Call of Cthulhu®
The first 3 hours are a test
What the data shows
- In the first 2 hours 1 in 2 reviews are negative (62%); after 7h it's 1 in 6 (16%).
- Fully opens up by hour 7.
- The opening is criticised more than in 90% of games we track.
- At least 32% of players who start reach the ending.
- The biggest drop-off is between “The Sarah Hawkins case” and “The Strange High House” (Get driven to the Hawkins Mansion): from 100% to 82% of starters.
- 79% of owners got the first achievement.
When it gets good
Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.
before it gets good opening up fully opened up
Based on all 14,103 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 298 reviews: 9.9h for positive, 5.6h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.
Where players quit
Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (79% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.
- Started playing 100%
- The Sarah Hawkins case Accept the Sarah Hawkins case 100%
- The Strange High House Get driven to the Hawkins Mansion Most players quit here 82% −18
- The Terrible Old Man Convince the caretaker to help you 77% −6
- The Temple Take part in the ritual in the caves 70% −6
- From Beyond Banish the Dimensional Shambler 53% −17
- The curse of Sarah Find Sarah Hawkins 48% −5
- The Outsider Banish the creature for good 45% −3
- Fight destiny Successfully carry out the counter ritual ≥32% −13
story milestone ending (most common ending) biggest drop-off
Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.
All achievements (49)
story milestone ending side
- The Sarah Hawkins case Accept the Sarah Hawkins case 100%
- Ex Oblivione Fail a skill test 96%
- The Strange High House Get driven to the Hawkins Mansion 82%
- The Terrible Old Man Convince the caretaker to help you 77%
- The Secret Cave Discover the mansion’s secret passage 73%
- The pit of horror Fall into the sacrificial pit 71%
- Detective Edward Pierce Reach the level of Expert in a skill 71%
- The Temple Take part in the ritual in the caves 70%
- Memory Explore the memories of the Hawkins family 68%
- The aficionado of horror Meet Francis Sanders 60%
- Jack of all trades Inspect 50 items 57%
- Beyond reality Accept to read an unholy book 55%
- From Beyond Banish the Dimensional Shambler 53%
- The Book Read the Necronomicon 52%
- The White Ship Learn the secret of the Scylla 51%
- Caught in the trap Fall into Fuller's trap 51%
- Scholar of the unspeakable Meet Algernon Drake and accept his help 50%
- The curse of Sarah Find Sarah Hawkins 48%
- The amulet of the Ancients Lay your hands on Algernon Drake's treasure 46%
- The dreamlike investigation Accept the revelations 46%
- A brilliant mind Use the globe to open the secret passage 46%
- The Outsider Banish the creature for good 45%
- In the footsteps of Daniel Upton Kill or spare Bradley 44%
- Attack the docks Escape your fallen territory 44%
- The Abomination of Darkwater Kill 5 inhabitants who are being controlled 44%
- The Beast in the Cave Enter the beast’s den 43%
- Sandman Make a deal with a crazed inmate 43%
- The voice beyond the grave Chat with a vision 43%
- The Thing on the Doorstep Banish the Dimensional Shambler using only one dagger 42%
- Companion in arms Save Drake's life during the fight with the creature 38%
- The delusional investigator Be the plaything of an hallucination 34%
- Hippocratic Oath Heal all the patients 32%
- Fight destiny Successfully carry out the counter ritual 32%
- The Call of Cthulhu Invoke Cthulhu! 31%
- Voyage into history Open the sailor's chest in the whaling station 29%
- No prohibition for Darkwater Deliver liquor to the sailors 24%
- Strange secrets Find occult items 21%
- Complete revelation Read all the books of unholy knowledge 21%
- Detective historian Piece together Margaret Wyckwood's memoirs 20%
- The most trivial object Discover all the small blue bottles 20%
- More sober than Zadok Allen Never drink 16%
- The Shadow Out of Time Discover all the murals of the disappeared tribe 12%
- The Good Samaritan Save Mitchell 12%
- Farewell Refuse the ritual 11%
- The Rats in the Walls Make the suspects talk by using a heavy hand 10%
- Fluent in R’lyehian Choose all the replies in R’lyehian 6.8%
- John Raymond Legrasse Find 20 hidden items 6.6%
- Shared guilt Push Irene Sanders to the limit 4.6%
- Nameless Cults Refuse to take part in the ritual 4.3%