Kult Divinity Lost – A psychological horror, table top RPG

When you talk to a tabletop gamer about horror games, the game Call of Cthulhu comes up in the conversation somewhere.  Why shouldn’t it? It has been the top psychological horror game for the last forty years.  

However Swedish company Helmgast has made a game that could knock Call of Cthulhu off its perch. With the psycho horror game known as Kult Divinity Lost, or simply just Kult.   

Kult is a game where humankind was once divine beings but was tricked into living in the world in mortal shells, by demonic beings known as the Demiurge. However, the Demiurge is gone, and the façade has slipped away. The players control characters who have just awakened and now must deal with the psychological revelation as the world they live in is fake and Astaroth, the Archons and the Death Angels have been disputing for power. Many of the adventures are based around the illusion of the world crumbling away, and how the three main demonic forces affect the world.  

Like Call of Cthulhu, the character generation and rules are easy to learn. The other commonalities are that characters can die quite easily and that the game focuses on storytelling and role-playing, as opposed to loot and shoot. The real difference is in the setting. Call of Cthulhu calls on Lovecraftian-style works that involve humans dealing with elder gods and eldritch horrors. Kult adds a disorientation that builds to a horrifying conclusion. 

One of the fun mechanics is the horror contract, in which players must have a phobia or something that terrifies the character. This is for the Game Master to use in telling the story and ramping up the horror factor.  

All in all, a great horror game to play one rainy night, but not for the faint of heart. A Game Master would be advised to find out what the player's limits are before trying this game. As it can get terrifying. But for a night of storytelling and psychological horror, as opposed to clearing out a Kobold cave for the 48th time, this can make a welcome change of pace.  -★★★☆