Call of Cthulhu®

Pierce's investigation on Darkwater blends clue-hunting with cosmic horror and a struggle to trust his own senses. At the tracked low, Call of Cthulhu® costs ≈ $1.65 at GOG, a fitting opening for anyone drawn to this dark single-player mystery.

Before purchasing, consider its language options: Steam PC includes English full audio and subtitles in multiple languages. Full controller support is available too. The Steam PC version has full controller support, and Simplified Chinese, English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Czech, Portuguese-Brazil, Russian, Polish, Japanese, and Korean lists its interface languages.

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78%Steam Reviews11K reviews67OpenCritic/100

Released: Oct 29, 2018

Lovecraftian · Horror · Psychological Horror · Detective · Adventure

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All-time low ~ $2.47across Steam & third-party storesat the recorded all-time low

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Price History

Past 36 months · Updated daily

Historical Low~ $2.472025-10Current Low Across Stores~ $17.99GameBilletvs. Historical Low+628%

Prices cover Steam and 39 authorized stores; only legitimate offers are counted. The chart shows weekly market-wide lows and Steam's official price across the past 36 months.

01About Call of Cthulhu®

As private investigator Pierce, you travel to isolated Darkwater Island in 1924 to investigate the tragic death of the Hawkins family. Follow cryptic clues through conspiracies and cosmic horror while struggling to preserve your sanity. Steam player reviews: 78% positive from 11,024 reviews. Release date: October 29, 2018.

Credits

Developer

Cyanide Studio

Publisher

Focus Entertainment

Steam player reviews

78%positiveMostly Positive11,024 Steam reviews

Lowest recorded in 36 months

$2.472025-10-28 · GameBilletBase game · same records as the chart above; USD history, not a regional Steam low.

Language support

Language	Interface	Subtitles	Audio
Simplified Chinese	Yes	Yes	—
English	Yes	Yes	Yes
French	Yes	Yes	—

Show 9 more languages

Language	Interface	Subtitles	Audio
Italian	Yes	Yes	—
German	Yes	Yes	—
Spanish	Yes	Yes	—
Czech	Yes	Yes	—
Portuguese-Brazil	Yes	Yes	—
Russian	Yes	Yes	—
Polish	Yes	Yes	—
Japanese	Yes	Yes	—
Korean	Yes	Yes	—

Steam PC edition data · 2026-10-19

02Before you buy

Controls

The Steam PC version offers full controller support.

Language

English full audio is available, with subtitles in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, and other languages.

03Frequently asked questions

What is the story about?

Private investigator Pierce investigates the Hawkins family's death on Darkwater Island in 1924.

What drives the central conflict?

Clues, conspiracies, cultists, and cosmic horrors threaten Pierce's sanity as he investigates.

Can I play solo?

The Steam PC version supports single-player.

Popular Steam reviews

Native-language selection · 10 reviews

Selected helpful reviews in this language show both recommendations and criticisms. This selection does not represent the overall positive rating; opinions reflect the version reviewed.

RecommendedSteam player

10/30/2018

I was tempted to refund this game as soon as I saw the animations and weird flicks between camera angles, but I'm glad that I didn't. The good stuff: - If you're a Lovecraft tart like me, you'll likely enjoy the hell out of the atmosphere and the setting. - Love the audio. - The dialogue is MOSTLY good. It fits. - I'm on chapter 3 and I don't think I can put it down, now that we're getting into the story. - The protag is quite likeable. It's nice to play as a character who has problems and feels like a person, not a hero. - No crashes so far, but this may vary for other players & builds, so don't take my word for it. - Investigating and evidence gathering is interesting. - Like Arkham Horror and Mansions of Madness in a video game form, which is a big plus for me, as I love those board games. Things to improve: - The animations. Seriously, they feel half-assed. No excuses; please take the time to work on them and give us a patch with improvements. - The camera/focus is all over the place at times. (Example: jumps from character to character in an awkward way.) - FOV, or lack of it. Again, hopefully it'll be adressed. Edit: Finished it and loved it. My husband also got a copy and his playthrough is coming along quite differently from mine. There's definitely at least two playthroughs worth of content here.Show moreShow less

