Now, if you really want a set of adventures geared towards beginners, Gateways to Terror (2019) has you covered. Within are three single location investigations designed to run between one and two hours: pure introductions to the game (presumably written specifically for convention settings) for groups of four investigators (with pre-generated characters). There’s a cursed Egyptian tomb, the basement of an isolated cabin and a locked door murder mystery in a boarding house. Each is short and sweet, with no BS, sticking firmly to the investigate/confront formula. They’re all pretty satisfying too. All killer, no filler, as they say.

And: Bullet points! There is still a fair amount of prose here, but the simple inclusion of bulleted lists of the clues specific rolls can reveal hugely increases the usability of the scenarios.

I’ve been enjoying Chris Huth’s interiors for 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu, but I gotta say, the thing that really sold me on this book is Matt Ryan’s 3D maps. They are so GOOD. So many little details, but also so clear and easy to parse and full of atmosphere. They remind me stuff you might find old these old Usborne kids mystery books I used to have, that were part activity/puzzle book.

And that’s all I can really say about this one. If you’re interested in Call of Cthulhu, I’d go for the Starter Set then jump to this, then pop on over to Doors to Darkness.