects, but overall representing an almost excellent computer embodiment of the stories of Howard Lovecraft.

Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder

The next game on my list has a special place in my heart. Darkness Within is a classic point-and-click quest, but it is so old-fashioned and outdated in appearance that at one time it could scare away a fair share of fans of the genre. However, it was this game that made me fall in love with quests.

Truly, the developers from Zoetrope have a special talent: with such terrible (to put it mildly) visual backwardness, they were able to create a very atmospheric and, at times, creepy game, worthy of a great writer

We had to play as another police investigator named Howard Loreid. Recently, in the city of N, a local bourgeois was killed, who in his spare time liked to study ancient cultures. An authoritative detective named Loat Nolder, whose name is included in the subtitle of the game's title, was appointed to investigate this case. However, he soon moved away from this case, and instead of investigating, he continued the research of the murdered researcher, which led the police to some suspicions. In the end, Nolder disappeared and it fell to Loreid to bring the murder case to an end, and at the same time find out the fate of the crazed detective.

Of course, reading notes and documents is an integral part of any self-respecting game based on Lovecraft's stories, avoiding which is like playing shooters without weapons. But in Darkness Within this is taken to the absolute level, and without it the game loses almost everything. About 80 percent of it consists of text, which gives the impression that this is an interactive interpretation of one of the stories, only that Lovecraft himself did not write. The plot so closely follows the canons of the writer, imitates him so much, that its author really cannot be distinguished from Howard Phillips. I would call the plot of Darkness Within the best of all games based on which true fans of Lovecraft, and also gamers, simply must get acquainted with. If you are not afraid of the complex logic challenges and brainstorming that Darkness Within will undoubtedly provide you with, then feel free to start the game.

Darkness Within also had a sequel. Although the second part turned out to be more “technological”, for some reason it was no longer as catchy as In the pursuit of Loath Nolder

Conarium

Like the previous top game, Conarium was developed by the same Turkish development team Zoetrope Enteractive, and once again they blew me away. Most Lovecraft games are based on his most popular works - The Call of Cthulhu and The Shadow Over Innsmouth - but Conarium turns to another, but no less, and perhaps even more interesting story, The Ridges of Madness.

Down with the grey, gloomy streets and detectives! The setting of Conarium is a research base in Antarctica, and the main character is scientist Frank Gilman. He suddenly wakes up in his room and, according to established tradition, does not remember anything. The station turns out to be empty, and the hero wanders around it completely alone. Scientists have discovered ancient caves in these places, which were once home to the civilization of the Elders and the race of reptilians that replaced them. But in their quest to explore the unknown and expand human consciousness, exploring caves and conducting experiments with unknown plants, they go too far and encounter something truly supernatural. And Gilman needed to find out what happened to the rest of the expedition members, find out what their experiments led to and bring them to the end.

Conarium was not a horror game, but nevertheless it kept you in suspense from beginning to end, made you break out in a cold sweat, and in some places scared you

Unlike the previous game Zoetrope, the puzzles in Conarium are not so difficult, although this does not mean that you can complete the entire game without completely turning off your brain, this is far from the case. There is something to think about, something to look at, and even something to be afraid of. A gradually building atmosphere with perfectly choreographed transitions between reality and illusion (is it an illusion?), an original story full of references to “The Ridges of Madness” and a pleasant action-adventure - that’s what Conarium is all about. It's just a pity that it's too short...

Call of Cthulhu (2018)

At the moment, this is the latest more or less significant game released based on the works of Lovecraft, in this case, it is again Call of Cthulhu...

The plot of the game tells the story of alcoholic detective Edward Pierce, who went through the First World War, and after returning to his native Boston, he got a job as a private investigator. Work had not brought him pleasure for a long time; at night he was tormented by nightmares, and during the day he was overcome by melancholy and depression. All this lasted exactly until the next client knocked on the detective’s office. Not far from Boston, a tragedy occurred on Darkwater Island. Recently, a fire broke out in a huge mansion built during colonial times, in which the Hawkins family died under mysterious circumstances. The police closed the case, considering it an accident, but the father of the deceased artist Sarah Hawkins, famous for her creepy paintings that drive people crazy, doesn’t think so. He persuades Edward to go to the island and investigate this mysterious case.

There have been many games with "Call of Cthulhu" in the title, but 2018's game was the first to truly deal with the Great Old One. resting in the depths of the waters under R'lyeh, waiting in the wings...