11.3 hours at review340 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

12/15/2018

I'll be honest: I really don't like that I have to give this game a negative review. But it honestly shouldn't even have Cthulhu in the title. As a big fan of Lovecraft, I was very excited about this game, and even purchased and played through the 2006 game Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth in anticipation. But after finishing this latest installment in the mythos, I am quite disappointed. This game wasn't necessarily bad. It was generally fun, with only a few minor flaws in the gameplay and some things that could have been better polished. The main things that bother me are its length, story, and its relation to the Cthulhu mythos. It took me 11 hours to complete this game, but it felt like it shouldn't have been nearly that long. The game's 14 chapters are largely cutscenes, and in the times when you do get to explore a bit, you are usually limited to an extremely small area. Interact with a couple of items in the area and it's on to the next cutscene and the next chapter. Don't get me wrong, I don't normally have a problem with cutscenes. I appreciate a good story-driven game, but the story here left a lot to be desired. The characters were very interesting, but they weren't used well. Some of their relationships with each other and with the overall plot still didn't make sense by the end of the game, and there were a lot of untied loose ends that left me quite unsatisfied. On top of those things, this game really didn't have much to do with the Cthulhu mythos. There were passing references to Arkham, Miskatonic University, Professor Armitage, and the Necronomicon. And the game did focus on concepts of insanity, forbidden knowledge, and occultism, which typically characterize Lovecraft's work. But the story didn't feel like it was built around those concepts the same way the mythos is meant to be. Instead, it felt like they were simply running down a checklist of things they had to include to be able to use Cthulhu in the title. There was one especially significant way in which the game diverges from Lovecraftian fiction. The whole genre of cosmic horror which Lovecraft developed is meant to exploit our fear of things that are unknown, unfamiliar, and overshadowing. Things that we are powerless to fight against and that are often too strange to even comprehend. Bizarre alien species, inconceivably massive and ancient entities, and even unknowable horrors are what make the Cthulhu mythos truly terrifying. But instead of using these things, the developers opted for a generic, forgettable, humanoid monster. Even the otherworldly being you meet later in the game is nothing more than a transparent human being. In short, this game really isn't about Cthulhu, beyond some very loose references to Lovecraft's writings, the inclusion of Cthulhu in the title, and his very brief appearance in one of the potential endings. At best, this is a run-of-the-mill horror game with some allusions to the Cthulhu mythos. Not a bad game, but not good at being what it wants to be either. If you want a good Cthulhu game, I would recommend going back to Dark Corners of the Earth. It is much more true to the spirit of the mythos, and was an overall more satisfying experience, despite being dated. Better yet, pull up some Lovecraft audiobooks on YouTube and let them play while you relax. Just be sure to keep the lights on...Show moreShow less

11.2 hours at review541 people found this helpful

RecommendedSteam player

05/20/2020

Byte sized review Long distance call Graphics 3/5 - Call of Cthulhu is a mid-tier budget game and the graphics definitely show this. The game can often look good given the probably limited budget the development team had to work with but there are sections throughout the game where it does look budget, very budget and it can be quite jarring almost feeling like two separate teams worked on the title. Performance / Bug & Issues 3/5 - Call of Cthulhu is not a demanding game, and even the most modest of hardware should be able to run it at "very high" settings. I did have issues with the sound though, where it continuously kept cutting out. I tried updating drivers, followed other people’s responses to fixing the audio issue but nothing worked. I did find this very distracting and it took a bit away from the experience. Story 9/10 - This is where Call of Cthulhu really shines. The game has one of the best narratives I have had the joy of experiencing in a game. It's full of twists and turns and red herrings with a couple of shock surprises which really had me wanting to push further ahead so I could see how it was going to unfold. I really loved the dark and nasty cosmic horror plot at the heart of this story. While it's initially a slow burn as all the pieces are slowly getting into place, once you crack past the second half a sense of dread settles in that hangs around right until you reach the end. Excellent stuff on this front. Gameplay 16/20 - This is where the game falls down a bit. There are long stretches where it feels more like a walking sim than anything else and the investigation mechanics baked into the gameplay, which could have been so much more, seem a little half-assed and under-cooked. The game also plays out more like a traditional point and click than and action adventure and I can see this causing a few players to bounce off the game citing boredom. So in other words, Call of Cthulhu is not for everyone but if you are a mystery or point and click adventure game aficionado, this should then be right up your alley. Sound / Voice / Music 3/5 - I don't recall the music being particularly memorable and some of the voice acting is a bit hit and miss, but once again this can be possibly attributed to the games budget. Replay value 3/5 - There are 4 endings you can achieve in the game, so there is definitely value in it if you plan on replaying to get them all. The slow and plodding gameplay might hinder you wanting to go a few more rounds though. Fun Factor 7/10 - Overall I enjoyed Call of Cthulhu. I found the story to be particularly strong, one of the best in fact, but wasn't too impressed with the under-baked gameplay. Kudo's to Cyanide Studios for trying though. Had they had the gameplay immediacy the story was so crying out for they would have had a cracker on their hands. As it stands this a commendable effort to enjoy during this 2020 pandemic if you can forgive the flaws. Overall score 73% Rating https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=869453510Show moreShow less

