Pyramid Review
Unspeakable Words
Published by Playroom Entertainment
Designed by James Ernest & Mike Selinker
Art by Tony Steele
full-color boxed set with 96 Letter Cards, 30 Cthulhu Pawns, one 20-sided die, & rulebook (in English, Spanish, French, & German); $20.00
It's never too early to start teaching your children: warning them not to talk to strangers, telling them to look both ways before crossing the street, alerting them to the hazards of congress with eldritch beings whose sole goal is the perversion of mankind. Unspeakable Words isn't just an educational game about spelling, it's a public service.
The object of the game is to be the first player to make it to 100 points without going insane.
Two to six players can join in, and each gets a hand of seven cards and a set of five Cthulhus. All the cards in the game have a letter on them and a helpful pointer that uses H.P. Lovecraft's mythology: A is for Azathoth, B is for Byakhee, C is for . . . well, that's probably obvious. On your turn, you must play a word of at least three letters. If you cannot, or don't want to, you must trade in your hand for seven new cards. Letters are worth as many points as they have angles in them. An E is worth four points, for example, while an O or U is worth nothing. Having points is a mixed bag, because the hounds of Tindalos enter this reality through angles in the architecture. The more one dallies with unknown forces, the closer one comes to having . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: June 22, 2007
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