Call of Cthulhu combines elements of role-playing games, quests and modern survival horror. Far from difficult, but the varied gameplay will give you several pleasant evenings. Here you will find an intricate detective story with 4 possible endings, a thriller, mysticism, occultism and of course supernatural horror.

Many considered Call of Cthulhu boring, dull, crooked, screamed that there was “not enough action”, endlessly compared it with Dark Corners of the Earth, which is completely devoid of any sense. I categorically disagree with these people and, in turn, I highly praised the game for its excellent plot and deep atmosphere, which exactly conveys that same Lovecraftian spirit. In general, I highly recommend this game to fans of the writer.

I'm talking about the game...

The Sinking City

In it you will play as another detective who has gone on a mission, Charles Reed. Once in the past, he was shipwrecked in the Bermuda Triangle and was the only survivor. But what he saw there made those around him doubt his mental state. Having achieved release from a mental hospital, he arrives in the flooded city of Oakmond, where madness much deeper than the madness of the hero has struck all the inhabitants without exception. Here Reed tries to understand himself and unravel the secrets of that supernatural nightmare, which, having grabbed its tentacles into the consciousness of the local inhabitants, gradually drags them deeper into the abyss of madness.

A very interesting (and to some extent bold) project, unexpectedly, from Ukrainian developers from Frogware. Once upon a time they already made a game related to the cult of Cthulhu - Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened

The developers promise us another dark Lovecraftian story with its own specific atmosphere, a deep detective investigation, a large open world with non-trivial quests and a wide variety of passages. The mixture of reality and nonsense is also in place, but what worries me a little is the action. In itself, its presence in such a game is not bad and is even welcome, but won’t it outweigh all the other elements? We'll see you on March 21, 2019. There's not much longer to wait.

Well, I'll end on this note. Finally, I would like to add that this top was compiled based on my personal preferences and impressions of the above-mentioned games. Yes, I think they're the best, the best of the few games that can truly be called "Lovecraft games." But I don’t force my opinion on anyone, and comments are open to you.

Thank you all for your attention!

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Computer games based on the works of G.F. Lovecraft

Hello, dear readers! Today I am completing a series of articles about the work of G.F. Lovecraft. In this issue we will talk about computer games created based on his works.

image: oflex.ru

For convenience, I will list games by their release date, divided by decade. Under the game name, the genre, platform, developer and country are indicated. If you have something to add, or you find an inaccuracy in the description, please write about it in the comments.

1980s
The Lurking Horror(1987)
Interactive novel, PC, Infocom, USA

image: wikipedia.org

fragment from the game. image: pikabu.ru

The game begins with the student G.U.E. Tech (( George Underwood Edwards Institute of Technology, a fictional analogue of the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where the game developers studied, returns to the university to finish his coursework. Wandering through the corridors of an empty university, the main character encounters demons, zombies and other monsters. Interestingly, some ideas created by developers for G.U.E. Tech were later implemented at MIT. For example, an “endless corridor” is a closed ring-shaped corridor connecting all buildings of the university.

In 2004, the game took 10th place in the ranking of the scariest games of all time, according to GameSpy. Lovecraft has a short story called The Lurking Fear, which was filmed in 1994. Obviously, the name of the game is a reference to this work.

image: wikipedia.org

The game was originally developed for arcade machines, but was later ported to Japanese consoles PC Engine (TurboGrafx-16) and FM Towns Marty, as well as MS DOS. The main character, Rick Taylor, along with his girlfriend, took refuge from a thunderstorm in the mansion of the missing parapsychologist Henry West (a reference to the character in the novel "Herbert West - Re-Animator"). After entering the mansion, the doors close behind them, Rick dies, and his girlfriend is kidnapped by monsters . Rick is resurrected by the mysterious Mask of Terror, endowed with superhuman strength. Rick must cleanse the mansion of wickedness and save his beloved. The story of people who find themselves locked in a house with monsters was played out in the feature horror film "The Unnameable", based on the works of Lovecraft.

The gameplay boils down to moving through linear levels and destroying monsters. The game was influenced by Western horror films - Friday the 13th and The Evil Dead. For example, Rick's mask is very similar to the hockey mask of Jason Voorhees, the maniac from the film Friday the 13th. A sequel to the game was released in 1992, and a year later the third part. In 2018, a re-release of the original Splatterhouse was released, adapted for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles.