19.2 hours at review212 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

10/29/2018

Clumsily put together and lacking coherence, Call of Cthulhu’s occasional redeeming story moments struggle to save it but never quite manage. Its simplistic level design and ugly visuals feel pulled straight out of an uninspired title from last generation. Not only does it come forth with mundane gameplay proposals, it also tries to shift between investigation, stealth and very limited gunplay in a way that, to me, suggests the project lacked a clear vision; none of these elements are fleshed out enough or particularly satisfying to engage with. The pacing is all over the place and there’s never enough time to settle into anything, killing any hope of a proper, haunting atmosphere. Although it does succeed quite well with a few of its portrayals of degrading sanity, I remember its bottom of the barrel stealth sequences most vividly due to the frustration they caused. Everything else simply straddles the line between indifference and mild interest, which makes recommending it a rather difficult prospect. Full Review.Show moreShow less

15.9 hours at review324 people found this helpful

Received for free

Not recommendedSteam player

10/31/2018

(This review is spoiler free, but references a few locations and scenes as examples. I don't think this affects your ability to play the game "blind". For Context: I grew up on HPL literature and while I haven't played it in a while, I did play the paper-and-pencil game starting with the 2nd Edition in the 1980s. I still have a stack of Call of Cthulhu RPG books here at home.) This is another case where I wish Steam offered more than "thumbs up" and "thumbs down". Call of Cthulhu is not a terrible game, but it's not a great game, and it's not a good game to carry the "Call of Cthulhu" role-playing game brand. Visually, it looks like an indie game. Quality is pretty much all over the place. In some scenes, it's wonky and looks like it was published in 2001; in others, the level designers did really good work and you aren't reminded it's avideo game. Unfortunately, a lot of the bad work is early on and results in a bad first impression. But the visuals never quite pick up to be up to modern standards. There are also plenty of pre-rendered scenes. I can forgive that these aren't done in-engine, but many of them have heavy artifacting that actually distracts. Every two-bit YouTube channel manages to offer better video quality. I know, because I run a two-bit YouTube channel. I get that file-size is a concern, but I am still convinced it can be done better. The controls do work for what they are, even though there were some weird choices made, presumably to cater to console players. Luckily, these are mostly limited to the main menu. Inside the game, there is some "pixel hunting" in places. While the game does offer highlights for interactable objects, you sometimes do not come close enough to them naturally. I found this to be especially problematic in the Hawkins Mansion level. And not all objects of a class are interactable, sometimes to odd effects. For example I found places where I am investigating a character's home and there's a pile of interesting looking sheets of paper on a couch or desk, and you just can't look at them. I get that adding tons of inconsequential objects is a lot of work, but at least go through your scenes with the eyes of a player and pick the important ones. Speaking of controls, I have a particular hatred for the "reconstruction scenes". These are akin to the ones in Batman: The Telltale Series, where Batman uses his holographic Batthingiemagick to reconstruct crime scenes. Not only does this not work, from a visual and game-play standpoint, for a game set in 1924, even if it's just in the detective's head; what's much, much worse is that the protagonist gains insight in them that is simply not available from the clues present at the scene. And that is horrible design for any detective game, and twice so for Call of Cthulhu, as the gathering of clues and reconstruction of the big bag mystery has always been THE core gameplay element of the paper-and-pencil game. Finally, on my list of mechanical grievances is the stats system. I've no idea why this was added to the game. In short, there is a character sheet in which you upgrade certain abilities, but in the end you only notice that you sometimes can't pick locks and some dialogue options are locked out. Since this isn't *really* a CRPG, I feel the game isn't actually richer for it. All it really does is tell the player "you must have missed out on medicine books because I expected your skill to be higher by now". You could cut all those stats out and the game would work the same, or better. One exception to this is the "Sanity" tab, where you essentially have "unlockable" mental illnesses, terrifying situations your character experienced, or Mythos-related things he's experienced. This is a very nice touch that helps tie the game with its paper-and-pencil original. So, what about the content, Bart, I imagine you ask. That is okay-ish. First the good news, it's definitely a creepy game. Some areas are downright spooky or even terrifying. There are jump-scares, but they are used well enough. It's hard to comment on this without spoilers, so suffice it to say that the game kept me on my toes, terrified me at times, and that I feel they managed to strike a pretty good balance between things that seem threatening and then aren't, things that are worldly dangers, and things that are supernatural. Second, the very bad news. I have a very hard time believing this game was actually written by Call of Cthulhu veterans. While it follows the general game design principles of COC the paper-and-pencil game, it never quite gets it right. A very blatant example of this would be when one in-game character calls the Cthulhu Mythos "the Mythos", as if it were a club you just join because it gives you opportunities for professional networking. That is so anathema to the actual Cthulhu Mythos that it sticks out like a Deep One on Broadway. NPC Characters - and sometimes the protagonist - keep repeating the same voice dialogue lines. An early and spoiler-free example are sailors, part of the scenery, whose lines are on an endless loop, but there are other, later examples. At least give them a break now and then; NPCs aren't broken records. NPCs can and do also teleport around at will. Not all of them - but it happens, it happens too often, and it breaks suspension of disbelief when it happens. Again this is mostly noticeable in the early game, when the designers attempt to give an illusion of "free roaming". It doesn't seem to happen later, because you are pretty much on rails anyway. Dialogues can be wonky. There is one place the protagonist calls a creature by its full RPG name, even though that was never mentioned in game. A father who calls his daughter by her full name (though this might yet turn out to be part of the plot I guess). Little things where I feel like things that are said or asked are out of place. The dialogue system, by the way, was taken straight out of Mass Effect. There's a timer on some choices, which I again feel is bad game design, but luckily this is used very sparingly. As for the storyline, it's passable to okay to good, depending on where you are. Can't talk about this much without giving it away, but the designers definitely tried to hit all the CoC:RPG trope locations and plot points. That's not a critcism; if you are creating Call of Cthulhu the video game, you better make it be Call of Cthulhu the video game, after all. If you are a Call of Cthulhu veteran, the following sentence may be a mild spoiler: The plotlines are likewise pretty standard COC fare. It does feel like there are two disconnected plotlines going, I haven't beaten the game yet, so I am not yet sure it all ties together in the end. So far it's as interesting as it can be, and I am curious enough to find out what happens next and care enough about the characters to continue, so that's definitely a big point in favor of the game. So, enough wall of text. The big conclusion: Do I recommend this game? Yes, and no. It kinda works but it just doesn't justify the price right now. It's a 25 Euro game, not a 45 Euro game. It doesn't feel like "Call of Cthulhu the big official video game", it feels like "Call of Cthulhu the slightly bigger indie game". It needs a QA pass, it definitely needs proof-reading by someone versed in HPL/Cthulhu Mythos lore, and ideally by someone who actually played the Call of Cthulhu game. I can't help but shake the feeling that the release was rushed to hit Halloween, and ultimately the game suffers for it. Buy if you are a die-hard HPL fan who doesn't mind problems and some Mythos-illiteracy. Buy if you like spooky games and don't care too much about the Mythos. Wait if you are on a budget, I expect this will be 50% off by christmas. Don't buy if you expect a good detective/horror story. Don't buy if you dislike unpolished products, low production values, can't overlook storyline problems, or are a die-hard Cthulhu-fan who minds Mythos-illiteracy.Show moreShow less

