How to Play

Reign of Cthulhu

2-4 players 40-40 min 7.4 Board Game Geek Rating

Investigators must seal interdimensional portals across four New England towns before twelve Old Ones escape their cosmic prison. This Pandemic variant replaces disease curing with portal sealing and cult dismantling. Players collaborate against time while managing sanity levels, as exposure to eldritch horrors threatens their minds. Victory requires closing all portals before madness overwhelms the team.

Published 2016

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Place the board

Position the board so all players can easily reach it

Position Cthulhu card

Place the Cthulhu Old One card face down in its designated space on the board

Prepare reserve pieces

Set Cultist and Shoggoth figures near the board as a supply

Place seal tokens

Position Seal tokens near the Turn Order table at the bottom of the board

Set up Old Ones

Shuffle Old One cards and place 6 to the left of Cthulhu, returning unused cards to the box

Prepare Summon deck

Shuffle all Summon cards and place them in the designated deck space

Place initial Cultists and Shoggoth

Draw and reveal Summon cards:

Determine first player

The player who most recently read a horror story goes first

Select investigators

Shuffle 7 Investigator cards and reveal 2; first player chooses one, replace it, and continue until all players have chosen

Position investigator figures

Place each player's investigator figure at the Train Station in Arkham

Distribute sanity tokens

Each player receives 4 sanity tokens and places their Investigator card healthy side up

Distribute reference cards

Each player receives a Reference card

Return unused components

Return unused investigator figures, Investigator cards, and Reference cards to the box

Set game difficulty

Adjust Clue card count based on difficulty:

Prepare Relic cards

Randomly select 4/5/6 Relic cards for 2/3/4 players respectively and shuffle them with remaining Clue cards to form the Player Deck

Create Relic Stack

Place unused Relic cards aside as the Relic Stack

Deal starting hands

Distribute cards from the Player Deck based on player count:

Prepare final Player Deck

Divide remaining Player cards into four equal face-down piles, shuffle 1 Evil card into each pile, then stack them with the smallest pile on bottom

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Perform four actions

Complete up to 4 actions in any combination (shown on healthy side of Investigator card)

Walk action

Move your investigator figure to an adjacent location connected by a line

Take bus action

From a bus station, either discard a Clue card to move anywhere in that card's city, or discard a Clue card matching your current city to move to any location in any city

Use gate action

Move from one gate location to another gate; roll sanity die after completing movement

Defeat Cultist action

Remove 1 Cultist figure from your location and return it to the supply

Defeat Shoggoth action (costs 3 actions)

Remove 1 Shoggoth figure from your location; all 3 actions must be spent on the same turn

Give or take Relic card action

Exchange 1 Relic card with another investigator at your location

Give or take Clue card action

Give or take 1 Clue card matching your current city with another player at your location; both players must agree

Seal gate action

At a gate location, discard 5 Clue cards matching your current city; place a Seal token on the gate and remove 1 Cultist from each location in that city

Roll sanity die when entering Shoggoth location

Must roll whenever moving into a location occupied by a Shoggoth

Draw two Player cards

After completing actions, draw 2 cards from the top of the Player Deck

Resolve Evil cards immediately

When drawing an Evil card, complete all four steps before playing any Relic:

Handle two Evil cards drawn together

Complete all four steps for the first card, then repeat for the second

Enforce hand limit

After resolving any Evil cards, discard down to 7 cards maximum or play Relic cards

Complete Summon phase

Flip Summon cards equal to the current Summon level (shown on rightmost revealed Old One, or 2 if none revealed)

Trigger Awakening Ritual

When a fourth Cultist would be placed at a location, do not place it; instead reveal the next Old One

Move Shoggoths during Summon phase

When the Shoggoth icon appears on a Summon card, move each Shoggoth one location closer to the nearest open gate

Apply Old One effects

When revealed, Old Ones have either permanent effects (marked with infinity symbol) or instant effects that resolve immediately

Play Relic cards

Any player may play Relic cards during anyone's turn (not an action); after playing, remove the card from the game and roll sanity die

Apply sanity die results

When rolling the sanity die:

Become insane

When losing all sanity tokens, flip Investigator card to insane side:

Recover from insanity

When sealing a gate while insane, immediately move to Church or Hospital (your choice), flip card to healthy side, restore initial sanity and abilities, and gain 1 additional action this turn