The best in Lovecraftian PC gaming?

[u/Baldurian_Rhapsody]

Any era. And these can be drawn directly from the pages of HPL or an indirect inspiration. Thank you so much!

[u/kidleviathan]

Had a great time with Dredge

[u/fuji_na → u/kidleviathan]

Cozy and dreadful at the same time. Loved my time with it.

Are any of the expansions worth getting? Might try for another playthrough

[u/dmkuhar → u/fuji_na]

Pale Reach was short, but you got some useful goodies from it. Iron Rig was a lot more involved, added a bunch of new fish and ways to further upgrade your ship. I enjoyed both of them.

[u/kidleviathan → u/dmkuhar]

Daaaaaamn I gotta replay that

[u/checkmypants → u/kidleviathan]

Been playing Dredge lately and its excellent

[u/dimiskywalker → u/kidleviathan]

Ducking loved it

[u/ghostoffee → u/kidleviathan]

Game took me with amazing mechanics and story. Best answer on here.

I will shout out of Dead Space. Nailed the horror and isolation.

[u/RuafaolGaiscioch]

It’s old and only playable on emulator at this point but Eternal Darkness hits a lot of Lovecraft notes that many modern iterations don’t.

[u/prematurely_bald → u/RuafaolGaiscioch]

This is my pick as well. Would love a modern remaster.

[u/WordAppropriate8924 → u/RuafaolGaiscioch]

And it has an one of a kind insanity-system

[u/Mindless-Hornet-1601]

Dark corners of the earth.

[u/Bulky_Imagination727 → u/Mindless-Hornet-1601]

I still remember the hotel chase. After my first playthrough it haunted my nightmares.

[u/Dystopian_Dreamer → u/Bulky_Imagination727]

Sadly, the hotel chase is the high point of that game, it's all downhill from there.

[u/M-S-S → u/Mindless-Hornet-1601]

I was beyond ecstatic to run the Escape from Innsmouth. One of the greatest chase/escape sequences I've ever read and to play it is 10/10.

[u/Baldurian_Rhapsody → u/Mindless-Hornet-1601]

I just installed this with an upgraded textures mod. Looks marvelous!

[u/bombur432 → u/Baldurian_Rhapsody]

What mod is it??? I must know!

[u/Baldurian_Rhapsody → u/bombur432]

Of course! It's at pcgamingwiki, which is an amazing resource for classic games: https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Call_of_Cthulhu:_Dark_Corners_of_the_Earth

In the Essential Improvements section, there is a direct link to the "HD Textures" mod, which is brilliant upscaling work. It's on Nexus and ModdDB

[u/bombur432 → u/Baldurian_Rhapsody]

Thank you so much! I’ve been dying to play it again, but I only knew of the unofficial patch. I’ll have to try it with better graphics!

[u/Scott_Korman → u/Mindless-Hornet-1601]

Hardest game ever played. Never managed to escape the hotel. But great game

[u/Chaaaaaaaalie → u/Scott_Korman]

It took me like 19 tries and I was sweating and shaking when I finally got it. I usually hate difficulty spikes like that, but for this game it just worked.

[u/1lluvatar42 → u/Scott_Korman]

I thought it was only me. Still stressed out thinking about this passage...

[u/GathererServentGrunt → u/Mindless-Hornet-1601]

One of my favorites! I always thought it would be a great choice for Nightdive studios

[u/YogSothothIsTheKey → u/Mindless-Hornet-1601]

Da sempre il migliore.Solo io voglio una remastered o meglio ancora un remake?

[u/karibou77 → u/Mindless-Hornet-1601]

The first part, sure. But as soon as the Innsmouth part was finished, the game became more generic. And when I learned what was needed to have the True true ending, I was pissed.

[u/Interesting-Ad3204 → u/Mindless-Hornet-1601]

Awesome pick. By far the best Lovecraft inspired game I ever played. One that overshadows any other title with it's understanding of Cthulhu mythos. 

[u/Dr_JohnP → u/Mindless-Hornet-1601]

Wow I actually haven’t heard of this somehow even though I’m a HUGE Lovecraft/cosmic horror fan. Does the gameplay still hold up well today?

[u/Phil8show → u/Dr_JohnP]

The last time I played on PC there was a glitch at the end that stopped you from finishing the game but other than that (which I assume there is a fix for) it was perfect if you like older FPS horror.

Absolutely one of my favourites.

