In terms of actual game play, this gets my vote for best CCG ever. Unfortunately, you do need a few cards in your collection to put together a decent deck.
It's a shame that Chaosium couldn't come up with some decent preconstructed decks for the game - which would have allowed casual players to experience the strengths of the game.
Moving to the Dreamlands and the New Aeon (despite the coolness of much of NA) also had the unfortunate effect of diluted the deckbuilding possibilities for players.

a beer&pretzels roleplaying game where you roll for just about everything your character does. with too many bits, draw decks and rules, and an emphasis--like in all role-playing games--on persistance rather than skill.

Literary note: The King in Yellow is a a fictitious play that serves as a backdrop for most of the stories in Robert Chambers' The Yellow Sign, which was written in the early 20th century. Very creepy and interesting, but different from Lovecraft. For instance, Hastur is mentioned, but it sounds more like a place than a person/thing. Lovecraft loved the book and incorporated some of it into his fiction. Then Chaosium and other Cthulhu gamers added it in in other ways.

Not to mention "The Crankcase of Charles Dexter Ward" -- I nearly fell off my chair.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but that sounds very fun. Probably the best way to play Monopoly.