What Is Larva Games?
Larva Games is Petersen Games' imprint for lighter, faster tabletop titles - card games, dice games, and quick-play party games built for shorter sessions and broader age ranges than the studio's centerpiece lines. It sits inside the same company as Cthulhu Wars and Hyperspace, just built for a different kind of game night.
If you found Petersen Games through a $249 asymmetric war game covered in premium miniatures, Larva Games will feel like a different studio at first. It isn't. It's the same team, working at a different scale, and the price tags say as much: most Larva titles land between $9.99 and $69.99, not the $200+ range of a collector-grade centerpiece box.
Is Larva Games Part of Petersen Games?
Yes. Larva Games is Petersen Games' own imprint, not a separate publisher and not a licensing deal. It's where the studio puts its kids', family, and party-weight designs, sold right alongside Cthulhu Wars and Hyperspace on the same storefront.
The Tooth Fairy Game is a useful marker here. It's Petersen Games' first dedicated kids' game line, and it carries the Larva Games branding on the box. Everything else in this roundup ships under the same imprint, using the same "Larval Games" product tag on the site.
What Games Are in the Larva Games Lineup?
Ten titles currently sit in the collection. Most fall into what the hobby broadly calls party games or family games - shorter, easier-to-teach designs built around a full table rather than a deep solo strategy problem. Here's the rundown, with the real specs pulled from each product page.
8-Bit-Attack
8-Bit-Attack is a cooperative board game for 1 to 5 players, rated ages 10+, with a 60-minute play time, priced at $29.99. Players control retro 8-bit heroes drawn from four in-house universes (Myth, Demons, Cultists, and Aliens) and fight through a run of boss creatures before facing the final boss: Cthulhu himself. It's a full co-op, win-or-lose-together structure, not a competitive game.
Marry the Monster
Marry the Monster is a card-driven game for 3 to 5 players, ages 14+, playing in about 30 minutes, priced at $29.99. You're a duke trying to redirect a lovesick monster through your rivals' territory (using a fake bride as bait) while keeping your own buildings standing. Arthur Petersen and Zoran Dobrijevic designed it, with art by Brian Patterson.
Dicenstein
Dicenstein is a monster-building dice game for 2 to 4 players, ages 14+, with a 45-minute play time, priced at $69.99. You draft dice that function as body parts (head, body, claw, foot), physically assemble your own monster, and then roll those same dice to fight. The box comes with more than 100 custom dice, and each finished monster is a stack of 9 dice plus a Monster card.
Startropolis
Startropolis is a 3D space station building game for 2 to 4 players, ages 8+, running about 45 minutes, priced at $49.99. Everyone builds one shared station together, but each module you connect earns you credits based on the connection points you claim. It's cooperative construction with competitive payout, which is a strange and fun combination to explain at the table.
Quivit
Quivit is a grid-based card game for 2 to 5 players, ages 6+, with a 15-minute play time, priced at $9.99. You lay cards out on any flat surface and rotate them to match the edges of whatever's next to them. It's the most affordable title in the entire Petersen Games catalog and sets up in seconds, which makes it a natural filler before or after a longer game.
Potions and Profits
Potions and Profits is a competitive bidding game for 3 to 6 players, ages 8+, playing in about 30 minutes, priced at $24.99. You play a Wizard running a pharmaceutical corporation, bidding on potions while balancing Stock Value against a Public Relations score. Zoran Dobrijevic designed it, and Petersen Games published it in 2021.
The Tooth Fairy Game
The Tooth Fairy Game is a 2 to 5 player party game for ages 6+, with a 15-minute play time, priced at $24.99. One box holds four separate games (That's My Tooth, Adult Teeth, Fake Teeth, and Gold Teeth) built around 125 plastic teeth in 5 colors, matching bags, a single six-sided die, and a rulebook printed in five languages. It's the imprint's clearest kids'-table pick.
And a Few More
Three additional titles round out the collection. Unlocking Insanity - Dice Vermiis Mysteriis ($19.99, 2-5 players, ages 10+) is a roll-and-write dice game with a Lovecraftian, cosmic-horror flavor, the closest thing in Larva Games to a Cthulhu Wars connection. Evacuate ($39.99, 2-6 players, ages 14+) is a sci-fi tactical survival game. Two Minute Dino Deal ($14.99, 2-5 players, ages 8+) is exactly what it sounds like: a fast, real-time dinosaur trading game built to finish before anyone gets bored.
How Is Larva Games Different From Cthulhu Wars and Hyperspace?
Scale is the whole difference. Cthulhu Wars (O4 Edition) runs $249.00 and fills a table for hours with premium miniatures and a genuine asymmetric war game underneath the cosmic horror theme. Hyperspace Standard Edition runs $96.99 and asks for real strategic commitment across a full civilization-building session. Both are centerpiece games, meant to anchor a serious game night.
Larva Games isn't trying to be that. Every title tops out under an hour, most fit on a smaller table, and none of them ask for the same up-front investment. That's by design, not a downgrade. A studio built around $200+ collector games still needs a $9.99 filler for the ten minutes before everyone sits down for the real thing, and that's exactly the gap Larva Games fills.
Who Should Buy a Larva Games Title?
Three groups get the most out of this lineup. Families with kids in the 6-to-10 range will find The Tooth Fairy Game, Quivit, and Two Minute Dino Deal genuinely built for that age, not just marketed at it. Existing Petersen Games collectors who already own Cthulhu Wars or Hyperspace get a fast, low-cost way to round out a game shelf without another three-figure purchase. And anyone hosting a mixed group, some experienced gamers, some total newcomers, gets a set of titles that teach in a few minutes and don't punish a first-time player.
None of that means the games are shallow. Dicenstein still has real drafting tension. Potions and Profits still forces a genuine tradeoff between profit and reputation. They're just built to resolve in half an hour instead of three, the same way tabletop outlets like Meeple Mountain talk about the broader gateway and filler-game category.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Larva Games?
Larva Games is Petersen Games' imprint for lighter, faster tabletop titles - card games, dice games, and quick-play party games built for shorter sessions and broader age ranges than the studio's centerpiece lines. It sits inside the same company as Cthulhu Wars and Hyperspace, just built for a different kind of game night.
Is Larva Games part of Petersen Games?
Yes. Larva Games is not a separate publisher. It's Petersen Games' own imprint for its kids', family, and party-weight titles, sold alongside Cthulhu Wars and Hyperspace directly on petersengames.com.
What is the best Larva Games title to start with?
For families with younger kids, The Tooth Fairy Game (ages 6+, four games in one box) is the easiest entry point. For an adult game night that still moves fast, Marry the Monster or Potions and Profits are strong picks. For pure speed between bigger games, Quivit at $9.99 is the smallest commitment in the lineup.
Are Larva Games titles good for kids?
Several are. The Tooth Fairy Game and Quivit are rated ages 6+, and Startropolis, Potions and Profits, and Two Minute Dino Deal are rated ages 8+. A few titles in the lineup, including Marry the Monster and Dicenstein, are rated ages 14+, so check the age rating on each product page before buying for younger players.
Where can I buy Larva Games titles?
All Larva Games titles are sold directly through the Larva Games collection on petersengames.com, the same storefront that carries Cthulhu Wars and Hyperspace.
Ready to see the full lineup? Browse every title in the Larva Games collection at Petersen Games, from the $9.99 Quivit up to the dice-heavy Dicenstein, and find the one that fits your next game night.
0 comments