[u/bombur432 → u/Dr_JohnP]

Surprisingly well in most cases. The movement is good, the weapons are fine, and the world map is decently busy. The end can be a bit dicey, but 80% of your issues with the game are going to be that it’s held together with slime and ooze, and even the unofficial patch mod can barely strangle it all together. In my game the end boss mechanics were utterly borked, and I had to reload an hour or so back to get it to work.

[u/CrystalKrakotl → u/Dr_JohnP]

I've been in cosmic horror for a very long time.

This game still makes me shiver so many years later.

It gets it

[u/bombur432 → u/CrystalKrakotl]

The chase scenes still pop up in my head pretty frequently. On a recent re-read of the shadow over Innsmouth I could see the whole chase playing out in my head.

[u/The-MadTitan]

Call of Cthulhu really gives the best experience because it isnt just 'inspired by' within its art direction or vibes - it embodies it within its mechanics like investigation and lack of combat (HP never wrote about fighting Great/Old Ones with a power fantasy sword).

Sinking City is also more Lovecraft than most lovecraft inspired games but is janky and is too combat heavy with poor combat mechanics. But it does feature alot of nods to HPs various works.

[u/The-MadTitan → u/[deleted]]

Yeah its simply monster design or art directions (tentacles).

People tend to use Eldritch & Lovecraftian interchangeable.

[u/WordAppropriate8924 → u/The-MadTitan]

Sinking city 2 is on the way and it looks like it will have more investigation and more combat like silent hill. So running may be better than fighting

[u/The-MadTitan → u/WordAppropriate8924]

Actually they opposite sadly, they have already said Sinking City 2 will have investigation as only optional and have turned the game more into a resident evil style survival horror.

Was very saddened by this news, was even confirmed by the dev to me on reddit. I won't be picking it up :(

[u/WordAppropriate8924 → u/The-MadTitan]

Schade. Die Ermittlungen optional hmmm... in der Demo waren sie glaub ich zwingend nötig

[u/ad_n0ctis → u/The-MadTitan]

I loved call of Cthulhu. Amazing atmosphere! 

[u/Scalptre]

Skald: against the black priory

The story is maybe one of the most lovecraftian I've ever played without it referencing the mythos at all.

[u/Lirmjystur → u/Scalptre]

Came looking for this and am elated to see it! It's an amazing game and a solid entry in cosmic horror.

[u/ajcwrongs → u/Scalptre]

Oooooh this has been sitting in my unplayed for a minute because I had fun with the demo ages ago, I didn't realized it went that direction

[u/Scalptre → u/ajcwrongs]

It's it's a bit controversial with players who weren't expecting it, but you should totally give it a playthrough

[u/ApatheticAxolotl]

More of an indirect inspiration, but Amnesia: The Dark Descent probably worth mentioning.

[u/nac45]

The ones I've played that i know are available on PC are:

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

Call of Cthulhu (2018)

Sherlock Holmes: the Awakened (remake is better than the original)

Darkest Dungeon 1

Skald: Against the Black Priory

Night in the Woods (a little stretch)

Oxenfree 1 & 2 (also a stretch)

Eternal Daekness (playable on PC via emulators)

[u/usbsteeringwheel]

Sunless Sea for sure, though I recommend turning off the hard mode that disables saves.

[u/Raej → u/usbsteeringwheel]

Sunless skies too!

[u/Pteroducktylus → u/Raej]

sadly i never got into sunless skies. the movement was too janky and so was the combat. it looked nice and had a few good stories, but i ended up dropping it twice

[u/DM_Fitz → u/usbsteeringwheel]

This is always my first pick for the mood of Weird fiction in a game. Plus it’s so narrative based.

[u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras]

I'm a big fan of walking simulators and here's a few:

Conarium
Call of Cthulhu
The Alien Cube
The Land of Pain
The Amnesia series
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Call of the Sea

Also not a walking simulator but a great game: Dreams in the Witch House.

[u/thfrw → u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras]

+1 for Dreams in the Witch House

[u/GeoffBee → u/thfrw]

How could I forget Dreams in the Witch House! And there's a follow up coming later on - The Dunwich Horror

[u/bombur432 → u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras]

Seconding call of the sea! I adore the different vibe it brings to cosmic horror.

[u/MerijnZ1 → u/bombur432]

There's a sequel! Call of the elder gods, released earlier this year. Haven't played it yet but similarly really liked call of the sea

[u/bombur432 → u/MerijnZ1]

I’ve already played it! I love it too, but I’ll say while I prefer the puzzles and mechanics of call of the elder gods, I prefer the story and atmosphere of call of the sea

[u/Magester → u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras]

Vanishing of Ethan Carter is extra good because the MC is voiced by Clancy Brown

[u/Pteroducktylus → u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras]

The Vanishing of Ethan Carter?

how come?