11.1 hours at review296 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

10/08/2020

I am a uber-Lovecraft fan. I went to RI just to pay my respects at his graves, I visited whatever buildings were left from his years alive where he lived, and I went and saw his memorial at John Hays. He was one of the few minds that has captured my extremely picky imagination. I played the other CoC game back in the day, the one that was so broken on PC you had to have a mod tool to beat the initial chase scene. That game is still great to me, and I own it on steam. This game though, its hard for me to say that... unless you are a massive fan like me, its probably better off skipped. For one, since nobody is saying it, it is very loosely based of the tabletop game CoC and not the lore of Lovecraft. It is a original story and has some cool moments and ideas, like the revelations that come with Leviathan. Ultimately, though, its utterly insane how its cobbled together. Things will happen that make no sense, and characters will dip and dive out of mortality with only a couple really having explainations as to why. There is this entire plots dealing with 'The Shambler' that goes nowhere, and was clearly just some early ideas that the developers/writers didn't want to let go of - evident by the fact that its also called The Wanderer at points. It doesn't matter, the stupid thing is just a monster that the game wants you to think is smart but it is not, its a dumb monster that hits people to death for no reason. Some characters have something to do with it, but good luck finding out what that is. Like, why did Cat have it locked in a offshore cave randomly and send people to die there? Who knows, you never find out. And it comes out of nowhere. Necronomicon comes out of nowhere, but no one seems to care about this horrific book enough to keep it around. It pops up like once and has nothing to do with anything afterwards. In fact, the stupid thing HELPS. Which is not right at all, not even close. There are choices that matter at first, but ultimately they make a mess of the game and I swear to god they break it. I think most of the plotholes and random people living when they shouldn't be alive was due to the choice system not being tight enough, nor tested enough. It would make more sense that when I was left with - a plot where people help me for no reason, I have a fate tied into a God that seems not to really have a clear end-goal. Choices that don't really matter and some of the most anti-climactic endings I've ever seen. I'm honestly just a little peeved, I was hoping to replay this but its a janky mess that needs to be redone properly or get some decent writers to tie things together better. Also, pacing helps - I'm just saying.Show moreShow less

