Call of Cthulhu: Hotline Miami

We wear no masks. Hotline Miami is a mindfuck of a video game and after beating it, I realized it would fit in the world of the Cthulhu mythos. Rampant violence, madness, the blurring of hallucinations with reality, a lack of meaning in a cold, bleak universe, and hordes of goons to kill! The emphasis on masks in Hotline Miami makes it perfect as part of the Hastur/King in Yellow mythos, so I started there. Of course, I didn’t tell any of the players this before I started the scenario. See how long it takes them to figure out what’s going on. Also, this scenario is notable for a a few twists, especially when it comes to Tom and Aaron. Even if you’ve beaten the game, you’ll won’t know what’s coming!

read more about this scenario on my blog!

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18 Comments

  1. I wake up in Florida every day.

  2. Damn, that was possibly the best CoC one-shots so far (which are some of the best here, already!)

    And I’d never even heard of Hotline Miami, either, so I was incredibly confused the ENTIRE TIME. Thumbs up! 🙂

  3. just wait for Preemptive Revenge, Nate. just WAIT.

    this one kinda baffled me, even having finished playin Hotline Miami. I gotsta listen to it again and pay more attention. good on you for doing a murder, though, Aaron!

  4. I loved Hotline Miami too, and I really liked how you added so many nods to the game in the one-shot.

    Also, the end was amazing. Go Aaron!

  5. Haven’t played the game yet so some of it was kind of confusing, but I got the jist of it.

    Why does Drew never stay with the party? He’s a good roleplayer and this isn’t any kind of insult, I was just noticing that in almost every game he’s in, he has to run off from the party and do his own thing. Nothing wrong with that in the right kind of game, but it seems like he always ends up running off on his own. There was quite a bit of tension at the end when he refused to join Aaron and Tom and it got me thinking about that.

  6. I loved this. I think it’s my new favorite Cthulhu AP.

  7. Existential dread is alive and well, living in southern Florida.



  8. I think i liked the most that one of the players at one point said “hotline miami”..and then simply kept on going.. I havent finished episode, so I am not sure if it was just random conjecture or if he actually realized one of the plot draws but just decided to run with it.

  9. I’m thinking of plugging this into Audacity along with the full extended soundtrack of the video game (all of the OGG files in the game directory, including two that don’t appear on the soundtrack, and Vengeance (The Return Of The Night Driving Avenger), an abridged version of which is track five of the OST but isn’t in the game files), plus possibly other tracks by the OST contributors and adding a soundtrack to it. What do all of you think? Waste of time?

  10. Author

    I would host the shit out of that version of the game.

  11. I would gladly high-five you if we ever met, if it influences your decision. Basically, hell yeah man, make that thing!

  12. This episode pushed me over to buy Hotline. Amazing game.

  13. I still haven’t finished listening to this. I stopped last time at the pizza place when Richard or whatever walks in. Sorry, dudes; I’m such a bum. I’ve changed my name to reflect that, as well as my self-loathing, crippling depression, general misanthropy, and nihilistic despair. Therapy’s not going well right now. It is not just I who am Error. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o738mh_qyMc Yeah, Mike S, back on the scene. Gotta add a soundtrack once I have the official Hotline Miami soundtrack to complement my fanmade one. There are some interesting differences between the OST and the in-game versions of the music, such as an intro to Musikk per automatikk on the OST.

  14. I bought the game because it was on sale, and I knew Ross made the AP based on the game. And the King in Yellow!

    Well made, and well roleplayed. Jam Jam Jam.

  15. I know this is an older podcast but just rewatching True Detective and all the references to “The King In Yellow” and now going back to relisten to this podcast. What I saw in the TV show was almost the same journey that Cohle is taking is what the hitman (the King) is taking in Hotline. The story Cohle tells about how the Mexican cartels would cut the face off of their victim and cut off their junk and make them choke on them while looking in a mirror… that really is the metaphor of the mask.

    The portals that Cohle also finds years later at the tree (seen in the first scenes) and also the one he sees in the chamber that Errol Childress calls Carcosa also seems to denote that this is a portal or a passage.

    Then there is all the references to stars, not just the black stars seen as tattoos or painted on walls, but Cohle making up stories about the stars as a teen and then looking up at them at the very last scene.

    Just love the idea that this journey for Cohle is him making choices and those choices lead to something larger than himself.

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