Seems a bit ironic. "Chez Cthulhu" is, roughly, "Cthulhu's home." And as every Lovecraftian scholar knows, Cthulhu is currently slumbering in R'lyeh, deep beneath the Pacific Ocean.

Which is just where the boatload of Chez Cthulhu is sailing over, on its merry way to North America.

Could this be an omen? Could the concentrated psychic power of thousands of games of The Stars Are Right be opening the gates, and all the Great Old One needs is the coincidental connection of Chez Cthulhu and R'lyeh to break free of that unspeakable aquatic prison?

Of course, if Cthulhu is summoned by a Chez game, all that sanity-blasting terror might be replaced by blissful Slack.

Nah, not likely. We're probably all still doomed. Doooooomed! Enjoy the game!

-- This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Think you know games? To ring in the new year, Steelhead Studio had their usual party, but with an unusual party game; indeed, their game was all about everyone else's games. To celebrate the 100th birthday of their house, they had 100 cupcakes - 100 game-themed cupcakes. Their choices included video games, boardgames, traditional games . . . a bit of everything fun. This is your chance to show off. Get all these right and you might have a job lined up in the lucrative gaming industry. Or - who knows - the lucrative cupcake industry.

-- Suggested by cliff

by Ken Hite and illustrated by Andy Hopp, is a really wicked mashup of H.P. Lovecraft's "The Shadow over Innsmouth" and Where The Wild Things Are. It's a wonderful, colorful, evil little book, and since it's published by Atlas, of COURSE we have it in Warehouse 23. If all children's books were like this, the world would be a much more twisted place, I promise you!

And "Where The Deep Ones Are" now available on iPhone. Derek Pearcy (a key member of the Conspiracy here, back in the days of INWO) has translated it into an app, and you can get it in the App Store for a tenth the price of the physical book . . . only $1.99. Cthulhu fans, you want this. I have it on my phone right now, and it makes me smile . . .

-- This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Normally, any upcoming release related to Cthulhu would get a significant portion of the Daily Illuminator spotlight. But between the holidays, the two nifty dice games (Zombie Dice and Cthulhu Dice), and the unboxing videos -- not to mention the general weirdness we report on to serve the mysterious purposes of the Secret Masters -- poor little Chez Cthulhu has been feeling a little ignored.

Let's remedy that situation, shall we? To the left, of course, are the components you'll have once the box is opened -- the cards and rules are familiar, and the utility of the tokens are immediately obvious. As you'd expect from a Chez game, there are many familiar elements. Roommates? Check. Jobs you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy? Right there. Slack? You betcha.

But Madness? Tentacles? Evil Ritual Nookie? These are the sorts of things that set Chez Cthulhu apart.

Chez Cthulhu ships in February.

-- This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

With all the other unboxing videos we've done, you may be wondering if we're trying to capture all our games on video.

Yes, yes we are.

Next up is Will's unboxing video for Ninja Burger. We tried to get him to wear a ninja costume for this one, but something about an ancient oath prevented him.

-- This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it