What is Kult?    What is The Abyss?    Promotion   
Submission Guidelines    Contacts    Credits

The world of KULT is one of the most elaborate gaming realms I have ever encountered, and had the pleasure to explore extensively. Nothing can prepare you for a gaming experience so profound as that which authors Gunilla Johsson and Michael Petersen have created for us. A definition of this game is, with out a doubt, difficult at best. From its first chapter "A World in Darkness" one might confuse its origin with other games that claim to personify horror role-playing. As I read through it I learned what authentic horror gaming could be when the punches were not pulled and no subject was taboo.

If role-playing games composed a landscape, then KULT would be a Black jagged city on its horizon, looming like an ancient predator. It is a dangerous place, and rightfully so. You may pretend to ignore its presence in the distance and continue to frolic in less demanding environments. But secretly you will always remember having seen something special once. The image burnt into you mind's eye. That's the power this fantastic vision evokes from its reader. This was not the first time my imagination was overcome by unique fictions. The difference how ever was in that they had been novels, films, and even comics, but not games. Not until now…

KULT is a game in which the darkest impulses of the human soul are examined and then pushed beyond reality's limits. The time is now, the place, here amongst the urban sprawl. Some of the characteristics from the world of KULT may deceivingly appear to be similar to our own, but don't be fooled. Behind every tenement door may be an entrance to hell. Turning down the right ally at the right time may lead to a forgotten neighborhood where time stands still, and occupant's who feast on living flesh. Demons hide in the shape of man, and magic is devastatingly real. We are prisoners in a false world, the captives of an uncaring God, and we are at the mercy of our invisible custodians.

The characters in KULT are tragic heroes, more appropriate to the Greek stage rather than typical role-playing games. They seem to start off well enough but sooner or later their exposed to the truth. "Reality is a lie." Then the monsters come. But what would horror be with out the monsters? The stories that can be told with KULT range greatly from the lightly macabre to the dramatically surreal. Hatchet welding maniacs may threaten the characters from this world to another. Or perhaps the dreams of unremembered ancestors have possessed them into magical pursuits. They may be the solitary residents within a best-selling author's imagination whose newest novel is literally driving readers insane. The options are as endless as your imagination, and the tools are at your fingertips. There is no need for long-winded explanations as to the cosmology of KULT; you can read it for your selves. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Keran Michaels