7.9 hours at review209 people found this helpful

Not recommendedSteam player

11/03/2018

If I could give this game a mixed review on steam I would, but I have to give it a negative review because the bad definitely outweighs the good with this game. I have been waiting for this game for over 3 years and to say I'm disappointed is an understatement. My time with this game was somewhat enjoyable (and buggy) but there's just so much that bothers me. The story is pretty bare-bones, like it's basically just hitting the beats a lovecraftian story is built off of (drunk grizzled detective, mysterious deaths, a cult lurking in the shadows, tentacles, etc.) and it never really challenges or tries to expand on the ideas that Lovecraft has laid down. Even with how basic this premise is if it was executed well could be at least serviceable albeit a somewhat generic story, however Call of Cthullhu fails to even keep a simple premise like this afloat, The dialogue ranges from "OK, but predictable" to "really, really bad" and it will fluctuate like that frequently (sometimes mid-conversation). The gameplay is..... OK...... It reminds me of older adventure games which is fine but there's some really stupid shoehorned stealth and combat sections sprinkled in that are just so atrociously bad it's baffling why they even bothered. Exploring is nice and the few puzzles thrown in are disappointingly easy, however I'm ok with what they were since they broke up the flow nicely. However the "RPG" mechanics are so ridiculously bare-bones and shallow it really makes me wonder why they added it in the first place. Yes, there's a character sheet with stats, point to assign, and objects to increase these stats hidden out in the world but it really felt like there was no effect with what stat I chose. The only ones I can say made somewhat of a difference were the Hidden Object and Investigation stats, which made finding hidden objects and picking locks easier respectively. Having higher proficiency in certain stats leads to different dialogue options, however these never really felt impactful or important and I never felt like the outcome of a conversation hinged on my stats as all the vital information can be easily achieved with base stats in everything. The horror is majorly disappointing, I'm a huge horror fan, I'm a huge HP Lovecraft fan, but the horror in this game was just pitiful. They build this nice tense atmosphere and ruin it with ♥♥♥♥ jumpscares that aren't even scary since they all mostly happen in poorly animated cutscenes (which I'll get to in a moment) and feel extremely out of place. Without spoiling much the main monster you encounter a few times looks like something out of Dead Space 2, and since it's shown so eagerly and without hesitation any tension surrounding it is instantly lost. As I mentioned above, the cutscenes are some of the worst I've seen since like 2011. The lip-sync is completely off, the characters faces look disgusting (and I mean that genuinely, they are unnerving with how bad they look sometimes), and the animations vary from passable to something that wouldn't look out of place in a SFM or Gmod movie. Lastly, bugs. I've ran into several while playing through this game from audio cutting out or skipping to menu functions not working until I restarted from my last save. However the most annoying one that I encountered multiple times was when I wouldn't be able to select any dialogue options, and since there's no way to leave dialogue with an npc I would have to plug in a controller to select an option, but once I did that all the in-game menus wouldn't respond so I would have to reload to my last save. These bugs aren't that big, but all this coupled with the above issues made the game seriously frustrating at points during my playthrough. Overall, this game is mediocre at best. There's some good atmosphere building in the first 8 or so chapters but all of that is thrown away for ♥♥♥♥ in the last leg of the game. If you're a huge fan of Lovecraft like myself go play the original Call of Cthulhu and wait for this one to go on sale, like steeply on sale. (Last thing and I'll shut up, but you should also be aware that there is no in game way to turn off motion blur or turn up the FOV which made me extremely sick until I did some .ini editing)Show moreShow less

7.5 hours at review170 people found this helpful

Source: original Steam user reviews. Helpful votes are an archived snapshot, not live data. Last collected: 08/15/2026.