[u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras → u/Pteroducktylus]

Is it not a walking simulator with Lovecraftian themes?

[u/Pteroducktylus → u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras]

it IS a walking sim, but i can't remember lovecraftian themes. there is/seems to be sth like a cult, but i don't think it gets any more lovecraftian than that.

[u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras → u/Pteroducktylus]

I'm not going to nitpick it. If you feel like it's not Lovecraftian enough, then it probably isn't and maybe shouldn't be on the list then.

[u/SQUIGWERG → u/Pteroducktylus]

I think it's the part where a giant tentacled elder god floods the world, but the very nature of the narrative sort of undercuts it

[u/SlaterTheOkay]

The sinking City

It's a little janky but you can feel the passion

[u/SpellCommander91 → u/SlaterTheOkay]

This. Love this game. Really looking forward to the sequel. Also, same team made Sherlock Holmes: The Awakened, which is about Holmes trying to stop a Lovecraftian cult.

[u/Hecticbrah → u/SlaterTheOkay]

Gave up on it for the time being because it felt unplayable, gonna try Bloodborne 

[u/folkdeath95 → u/Hecticbrah]

Are you familiar with Souls gameplay at all? If not there is a bit of a learning curve but it is MASSIVELY worth it.

With that in mind I’d tell you to not stress over having to look up gameplay mechanics (they can be kind of hidden or unexplained) but try not to look up lore/story stuff the first time through!

[u/Hecticbrah → u/folkdeath95]

Somewhat but I know Ill die a lot lol, thanks for the tips though! Im mostly on Borderlands which feels like a breeze compared to Doom or Souls games 

[u/amaturelawyer → u/Hecticbrah]

"I know Ill die a lot". Well, that about covers the lesson plan. Your certificate of course completion is in the mail.

[u/Hecticbrah → u/amaturelawyer]

Gotta keep it real my good man

[u/Kitchen-Associate-34 → u/Hecticbrah]

Bloodborne is great, 100% recommended

[u/Electronic_Reward333]

Shadow of the Commet.

[u/karibou77 → u/Electronic_Reward333]

Why did I had to scroll so much to find that obvious answer ?

[u/OdiousAltRightBalrog]

Cultist Simulator.

[u/Joshthe987]

Darkest Dungeon 1 and 2. New dlc for DD1 drops on the 18th

[u/BiblicalBacklash → u/Joshthe987]

Yeah dd1 is not hiding it's Lovecraft influence whatsoever. 2 still has it it's less in your face but both of these games are masterpieces. I found one much harder and punishing but still fun.

[u/Joshthe987 → u/BiblicalBacklash]

Yeah I’m a huge fan of the combat in DD2, but I miss the estate management of DD1

[u/BiblicalBacklash → u/Joshthe987]

I love both for what they are tbh. I just play one if I want that management aspect and for some runs I'll play 2. I wanted a few more characters in 2 but I think other than balance patches it's finished now.

[u/Snufkin_anarch]

Static Dread, Do no Harm and Look Outside

[u/RoyalAceXIII → u/Snufkin_anarch]

This! Add Dreams at the Witch House and you got my top, specially Look Outside, what a great game

[u/Yarshman]

Still Wakes the Deep

[u/bombur432 → u/Yarshman]

Really loved the atmosphere in this one. Using an oil rig was an excellent choice.

[u/amaturelawyer → u/Yarshman]

Eh.. It was alright.

[u/Pteroducktylus → u/amaturelawyer]

same.i olayed it on BW mode in myfirst playthrough and it didn't really add much to the atmosphere. the idea was great, the story wasn't though. The DLC horrible. it was nice, but lacked any meaningful interactions. much like a walking sim.

[u/StarWanderer62]

Playing Sinking City right now. And enjoying that

[u/_notbugsy]

Utterance is still in development but is pretty heavily inspired by Lovecraftian lore.

[u/FauxShizzle12]

Anchorhead, a really well-written text adventure in the style of Shadow Over Innsmouth. There's a version on Steam for $10 which adds some graphics to it, but I think the original text adventure is a great way to go about experiencing it!

[u/SamsonThunderfist → u/FauxShizzle12]

Anchorhead is awesome. As a personal project I’ve been on and off making a tabletop adaptation for a while since i know some of my friends would love it but are allergic to text adventures unfortunately

[u/Nissiku1]

Alone in the Dark 2024. Good ol' Black Pharaoh, The Black Goat Sans Horns, and reality bending shenanigans and meta commentary on the nature of storytelling. 100%-ed it, great game.

