About Sandy Petersen

Sandy Petersen

Sandy Petersen is the creator of the acclaimed and influential horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu, as well as a key designer on the Doom, Quake, and the Age of Empires franchises. His games have collectively sold over 36 million copies, inspiring generations of designers and players in tabletop RPGs, board gaming, and video games.

He has been author, designer, developer or producer of over 100 published games and earned over 70 industry awards, including the prestigious Origins Game Designer Hall of Fame, and was voted “Favorite Designer” in 1994 in the Gamer’s Choice Awards, which is given to only one person a year, and chosen by vote by the fan community.

He is the founder of Lovecraftian gaming and inventor of a substantial portion of canon within the Cthulhu Mythos.

He may be the only world-renowned game designer who has had significant success in three different publishing spaces: role-playing games, video games, and tabletop board games.

A Selection of Works

Chaosium

Games
  • Call of Cthulhu 1981
  • Superworld 1982
  • Larry Niven’s Ringworld 1984
  • Elfquest 1984
  • Runequest III 1984
  • Hawkmoon 1986
  • Ghostbusters 1986
  • Stormbringer 3rd edition 1987
  • Arkham Horror 1987
VIEW ALL SUPPLEMENTS (36 ITEMS)
  • The Gateway Bestiary 1980
  • Cults of Terror 1981
  • Griffin Mountain 1981
  • Shadows of Yog-Sothoth 1982
  • Trollpak 1982
  • Borderlands 1982
  • Big Rubble 1982
  • Cthulhu Companion 1983
  • Runequest Companion 1983
  • Stormbringer Companion 1983
  • Pavis 1983
  • Masks of Nyarlathotep 1984
  • Ringworld Companion 1984
  • Fragments of Fear 1985
  • Gods of Glorantha 1985
  • Griffin Island 1986
  • Land of Ninja 1986
  • H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands 1986
  • Cthulhu by Gaslight 1986
  • Spawn of Azathoth 1986
  • Thieves’ World Companion 1986
  • The Shattered Isle 1987
  • Terror Australis 1987
  • Cthulhu Now 1987
  • Runequest Monsters 1987
  • Glorantha Bestiary 1987
  • White Wolf 1987
  • Troll Gods 1988
  • Into the Troll Realms 1988
  • Glorantha: Genertela, Crucible of Hero Wars 1988
  • The Elfquest Companion 1985
  • Elf War 1987
  • Petersen’s Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters 1988
  • Field Guide to Creatures of Dreamlands 1989
  • Elder Secrets of Glorantha 1989
  • Dorastor: Land of Doom 1993
  • Petersen’s Abominations 2017

Video Games

id Software
  • Doom 1993 | Doom 2 1994
  • Hexen 1996 | Quake 1996 | Doom 64 1997
Ensemble Studios
  • Age of Empires 1997 & Rise of Rome 1998
  • Age of Empires II 1999 & Conquerors 2000
  • Age of Mythology 2002 & Titans 2003
  • Age of Empires III 2005 & Warchiefs 2006
  • Halo Wars 2009
MicroProse / Barking Lizards
  • Sid Meier’s Pirates 1989
  • Sid Meier’s Civilization 1991
  • Sword of the Samurai | Lightspeed | Darklands
  • Osiris Legends 2011

Petersen Games

Board Games
  • Cthulhu Wars (2015)
  • Hyperspace (2021)
  • Planet Apocalypse (2020)
  • Dinosaur 1944 (2021)
  • Orcs Must Die (2016)
  • Evil High Priest (2018)
  • Glorantha the Gods War (2019)
VIEW ALL EXPANSIONS & RPG MATERIAL
  • Cthulhu Wars: Azathoth, Opener of Way, Sleeper, Windwalker, Dreamlands Map, Yuggoth Map, Primeval Map, GOO Pack 1-4, High Priests, Cosmic Terrors, Tcho Tcho, Ancients, Beyond Space & Time, Masks of Nyarlathotep, Shaggai Map, Bubastis, Daemon Sultan.
  • Orcs Must Die: Order & Unchained Editions, Minion Packs, Hero Packs.
  • Planet Apocalypse: Dragon, Pit, Power, Void, Nightmare, Crypt Packs.
  • 8-Bit Attack: Base Game, Apocalypse, Halloween, Hyperspeed, Mythic Legends, Yog-Sothothery.
  • RPG Material: Cthulhu Mythos (Pathfinder/5e), Ghoul Island, Yig Snake Grandaddy, Dark Worlds, The Big Sleep, Skindeep.

A Selection of Awards

1981-1985 Guild Select: Call of Cthulhu Guild Select: Stormbringer Strategist's Club: Call of Cthulhu Origins: Best RPG (Call of Cthulhu) Guild Select: Trollpak Games Day: Best New Game (Stormbringer) Guild Select: Shadows of Yog-Sothoth Games Day: Best Contemporary RPG (CoC) Games Day: Best Adventure (Shadows of Yog-Sothoth)
1986-1989 H.G. Wells (Origins): Best RPG Rules (Ghostbusters) Games Day: Best RPG Adventure (Masks) Games Day: Best Other RPG (Call of Cthulhu) Origins: Best Fantasy Boardgame (Arkham Horror) Origins: Best Graphics (Field Guide to Monsters) CGW: Action Game of the Year (Pirates!) Origins: Best RPG Supplement (Dreamlands) Origins: Best Graphics (Dreamlands)
1990-1994 Origins Hall of Fame: Sandy Petersen CGW: Wargame of the Year (Command HQ) CGW: Game of the Year (Civilization) Game Players: Special Achievement (Darklands) GamesRadar UK: Game of the Year (Doom) Leeds Wargame Club: Best RPG (Call of Cthulhu) Favorite Designer: Gamer's Choice Awards Gamer's Choice Hall of Fame (Call of Cthulhu) CGW: Game of the Year (Doom) AIAS: Best Action/Adventure Game (Doom)
1995-1999 Origins Hall of Fame (Call of Cthulhu) PC World: Best Game (Doom 2) GDC Awards: Best Online Game (Quake) Gamecenter: Game of the Year (Age of Empires) AIAS: PC Strategy Game of the Year (AoE) Games Strategy Plus: Add-On of the Year (Rise of Rome) GameSpot: Strategy Game of the Year (AoE 2) DICE Awards: Strategy Game of the Year (AoE 2) IGN: 10th Best PC Game of All Time (AoE 2)
2000-2022 AIAS: PC Strategy (The Conquerors) GameSpot: Best Computer Game (Age of Mythology) AIAS: Computer Game of the Year (Age of Empires 3) 100 Best Hobby Games (Call of Cthulhu & Ghostbusters) Lovecraft Film Fest: The Howie Achievement Diana Jones Award: Excellence (Guide to Glorantha) UK Games Expo: Best RPG (Call of Cthulhu) ENnie Gold: Best Monster (Mythos 5e) Tabletop Gaming: Top 150 Games of All Time (CoC) Tabletop Gaming Awards: Best Way to Die (CoC)