Call of Cthulhu - What is it ?

In Call of Cthulhu, there are no winners and losers in the standard competitive sense.

Play is usually cooperative.

The participants work together to attain a common goal—usually to discover and foil some nefarious plot being perpetrated by the minions of some dark cult or secret society.

The opposition that the investigators face will often be an alien or hostile situation controlled by an impartial Keeper, not another player.

Winning in such a situation depends on whether the investigators succeed in their goal.
Losing is what happens if they fail to achieve their goal (they may be able to try again later).

During the game investigators may become injured,suffer sanity-shattering experiences, or even die! However, someone has to make a stand against the cosmic horrors of the universe and the death of a single investigator matters little if it means repulsing Cthulhu’s master plan to enslave the Earth!

Investigators who survive will gain power from arcane volumes of forgotten lore, knowledge of horrendous monsters, and advancement in their skills as they become more experienced.

Thus the players’ investigators will continue to progress, until their demise or retirement—whichever comes first.