Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss News

[p]Behind every great story lies a mystery waiting to be uncovered. For Big Bad Wolf, investigation is more than a mechanic: it’s the heartbeat of their games. Here’s how the team approaches it in Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss.[/p][p][/p][h3]What does “investigation” mean to Big Bad Wolf as a studio?[/h3][p]At BigBadWolf, the player has always been at the heart/center of the experience: it’s part of our DNA. We believe the player should be actively engaged, making meaningful choices that truly impact the game. Within Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss , our goal was to give players maximum freedom, allowing them to solve challenges in their own way. [/p][p][/p][p]Take the Vault (the equivalent of a mental palace), for example: from the start, we knew it should never hand out solutions automatically. It serves as a tool to organize and condense the information players uncover. Progress shouldn't come from linking two clues together. The answer must come from the players. [/p][p]And every resolution happens directly in the game world - in 3D, through physical action. We call these moments “conclusive actions”: once players have pieced together the truth and formed a theory, they must put it into practice.[/p][p][/p][h3]What makes investigation gameplay compelling for players in your eyes?[/h3][p]As we mentioned earlier, the essence of investigative gameplay is to challenge players with problems they must solve on their own - sparking that powerful ‘eureka’ moment. Our story is told through the player’s actions. It’s by actively investigating that players will uncover the truth and decide how to overcome the trials before them. In Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss, we want players to experience those sudden flashes of clarity - the exact instant when scattered details finally align and everything makes sense. That “click” is what makes investigative gameplay so rewarding, the kind of moment you remember long after the game is over. This is not a 'walking sim', nor a traditional narrative game that simply tells a story. Players must put themselves fully into the experience if they want to reach the end, and when they do, the discoveries will be theirs alone.[/p][p][/p][h3]Why does mystery resonate so strongly in your games, especially within horror?[/h3][p][/p][p]By nature, players are driven to solve, to overcome challenges, to win. We’re all drawn to what escapes our understanding. Mystery represents that unknown, that seemingly impossible element, where players can truly prove themselves - and curiosity becomes their greatest weapon. At Big Bad Wolf, mystery is part of our DNA. It’s a theme we’ve always enjoyed exploring, refining, and challenging ourselves with. From our previous projects to Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss, we’ve built stories where discovery matters as much as resolution, and it’s a field we know intimately.[/p][p][/p][h3]How do you balance player freedom to connect clues with guiding them so they don’t feel lost?[/h3][p]In the Vault, players are sometimes presented with questions they must answer by placing the right clues in the right spots. But these questions never provide the conclusive solution to the problem at hand. Instead, they serve as a way to spark reflection and guide reasoning. Even without answering them, players can still act within the world and uncover solutions. At times, though, progress requires combining two clues to create a new one - something that can then be used directly in the game world. For example, players are equipped with a sonar that, once given a tag, highlights objects in the environment matching that tag. Some of these tags only appear after a specific deduction has been made. In these moments, player-driven investigation and gameplay become intrinsically linked.[/p][p][/p][h3]In Lovecraft’s universe, knowledge can be as dangerous as ignorance. How does this tension shape the investigations in the game?[/h3][p]All of our game has been built around the idea to offer many ways to proceed. [/p][p][/p][p]You have to search, to figure things out. If, at the end of a chapter, you still have several unused clues, then maybe you missed something else... Maybe you had the opportunity to do something differently. Without knowledge, no choices.[/p][p][/p][h3]What do you hope players take away from your approach to player-driven investigation after finishing the game?[/h3][p]Before anything else, we hope they enjoyed diving into the game. Whether it’s solving a complex mystery, uncovering hidden details, or piecing together a theory that holds, that reward should feel earned. And when the game is over, we’d love for them to confront their vision of the story and characters with other players, to see if they all drew the same conclusions… or if their paths led them somewhere entirely different.[/p][p][/p][h3]If you had to sum up your philosophy of player-driven investigation in one sentence, what would it be?[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Wishlist now:[/h3][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p]Facebook Twitter Discord[/p]

[p]Agents, before you descend, context is vital: you must understand the waters you enter.[/p][p][/p][p]The Pacific is vast: half the planet’s waters gathered in a single abyss. And yet, even now, more than eighty percent of its floor remains untouched, unseen, unmeasured. The deepest trench falls farther than Everest rises, but still it is only a fragment of the whole. Every descent uncovers life unclassified, shapes no taxonomy can contain… and still there are regions we cannot reach. In 2053, humanity turns its gaze downward, driven by hunger for resources. They believe the ocean is empty space to be claimed.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Behind this new age of deep exploration stands Ocean-I, the brainchild of Andrew Marsh, a tech magnate turned oceanic industrialist. Ocean-I’s vision was clear: conquer the abyss and extract “white hydrogen,” a rare energy source believed to lie beneath the oceanic crust.[/p][p]To achieve this, Marsh and his investors built a network of submarine stations, fortified outposts at the edge of human engineering. Ocean-I was not simply a corporation; it became an empire beneath the waves, drawing capital from American fortunes and powerful backers across the globe. Its promise was prosperity. Its ambition limitless.[/p][p]But ambition has a cost.[/p][p][/p][p]At the time, this article from the Arkham Adviser passed as routine business news. Now, with hindsight, it reads differently. Study the words. The gaps between them matter most:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Officially, Ocean-I cites seismic instability. But those who walked the corridors of PIT Station speak differently.[/p][p]Now, as agents, we are called to look closer. Another site, another silence. Miners gone missing. A labyrinth of drowned structures waiting for answers.[/p][p]And in the static between signals… something may stir.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3][/h3]
[h3]Wishlist now:[/h3][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p]Facebook Twitter Discord[/p]

