Cthulhu: The Great Old One (Deluxe Edition) is a quick-play card game based around the characters and mythology of the writings of H.P. Lovecraft.
In Cthulhu: The Great Old One (Deluxe), each player takes their turn in order; first drawing, then stealing, then recruiting cards, and finally playing any Pairs they might hold, as well as any one Horror or Cultist card.
Matched Pairs give 2 victory points, Linked Pairs give 1 victory point, as does any played Horror cards.
Once any player completes their 7th pair, the game ends and players count up their victory points.
If any player holds the Great Old One card, they lose the game regardless of points. However, if a player holds the Great Old One and has already played the Cultist card in their play area, they win! Otherwise, the player with the most victory points wins!
With the Horror cards and game mechanics, there are a lot of fun strategies to keep the fast-paced action going, but there still remains a luck element as well to help give less experienced players a fighting chance against players who are more familiar with game possibilities.
The Deluxe version is basically a whole new game drawing inspiration from the original, but re-implementing the system with new cards, new card types, new turn style and play mechanics, and updated card looks and text.