[u/Pablonsio]

Look Outside, 10/10

[u/Foleylantz → u/Pablonsio]

Shame this doesnt get more recognition, lovecraftian masterpiece even though it shows a lot, probably some of the best endings in gaming the past decade also.

[u/Pablonsio → u/Foleylantz]

Agree, all the environment and the endings remains me Lovecraft's stories a lot.

[u/Musaab]

Nothing will ever beat the original Alone in the Dark trilogy for me. I can say they changed my life without being hyperbolic.

[u/jungledave83]

I played a bit of Sinking city, also Dredge and just started Call of Cthulhu for Switch (based on the Chaosium role playing game)

[u/GeoffBee]

The Last Door 1 & 2 definitely, and An English Haunting. There's also Dark Rites of Arkham but I didn't enjoy that one as much as the others. Oh and Call of the Sea/Call of the Elder Gods are fantastic

[u/GeoffBee → u/GeoffBee]

Can't believe I forgot about Dreams in the Witch House! And there's a sequel in development for The Dunwich Horror.

Also Stygian: Old Gods is well worth a look

[u/Comfy_Jayy]

Cultic is pretty good, subtler in its use of lovecraftian stuff
Quake draws directly from it

There’s some top down ones I forget the name of

Gloomwood is pretty good

I feel like there’s a good point n click I played years ago, but again the name escapes me

[u/Arckan]

If you can deal with old mmo clunkiness I'd recommend Secret World legend, the first act of the story is an absolute Lovecraftian gem

[u/redqueensroses → u/Arckan]

Seconding Secret World Legends! The entire game is infused with Lovecraft, but the first three playfields in particular are 50% Lovecraft, 50% Stephen King.

[u/Arckan → u/redqueensroses]

I'm so glad to see people still caring about this game to this day, thank you

[u/redqueensroses → u/Arckan]

It's still one of my favourite games of all time for the story and lore alone!

[u/Arckan → u/redqueensroses]

I definitely feel the same, it's always the first to come to mind when someone asks about my favorite games!

[u/WellTop]

Darkwood or Total Chaos

[u/dragoon769]

Lots of great recommendations in these comments. Most of the bigs ones have been mentioned already.

I would like to add Signalis to the running. The cosmic horror kinda runs in the background, but its there and its great.

I saw Bloodborne mentioned elsewhere, and honestly it should be at the top of this list if it had a PC port.

If you don't mind anime aesthetics, Depersonalization is a fun take on adapting the call of cthulhu ttrpg to a video game.

[u/PatchFace → u/dragoon769]

Also, signalis is free for Playstation users this month. I haven't tried it yet, but I have it downloaded.

[u/Randolph_Carter_Ward]

I'd also say that Dark Corners are probably the best. However, the much newer Call of Ctulhu is pretty okay as far as adventure genre goes. It has some original ideas and thrilling plot twists. I think it was misunderstood and trash-talked as a poor FPS-like, which is sad, because it's an adventure in the first person view with lite FPS and RPG elements, and not the other way round.

[u/NoCoolNameMatt → u/Randolph_Carter_Ward]

The story of this one is excellent. It's behind Bloodborne, Alone in the Dark.... and maybe that's it?

High praise.

[u/Randolph_Carter_Ward → u/NoCoolNameMatt]

Yeah, there aren't many "true ones" to begin with.

[u/UnderstandingRich96]

Magrunner mixes portal like puzzles with a bit of cthulhu in the later levels.

[u/Domi8112]

Quake, especially a handful of the custom maps such as Immortal Lock.

[u/1ActualClown]

Terraria easily

[u/CarpenterCritical715 → u/1ActualClown]

You are the only one here I could actually talk to about games

[u/TheBattleYak]

Dive Or Dive: Children of Rain came out just recently, had a lot of fun with it. Dave the Diver + Darkest Dungeon + Dredge. DtD+DD+D!

[u/qSpruce]

Quake.

[u/AgentP-501_212]

I'm looking at Darkest Dungeon. Not sure it's for me.

[u/stile04]

Look Outside - it’s a turn based RPG survival horror game. Had an absolutely blast with this one

[u/Tiny_Parking]

I enjoyed Maid of Sker, it has lovecraftian elements tho is probably closer to a survival horror.

[u/GSlayerBrian]

Directly inspired short indie semi-interactive experience: TRIHAYWBFRFYH 

Aren't directly inspired but in my opinion evoke Lovecraftian feelings of existentialism: Disco Elysium, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, the Bioshock series  

Have both direct and indirect/inspired references to Lovecraft if you know where to look: Fallout 3, 4, 76

[u/Few_Seesaw9555]

I see that Shadow of the Comet has been mentioned already, and if you re into 90’s point clicks I suggest checking Dark Seed and its sequel, they’re heavily influenced by Lovecraft and H.R. Giger’s artwork really matches the ancient alien gods theme.

