The end of the game is triggered in one of two ways: it happens either when a player reaches 30 or more Doom, or when the Ritual of Annihilation track reaches “Instant Death.”

When a Faction reaches 30 or more Doom on the Doom Track, the game will end. Since Doom most frequently increases during the Doom Phase, the game will normally end during that Phase. In that case, complete the entire Doom Phase before declaring final victory. However, a player could reveal Elder Signs during the Action Phase; if this new Doom increases his total to 30 or more, the game will end when the current player’s turn ends (even if it is not the turn of the player who revealed Elder Signs to go over 30 Doom).

The game can also end during the Doom Phase, when the Ritual of Annihilation marker reaches the Instant Death space. All players who have not had a chance to perform a Ritual of Annihilation may still do so. The game will end at the completion of that Doom Phase, even if no one has reached 30 or more Doom.

No matter how the end of the game was triggered, all players may reveal their Elder Signs before the victor is declared. When the end of the game is triggered, and after adding everyone’s Elder Signs to their Doom totals, the player with the most Doom AND with 6 Spellbooks on his or her Faction Card is the winner. If the player with the most Doom does not have 6 Spellbooks, whoever has the most Doom among those with all 6 Spellbooks on their Faction Card is the winner.

If two or more players tie for the most Doom and both have all 6 of their Spellbooks, the game ends in a draw. These players rejoice in their shared victory! If the game ends and no player has all 6 Spellbooks, the players lose and humanity wins! All Great Old Ones, Monsters, and evil Cultists are sucked back through the collapsing Gates. (Yay!)