7. Darkest Dungeon

Your adventurers aren't heroes. They're future therapy patients.

Darkest Dungeon takes the Lovecraftian concept of psychological deterioration and turns it into a gameplay mechanic.

You assemble a team of adventurers.

You send them into horrible places.

They encounter horrifying creatures.

Their stress increases.

They become increasingly unstable.

Then somebody develops an affliction and starts behaving like they've been awake for 72 hours surviving exclusively on coffee and bad decisions.

This is one of the game's greatest strengths.

The monsters aren't the only thing you have to worry about.

Your own characters can psychologically deteriorate as they explore increasingly horrific environments.

The game also contains a mythology involving ancient powers, forbidden rituals and an enormous supernatural threat lurking beneath the surface.

Darkest Dungeon understands one of Lovecraft's most important ideas:

Knowledge is dangerous.

The further you investigate, the more horrifying the truth becomes.

And eventually you discover that the entire adventure was probably a spectacularly bad idea.

Darkest Dungeon has long been recognized as a major example of Lovecraftian influence in gaming, particularly through its themes of mental trauma, affliction and cosmic horror.

Why it's Lovecraftian: Sanity mechanics, ancient evil, forbidden knowledge, grotesque creatures and the slow realization that your expedition should have stayed home.