Playroom Entertainment will release a new deluxe edition of Unspeakable Words, with new artwork by John Kovalic, this summer. The game is currently seeking funding on Kickstarter.

The Call of Cthulhu word game, designed by James Ernest and Mike Selinker, with artwork by Tony Steele won Games Magazine's 2007 Word Game of the Year (see "'Pillars of the Earth' Wins Game of the Year") and appeared on the second season of TableTop.

Players compete to form words from the letter cards in their hand, where each letter is worth points based on the angles of the letter.  The goal is to make the highest scoring word possible, but the player must test the strength of the word against a roll of a d20. If the roll is equal to or higher than the value of the word, the player is safe. If it is lower, the player loses a piece of sanity, represented by Cthulhu pawns.  The first player to reach 100 points (without losing all their sanity) wins.

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Originally intended for 2-6 players, the Deluxe Edition will support up to eight players.  The edition includes a host of extra items, including a glow-in-the-dark custom d20 engraved with Cthulhu, a screen printed dice/pawn bag; plus 10 of the 40 Cthulhu pawns (in 8 colors) will be glow-in-the dark.  MSRP is $35.00.

The game has raised $79,475 from 1,693 backers ($46.93/backer average) as of this writing, well over its $12,000 goal.  The project will be funded on February 20th, with backer fulfillment planned for August, and trade release to follow.

In addition to the Deluxe Edition, Playroom will be reprinting the classic edition of Unspeakable Words for the 6th time.  That edition includes 30 single-colored pawns, and is suitable for up to six players.  Classic and deluxe editions can be combined to host up to 14 players.