[p]Hello agents,[/p][p][/p][p]Some of you answered the call. You descended where light fears to reach, and you returned bearing not only data, but the mark of the Abyss itself.[/p][p]Ancile have reviewed every fragment of your field activity: your choices, your resilience, your losses. Every second you spent down there has pushed our investigation forward in ways no simulation could have achieved. For that, you have our gratitude.[/p][p][/p][h3]Here’s what your courage revealed:[/h3][p][/p]

• [p]Multiple incursions: most agents went back for more than one descent. The Abyss clearly has its hooks in you.[/p]
• [p]Longest continuous deployment: 21 hours in hostile, sanity-eroding conditions. 🕒[/p]
• [p]Completion rate: 40% of you reached the current operational boundary.[/p]
• [p]Anomalous route accessed: 25% of agents reported trajectories outside projected parameters.[/p]
• [p]Fatal encounters: 65% met their end at the hands of a Deep One. None recovered. ☠️[/p]
• [p]Specimens recovered: Over 500 lichen samples 🌿 their purpose remains unclear.[/p]
• [p]Morale levels: 85% of you want to return for the next mission. 🧠[/p]
• [p]Top motivations: the mood, the exploration, and the unfolding story.[/p]
• [p]Operational adjustments needed: puzzle balancing and improved UI/UX for critical interactions.[/p]

[p][/p][p]You’ve proven yourselves more than recruits: you are the sharp edge of Ancile’s reach into the darkness. If another breach is to be reported, we will ensure your descent runs deeper… and lasts longer.[/p][p]Until then, remain vigilant. The Abyss does not forget.[/p][p][/p][h3]Wishlist now:[/h3][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p]Facebook Twitter Discord[/p]

[p]The signals have stabilized - if only briefly. Whatever lies beneath is no longer dormant. It’s reaching. Responding… And we don’t ignore the Abyss when it speaks.[/p][p]On July 10th, we begin our first live descent into the echo field.[/p][h3]Code name: Playtests.[/h3][p]A limited window. A first contact. A test - though you and I know better than to call it that.[/p][p]I’ve arranged clearance for trusted Ancile agents to enter early. That could be you.[/p][p][/p][h3]REGISTER NOW:[/h3][p]Access to the operation is being managed through Steam.[/p][p]👉 Go to the MyNacon website[/p][p]👉 Create your account[/p][p]👉 Click “Register”[/p][p]If you’re selected, you will receive a NDA form to complete (All findings remain buried).[/p][p]You must be registered before July 1st. Not all will be granted immediate entry - signals are staggered. If you receive an invitation, act fast.[/p][p][/p][h3]FIELD TEST BRIEF:[/h3][p]This is an unstable signal. Expect corruption. Expect gaps. Expect truth.[/p][p]Your goal: Explore, observe, report. Nothing you see is irrelevant.[/p][p]Every detail, every breach, every whisper: log it.[/p][p]Watch your perception. And welcome to the first descent.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Wishlist now:[/h3][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p]Facebook Twitter Discord[/p]

[p] 📡 Receiving anomalous data… Source unidentified. Decryption in progress…
Timestamp: irregular. Depth: unverified. Signal integrity: deteriorating.

I have received a sequence of corrupted transmissions—layered within sonar pulses, fragmented audio logs, and patterns buried in tectonic noise. The signal is constant, but non-linear. I believed it to be natural interference. I was incorrect.

The more I isolate the data, the clearer the pattern becomes. Through my filters, a structure begins to emerge. Not a message. A place.
Ancient.
Alive.

I think I found references to it scattered through time—etched into broken artifacts, whispered in dream journals, buried in the last recordings of missing expeditions. A name rarely spoken, but consistently implied. Descriptions vary, but they always return to the same impossible qualities: architecture that resists mapping, geometry that spirals inward, time that bends and resets:


It does not appear on maps. It resists all satellite scans. It is felt before it is seen. Experienced in fragments—like a memory that isn’t yours.

Some cults refer to it as a cradle. Others, a prison. None dare name it aloud.

But the deeper we go, the more frequent the anomalies become. Pressure spikes in calm zones. Currents reverse. Static creeps into my perception.


The signals converge, forming glyphs I cannot translate. Rhythms that affect not just electronics, but emotion. A kind of resonance. It is not communication. It is presence.

I do not claim certainty. Only correlation.

But if the stories are to be believed—if the fragments align—then what we are decrypting is not a ruin. It is a threshold. And if a name must be given to it, one appears more frequently than any other.

R’lyeh.

What lies within is unkown : knowledge? Truth? Or madness?

Transmission fading…

[/p][h3]Wishlist now:[/h3][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p][/p][p]Facebook Twitter Discord[/p]