I've played this solo twice so far.

I had high hopes for this because I love Heinrich's CoC Guide to Character Creation.

You wander around until you die/ go insane. Which, to be fair, is how most gamebooks are. But here it feels even more due to chance than in any other gamebooks I've played.

Even that wouldn't be so bad though if not for the fact that you need to create a brand new fully fleshed-out character each time through.

I've spent more time rolling up new characters to use for Guide to Carcossa than I have actually PLAYING Guide to Carcosa.

When I first heard about this before it came out, I was CERTAIN I was going to love it. I LOVE the Alone Against the... series. I thought this was going to blow them all away. Instead it just makes me appreciate them all the more.

I will say though that I'm not done with this product yet. I am intending to play it more- when I get the motivation to roll up another character. Maybe I'll yet still find the fun.

Un librojuego con vitaminas excelente, tanto en su enorme extensión como en su rejugabilidad y tono. Tanto para dirigir a otra persona como para jugarlo por uno mismo, este es uno de los mejores suplementos no oficiales que he visto de LLdC hasta la fecha. Las pocas mecánicas nuevas acompañan muy bien: tu personaje empieza amnésico, pero tiene una Máscara que explica a posteriori ciertas cosas que puedes hilar durante el juego. Los resultados de los párrafos cambian en función de si llevas una máscara u otra, de si has roto las cadenas de la misma... una currada de suplemento que vale cada euro de los que cuesta. Los mapas son bien chulos, da ganas de imprimirlos para usarlos encima de una mesa.

This book is two things: a playable solo campaign with a ton of depth and atmosphere, and a GM resource, full of lore and great ideas to steal for your own games. Read the full review here: https://stygian-muse.com/heinrichs-guide-to-carcosa-love-and-death-in-the-hyades/

This is an amazining senario. The stucture is clever and really intented for multiple playthoughs with diffrent charactors. It took me five attempts to unlock the final scene, but there is still more to explore

The maps of the city are clever because the locations are not only randomly determined, but veiwed though different incarnations of metropolis, suburbia, or necropolis. several of the most interesting encounters can only be reached through random chance while passing through back alleys in secret passages. it really adds to the creepy and dream like nature of the scenario.

The artwork throughout is sureal and the sugegsted playlist for eacb scene really adds to the ambience

This is a fantastic resource for anyone wanting a deep dive into Carcosa. The author clearly has a love of the setting, and the solo adventure is exciting and engaging at every turn. You'd do well to pick up a copy!

My review of Heinrich's Call of Cthulhu Guide to Carcosa. TLDR: 340 pages of gloriously atmospheric solitary gaming fun, an incredibly inspirational resource, and an astounding creative accomplishment worth three times the price!

https://www.prosperopublishing.com/2023/12/03/heinrichs-call-of-cthulhu-guide-to-carcosa-a-review/

I've had the pleasure to play this with both a Keeper guiding the situation and as a solo player. In both cases, this felt like a deep delving into madness. The procedural generation of multiple iterations of Carcosa create a unique experience that carries over with legacy play and creates an evolving world depending on those who have entered before. As a kid, I was always a sucker for "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure" books. This one is more of a "Choose-Your-Madness" in the best possible way. By removing the requirement for a Keeper, the choices and penalties are your own. You have to decide your own fate. And in making decisions about your Investigator, you also are forced to confront the horrors within themselves, creating a remarkably personal journey.

The author of this guide has already established himself as a powerhouse for character creation. This book cements him as an expert on the madness that is Carcosa. The level of detail included, unique situations, and depths to which you delve into horror make me wonder if he himself has returned from Carcosa recently. And by locking different endings behind repeated playthroughs, this promises that no two games will ever be the same.

I enthusiastically and whole heartedly recommend this to anyone looking for not only an ever shifting adventure of horror, but for those who wish to fall into the waves of Lake Hali and explore the city of Carcosa. The artwork alone drew me in, but the style, care taken, and depth of what went in to this means that I'll be picking up a physical copy as soon as they become available as well.

I cannot say enough good things about this title. The first round through took just under 2 hours (including character creation) for a game, meaning this can be a fun solo plug-and-play descent into madness. The shores of Carcosa are calling with their siren song. Will you heed it?

Beautiful and terrifying in equal measures, this book is the best SOLO or single player addition since this same authors guide to Character Creation.

Based somewhere between being a guidebook and setting guide and a play as you read style gamebook this is something that should NOT work but it DOES! Boy does this work...

The multiple locations are all superbly laid out - described to a degree where you have enough to use either in this adventure or in one of your own creation. The story arc is multiple paths and by using a motif of masks you get many different paths through this one adventure - each with its own totally different outcomes. The Story outcomes in their own right change as you progress and add additional plays through the lost and damned city. The City grows and changes depending on your path, but you also can set it in a fixed point on each of its maps (one map is provided for each aspect of the city its visitors see) with the first person to encounter a place setting its location on the current map. Future explorers on this path will extend from where things left off until each of the aspects is complete.

The story is truly engaging and has moments of horror that are well worth the purchase on their own... The Artwork and layout is sumptuous and delightfully decadent, giving the feel of the damned city in all of its finery. The characters you meet will be different based upon how you encounter them or where... Finally if you get to the centre of the labyrinth you face your ultimate challenge.

This is a must have guide and for anyone interested in this setting - this is going to form the basis of how we envision it for many years to come.

For further flavour there is an actual play available with the creator currently on Twitch but soon to be on YouTube from Symphony Entertainment and it is highly recommended if you are unsure of your overwhelming need to secure your own copy of this must have book.