The Hound of Shadow(1989)
Interactive novel, Amiga, Atari ST, PC, Eldritch Games, USA

image: myabandonware.com

The game was developed in 1989 by Eldritch Games and published by Electronic Arts. The game represents a rare genre of interactive fiction. According to critics, the game has become a role model in the interactive novel genre. You could play it on the Amiga, Atari ST and MS DOS platforms. It’s as if the player is reading a book and, with the help of text commands, controls the main character, influencing the course of the story. The action takes place in London in the 1920s and is based on a free adaptation of the works of Lovecraft. In addition to the unusual genre, the game is interesting for its references to historical characters, for example, Elizabeth Bathory, also known as the Bloody Countess. Battori lived in Hungary in the late 1500s and is notorious for serially killing young girls in whose blood she allegedly bathed to preserve her youth.

image: wikipedia.org

The benchmark for the survival horror genre was Resident Evil, released in 1996, but Alone in the Dark was the first, and it served as the basis for its followers. At the time of its release, the game had many revolutionary ideas. For example, three-dimensional graphics, multi-polygon models and non-linear levels. The player could explore the rooms of the house in any order, and also interact with objects, which was very cool for 1992.

The main character finds himself locked in an old mansion inhabited by monsters and, in order to get out of there, he has to fight and solve various puzzles. The game was included in the Guinness Book of Records as the first three-dimensional survival horror. There are quite a few references to Lovecraft's work in the game: one of the types of opponents are the Deep Ones, described in the novel "", and the main character can also find the Necronomicon in the library.

In 1993, a sequel to the game was released, and two years later the third part appeared. In 2001, a sequel to the game was released called Alone in the Dark: New Nightmare, and in 2008 the first part was re-released under the name Alone in the Dark: Illumination. The new games did not achieve the former glory of the original and received low reviews from critics. Finally, in 2014, the first part of the game was ported to the iOS platform and can now be played on an iPhone or iPad. In 2005, through the efforts of director Uwe Boll, the feature film “Alone in the Dark” was shot based on the game, but it failed at the box office. Today the game can be purchased on Steam.

The main character buys an old mansion, in which he begins to have strange dreams. It turns out that there is a parallel world known as the Dark World, inhabited by hostile aliens. The main character becomes infected with an alien embryo, which, if born, is capable of destroying all of humanity. Now you have to get rid of the embryo and seal the gate to a parallel world. In 1995, the second part of the game was released.

image: game-download.party

Detective quest based on the works of Lovecraft. The first part of the duology was the game Dylan Dog: The Murderers, dedicated to ordinary investigations. In the second part, the creators added mystics, using ideas from the Cthulhu Mythos. The game implemented a novelty of that time - time management: performing actions takes up part of the game time, during which various events occur, and the player has to constantly set priorities, since it is impossible to be on time everywhere. The game was released for the MS DOS platform.

image: android4play.org

Continuation of the first part of Splatterhouse, released for Sega Mega Drive consoles. The game was influenced by the works of Lovecraft and the paintings of Hans Giger, a Swiss artist famous for creating the image of the Alien from the film of the same name. The main character of the game, Rick, resembles the maniac Jason Voorhees, known from the horror film series Friday the 13th. Jason wears a hockey mask, which has become his signature style, and Rick wears a magical Mask of Terror, suspiciously similar to Voorhees' hockey mask. In the game you have to navigate linear levels and fight monsters. The game contains many scenes of violence, so it has an age rating of 17+.

image: squarefaction.ru

The second game released by Infrogrames based on the works of Lovecraft. After the success of the horror Alone in the Dark, the French decided to make a quest. The plot of the game is based on the works of and. The main character, photographer John Parker, comes to the American town of Illsmouth (a clear analogue of Lovecraft's Innsmouth) to photograph the passage of Halley's Comet. Before him, 76 years ago, the comet was observed by a certain Lord Boleskine, who for unknown reasons went crazy. Parker will have to unravel the mystery of the comet and stay in the city for three days while the comet flies near the Earth. Since 2015, the game has been available on GOG.com and Steam.

Point-and-click/quest, NEC PC-9800, Fujitsu FM Towns, Fairytale, Japan

image: rpgcodex.net

Japanese quest for adults. The game tells the story of fictional events that happened in the city of Arkham, a secret society and the Deep Ones. In Lovecraft's story, the Deep Ones interbreed with humans to avoid extinction. The game covers this point in more detail, which is why it has an age rating of 18+. Necronomicon was published exclusively in Japan and does not support other languages.

