Unspeakable Words

Spell eldritch words from letter cards and gamble your sanity on every long one.

Designers: Mike Selinker, James Ernest
Published by: Playroom Entertainment

Cthulhu has a vocabulary problem, and so do you. Letter cards are your tiles, and the goal is to spell words out of what you hold. The twist is that angular letters are worth more, because the pointier a word looks, the stronger its dark magic. Every word you play earns points, but then you must roll a sanity check against its value, and a bad roll means the unspeakable power cracks your mind. Lose too much and you are out. It is a word game with a push-your-luck hand on the throat, set in the Cthulhu Mythos. About half an hour, and it won Games Magazine's 2007 Word Game of the Year.

Words from letter cards, angles score moreA sanity roll after every word you playCthulhu Mythos theme

Who it's for

You like word games but want them to bite, and you enjoy dramatic dice rolls with a gothic grin.

Not for you if…

You want a gentle word game without risk, or somebody at the table dislikes being knocked out.

Vibe's take

A word game that fights back. Each clever, angular word is a small bet against your own mind, so the table holds its breath at every dice roll.