Fate of the Elder Gods is a wicked game of spell-crafting, area control, and one-upmanship for one to four players set in the weird world of H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. In the game, players take on the ever-maddening role of cults trying to summon ancient evil and herald the fall of mankind! Each cult is in competition to summon their god first, but they all must also repel intrepid investigators working to seal off the gate to the beyond with Elder Signs. Players gather arcane artifacts, cast powerful spells, embrace the Dark Gift of their Elder God, and be first to hasten doom… all before it's too late!

Fate of the Elder Gods was a collaborative venture between veteran game designers Darrell Louder, Richard Launius, and Chris Kirkman because of their mutual love of the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The origins of the game began after Darrell played Kingsport Festival, a game set in the Cthulhu Mythos where players take on the role of cultists. Darrell was fascinated with the role reversal, but was unsatisfied with the experience. He began thinking of a lighter Arkham Horror-style game where the good guys were the bad guys.

Darrell’s idea remained unrealized until the 5th Annual Unpublished Games Festival (Unpub) in Baltimore in February of 2015. Richard — the designer of Arkham Horror and Elder Sign — was the VIP guest at Unpub, so late one night in the coordinator’s suite, Darrell shared his idea with Richard and Chris. As Darrell put it, “Whose brain better to pick than the Father of Lovecraftian gaming?”

Richard picked up on the notion quickly and added additional ideas during the meeting. After a couple of hours, a fully-formed game emerged, with basic concepts that still exist in Fate of the Elder Gods today. Darrell excitedly asked if Richard would like to co-design the game with him, and Richard was on board. Richard had been promising to provide a game that Chris could publish for Greater Than Games/Dice Hate Me Games for years, and this seemed like a perfect fit. Chris agreed to option the game and jump on board for development after the duo had time to further craft the game and do some playtesting. The gears were in motion for an epic project.

Over the next year, Darrell and Richard exchanged thoughts, tested concepts, and built out the game. After a design concept of matching spells cast among a grid of stars became too unwieldy, the idea of the Astral Columns on the Fate Clock board — or, the Altar, as it is now known — evolved. When a spell was cast at one of the six locations on the Fate Clock, that spell was placed in a column at that location. The symbols on the back of the spells could then be used by other cults to cast spells at that location later in the game.

The Fate Clock, too, evolved. Originally, players used dice to maneuver around the board to the six locations, but after some playtesting, that method proved too unpredictable and not terribly elegant. Since the Astral Column system was already in place, players could now use spell cards from their hands to travel to the location matching the card’s Astral Symbol.

Another design element that changed over time was the process of using and gaining cultists. Darrell’s initial idea was for cultists to visit locations to draft more cultists — a bit of a worker-placement and draft mechanic. This concept was consolidated into one particular location, The Gathering, and the abilities of the other five locations were tweaked, accordingly.

The game was now in a place for rich development. This is when Chris came on board, focusing on improving the overall gameplay, and making sure that what was happening in the game, especially with the Elder Gods, was thematically appropriate.

“Kirkman spent two weeks at my house in March of 2016 playing it non-stop,” Darrell recalls. “He became the crucial Allen Wrench, tightening aspects of the game Richard and I hadn't thought of. Kirkman was all about getting the beasties into it. His touch can really be seen in the expansion — but through the flow and structure of the base game, too.”

After a group development session at Richard’s house in April to round out the Mythos flavor for the Elder Gods and monsters, the game was ready for full production. An early decision by the team was to separate the monsters from the base game and create an expansion with eight monsters, new spells to summon and deal with those monsters, and four Elder Gods. The decision to make the separation was two-fold. First, it would help to keep the cost of the base game down in retail, and second, it would reduce the complexity of the base game so that it was easier to learn for newer players. The expansion would ultimately serve as an upgrade pack for advanced players; plus, they’ll get some incredible miniatures!

An essential part of the production process for Fate of the Elder Gods was the art. Darrell and Chris are both seasoned graphic designers, so they handily crafted and directed the Lovecraftian look for the game. The gods, monsters, artifacts, and locations were essential. Veteran artist Jorge Ramos was signed early to craft the Elder Gods and the artifacts, and create the Cultist, Investigator, and monster sketches that sculptor Chad Hoverter (of Mice & Mystics fame) would use to sculpt the miniatures. The team at Greater Than Games was incredibly happy with the work that artist Nolan Nasser did for the Dice Hate Me Games title New Bedford, so they brought him on to render the Locations for the Altar board.

The art and miniatures sculpts were superb, and everything seemed to be going smoothly… until Autumn. After fulfilling over half of his contracted art, Jorge Ramos announced that he was unable to continue with the project. For such an art-heavy game, this wasn’t a minor setback. Luckily, the team was able to draft veteran artist Lucas Durham to fill in for some of the Elder God portraits, and Nolan Nasser stepped up for just about everything else. Although it set the production back by a couple of months, the team was incredibly happy with Lucas and Nolan’s work.

Finally, the epic game that began as a tiny idea has become a reality. As this article is typed, the last of the games are rolling off the assembly line, and the excitement grows exponentially among the design team as the day grows closer when thousands of gamers get to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

“Fate really is the fabled lightning in a bottle when it came to game designing,” Darrell said. “Furthermore, it's a game that we have labored over for years, and still will play it at the drop of a hat. It really is as much fun to play as it was to design.”

Fate of the Elder Gods and the Beasts from Beyond expansion make their debut at GenCon this summer, with a release in online and retail stores a few weeks after. So, break out your robes, saddle up your shoggoth, and get ready to root for the bad guys!