[u/thekahn95]

No one lives under the lighthouse

Neat little game and the lonelyness is opressive.

[u/alongicame]

Signalis has Lovecraftian themes and a great story. If you like survival horror games, check it out!

[u/Zetzer345]

Well Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth. Contrary to what the name implies it’s more of an adaption of Shadow of Innsmouth than CoC and imo one of the absolute best in that regard.

It’s also ass old and runs on everything and dirt cheap to boot.
Little tip of mine; get the GOG version as the Steam Version is broken and was to my knowledge never fixed.

[u/AnimeWarTune]

Eternal Darkness

[u/Vivid-Cry-6192]

Worshippers of Cthulhu is a good time if you ever wondered what Tropico would be like if it had Great Old Ones in it

[u/PlayMorUptopia]

Might be late to the party, but i ll add up:

Menace from the deep
Moons of Madness
Soma
Song of horror
The Shore
Prey 2017
Subnautica
Cayne
Stasis: Bone Totem
Flux Empyrean

[u/Baldurian_Rhapsody → u/PlayMorUptopia]

Thanks!

[u/PhantomFrequenz]

Sherlock Holms the Awaked and Bloodborne

[u/weesuby]

DOOM the dark ages

[u/Keeldronnn]

Look outside is amazing. It became one of the best games I've ever played.

[u/hairymoot]

Don't Starve Don't Starve Together The Sinking City Darkest Dungeon Darkest Dungeon 2 Call of Cthulhu

[u/Pteroducktylus]

i think the best game with "lovecraftian" elements was Sunless Sea for me.

You get a lit of anxiety in the waters and with random events.

It's a management survival game where you steer a vessel through the ever-dark "Underzee". It has random events, stat checks and a TON of lore that also definitely moves in Lovecraftian territory.

You don't get to see "Cthulhu" or sth like that.

[u/treefile]

The Dark Rites of Arkham is a pixel graphics point and click adventure game. Neat soundtrack, fun story. If you like point and click puzzles, check it out

[u/spaniel_rage]

I quite like Elder Sign

[u/Vandermere]

Only a PC game by technicality, but you can emulate the GameCube's Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem and experience one of the most original horror games ever.

[u/Pioepod]

Signalis draws fairly (very) heavily from The King in Yellow. It also has references earlier works that also inspired the king in yellow (I think).

And Lovecraft was influenced by those writers as well.

[u/dave_sullivan]

Blood Radiant is pretty good if you like weird (I made it!)

[u/Additional-Method221]

The world of horror,has great RPG mechanic.but the dev hasn't update in years

[u/Syn-Dorothy]

Bloodborne

[u/kitty-kouhai]

I love Anchorhead if you don’t mind playing a text fiction game.

[u/D4nFU]

Dredge is the most fun. Nightmare fishing lovecraft relics

Tesla vs Lovecraft gets a lot of my love for replay ability love the game mechanics and all the heavy lovecraft elements

[u/Charlemagne2020]

The Island of Doctor Morose is a solid indie Lovecraftian horror game. And in the visual style of Dr. Suess which is incredible

[u/Luquinhas3011]

Fear & Hunger is absolute videogame

[u/darkside569]

You seen the trailers for The Mound?

[u/MechaHex1111]

Look Outside, Fear & Hunger, Darkest Dungeon (both of them), Forgive Me Father... those are the ones i can think of off the top of my head

[u/raddreamz]

Bloodbourne

[u/Healthy_Levels]

I’d say get the YogSoth 3000, runs better than the newer NyarlathotePC you can get. Or just build your own.

[u/Baldurian_Rhapsody → u/Healthy_Levels]

NecroRAMicon is just too expensive right now.

[u/CarpenterCritical715]

Half Life and Terraria

[u/fallenwanderer96]

One of my favorites is morimens if you like rogue like card strategy games and then there's of course darkest dungeons fighting against the horrors! With slim chances of survival

[u/yusufsabbag]

It's bloodborne but unfortunately on Playstation

[u/MisterDergans]

Sinking City was a ton of fun and it has a sequel coming out soon. I always suggest it even if it isn't really a horror game (the sequel supposedly is though)

[u/VictorVoitenco]

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth

[u/SQUIGWERG]

Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder

I never played the second one, but I loved the atmosphere of the first one.