Image: gog.com

The game's plot is based on a story by Lovecraft. Let me briefly remind you what this work is about: a scientific expedition is sent to Antarctica, which discovers the ruins of an ancient unearthly civilization. As a result of the actions of scientists, the sleeping aliens wake up and begin to kill people. The game is a continuation of the studio's previous Lovecraft game, Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet (1993).

The action takes place before the start of World War II. We play as an American intelligence officer sent on a secret mission to Antarctica. There is a secret Nazi base in Antarctica, from which you need to save an ally and remove artifacts. It turns out that the base was built on the ruins of aliens from the "Ridges of Madness", and the Nazis were exploring portals to other dimensions. During the course of the game, the main character meets the hero from the previous part of the game, and during their meeting, many unclear parts of the plot are clarified.

Three comics based on the game were published in France: La Geole de Pandore, Le Glaive du Crepuscule and La Cite des Abimes. In 2015, the games Call of Cthulhu: Shadow of the Comet and Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice (links to gog.com) became available on gog.com for 199 rubles.

Innsmouth no Yakata (1995)
Survival horror, Virtual Boy, Betop, Japan

Image: tvtropes.org

The platform for which this game was developed is interesting. The Japanese console Virtual Boy, developed by Nintendo, used the prototype of virtual reality glasses with support for three-dimensional graphics. The screen was made in the form of virtual reality glasses, mounted on a stand that you had to lean against, and showed a monochrome red and black image. Control was carried out using traditional joysticks. Significant amounts of money were spent on the development of this console and, despite innovative solutions, its sales failed. The main complaints from players were the high cost and outdated monochrome screen.

Image: vignette.wikia.nocookie.net

In 1996, the Japanese company KAZe released virtual pinball for the Sega Saturn console. By this time, quite a lot of games of this kind had already been developed, but this one stood out with its Lovecraftian surroundings.

Interactive novel, Z-machine, Michael S. Gentry, USA

image: youtube.com

One of the best interactive novels, according to the American publishing house XYZZYNews. The game was developed and published by programmer Michael Gentry for the Z-machine virtual machine. Previously, Infocom, one of the founders of the interactive novel genre, made its games for the Z-machine (The Lurking Horror, 1987).

The plot of the game revolves around a married couple who have purchased a house in New England. In a quiet provincial town, the couple will have to meet with a dark sect, whose servants want to summon the Ancient God and bring about the end of the world. The main character is given four days to save her husband and prevent the apocalypse.

Quest, PC, Wanadoo, France

image: steammachine.ru

The two thousand years were marked by “normal” three-dimensional graphics and games finally became similar to those to which we are accustomed. The list opens with a quest from French developers, created based on the works of Lovecraft, as the name of the game eloquently speaks of. The main character will have to unravel the mystery of a powerful artifact and otherworldly forces. The gameplay boils down to moving the hero through various locations, talking with other characters in the game and solving riddles.

Survival horror, Nintendo GameCube, Silicon Knights, Canada

image: mobygames.com

The game was developed by the independent Canadian studio Silicon Knights specifically for the Nintendo GameCube platform. The main character of the game, student Alexandra Roivas, investigates the murder of her grandfather by exploring the mansion where he lived. In one of the rooms of the mansion, Alexandra finds a strange book, bound in human skin, called “The Tome of Internal Darkness”. After reading the book, Alexandra learns about the life of a Roman centurian who became a lich in the service of the Dark God.

The player will have to explore the mansion and look for new books to find out what really happened. The developers used interesting mechanics in the game: depending on the events, the morale of the main character could fall and then she would begin to go crazy. In the game, this was expressed by the visual effects of endless corridors or stairs, changing the volume of the sound, turning off the display, and even deleting the user's previous saves.

The main character, detective Jack Walters, arrives in the port city of Innsmouth to investigate a store robbery. Behind the robbery is the mysterious Order of Dagon, whose members want to kill Jack. The player will have to uncover the secret of the Order of Dagon and fight numerous monsters. A distinctive feature of the game is the absence of health and ammunition indicators. The player has to save ammo and protect the character from injury. An additional complication is Jack's mental health - when he sees monsters, he begins to go crazy, and the image on the screen blurs. If you don't take care of your mental health, Jack will lose his mind and the game will end. Overall, this is a very good game based on the works of Lovecraft. Unfortunately, it is not optimized to run on modern computers, which is why errors occur in many places and it becomes impossible to complete.

image: anivisual.net

In 2006, the first Russian anime game in the visual novel genre was released. The plot of the game is based on the works of Lovecraft: a young married couple arrives at an old mansion located in the city. Probably the authors wanted to create a game like the previously released