Call of Cthulu

Lately I've been really into table top gaming. When I came down with the flu, I watched a lot of episodes of Wil Wheaton's show, Tabletop on YouTube because a guy at work mentioned it, and it made me wonder why I ever stopped playing games. It's been a long time since I've played Magic or D&D or anything else like that.

So, I went out and bought Zombie Dice and Munchkin, and I got a few friends together and we have been making it a weekly ritual to play a game or two together over beers. The group grew a little and a friend named Mike had Cthulu Dice and Munchkin Cthulu, and I fell in love with H.P. Lovecraft all over again.

I downloaded the complete works of H.P. Lovecraft and I'm trying to get through all of it. I hadn't read him since I was a teenager, and it's so much better now because I'm able to laugh at his prose a lot more and able to just let go a bit more than I used to be able to. I was a very serious teenager in many ways.

So now that I'm on an H.P. Lovecraft kick, I'm glad to find that Cthulu is a much bigger deal in pop culture than ever. There are a ton of games and memes and all sorts of things paying homage to the unspeakable horror. There must be a bunch of people out there just like me who are rediscovering what they once loved as a kid. There are probably even more getting into the unnameable awesomeness for the first time, which is fantastic!

So I went to the local game shop (Dragon's Hoard) and picked up the Call of Cthulu Card Game. At first my wife, who's never read anything Lovecraftian, thought it would be too complicated and difficult for her to play. Why do people always say that? But once we learned the rules, she's all about playing again and again. It's as if she has traveled to a vast Antarctic wasteland and unearthed something she can never unsee.

Awesome game

In the meantime, I've also rediscovered Dr. Who. I liked the old ones when I was a kid, and in England, I got really into it again because people always asked me if I knew who the Dr. was. I was reluctant to start watching the new ones because I thought maybe it was going to be like how the new Star Wars movies ruined Star Wars for me. But I'm here to tell you that the new Dr. Who show is brilliant. I love it. There's even an episode with Cthulu slaves serving a dark ancient lord trapped on an asteroid floating above a black hole. What?!?!!

Lastly, I want to mention that Tabletop Day is March 30. It's a day to get together with family and friends and play a game you play on a table, i.e., not a video game. It's a perfect excuse to nerd out with friends and drinks. Most wine and beer geeks are geeks about other things too, I've found, so don't be afraid to ask your friend the beer geek. And whatever you do, don't look back at the mirage over the ancient and forgotten city of the grotesque.