wtrollkin2000 reviewed his top 25 games of all time on BGG (Cthulhu Wars ranked #3):

“Cthulhu Wars pawned the games that preceded it doing everything different than modern designers said you should do and showed that those ideals aren’t absolute. Zero variability in setup along with zero randomness in strategic engine building does not prevent infinite variability in strategic exploration.

In fact it allows the ‘that was fun let’s play again’ to endlessly refine strategies deeper and deeper with full chess like control other games can’t approach. Likewise large piles of dice as an option does not have to mean high luck outcomes. Alternate no dice strategies can be used equally.

Cthulhu Wars is like someone had a checklist of what a designer shouldn’t do and then successfully did all of them to make a point and ended up making an even better game for it. It was so badly needed for our hobby. Also did I mention the asymmetry? It’s gonzo crazy.”