Horrid monsters lurk in dark and forgotten places, while fiendish cults worship Great Old Ones and Outer Gods through blasphemous rituals.

Ordinary people that are drawn into and forced to confront this world of mystery and horror risk not only their physical well-being, but their mental health as well.

In Purist mode, Health and Stability cannot exceed 12, and player characters do not receive new build points after a scenario is completed.

The game uses the Gumshoe System, developed by Robin Laws of Pelgrane Press and previously used in The Esoterrorists (2006) and Fear Itself (2007).

For example, an Investigator can announce they will use their Medicine skill to perform an autopsy, and the Keeper tells the doctor that the victim died of poison.

[3] For example, the doctor who performed the autopsy spends Skill points and learns that the poison is a rare neurotoxin only recently discovered by an expedition to the Amazon jungle led by Professor Roscoe T. Abernathy of Arkham University.

The game is largely based on a narrative approach, with dialogue between Investigators and the Keeper determining how the story unfolds.

Two-toned printing and beautiful gray-scale artwork helped to make Trail of Cthulhu one of the most attractive and notable books that Pelgrane had ever produced.

It also is simple enough to be run in a more 'off-the-cuff' improvisational style and doesn't require a great deal of prep on the part of the GM, an important consideration for those of us with busy lives."

Hanish concluded, "In the end, Trail of Cthulhu is a roleplaying game I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in Lovecraft's stories, or horror investigation in general.