Cultist Simulator

[char limit, v condensed version] The main interactions in the game happen via a number of verb timer pods, like Work or Dream or Study. Put card(s) into a pod, start the timer, and in ~60s open the pod and take the cards out. Like a microwave. The bad: instead of placing cards into verb zones, pods have to be clicked open and closed, and cards taken out one by one. (You can click twice to take the whole lot, but then you'll have to look for them around the table, over or under other cards). Expenses are also a pod, one that auto-refreshes and grabs a Funds card every 60s. To not die, you need to produce Funds cards faster than that. Other pods pop up and spawn penalty cards you need to destroy before they trigger a loss. New characters have a choice of 2 jobs. One is menial labo(u)r, and produces 1 Funds each 50s (45 if you exploit a bug). It doesn't autorestart, so you have to pause the game as soon as it's done, or the cycle loses you money. Add the time to unload and load the pod and the time the pod is destroying penalty cards and not earning you money, and you're looking at 1 useful Fund every 15 min at best. 4 possibly productive actions for an hour of frantic clicking. (There's a 2x speed button, but it eats into your reaction time and penalties pop up twice as fast, so the end result is about the same for twice as much clickling.) For the other job to be at all profitable, your minion has to kill the boss. Minions are rare, recruiting attempts spawn penalties, and only 1 of 8 is a combatant with a chance to succeed (still small). Upgrading minions requires a lot of appropriate Lore, bought at random with Funds (hope you don't get a mundane book)... you see where it's going. It is a realistic cult sim, the cult in question being an MLM pyramid. If you're thinking about joining one, buy this game instead: same soul-crushing bankruptcy-inducing self-actualization BS but way cheaper than an IRL MLM entry package. Otherwise, avoid it like crabs.

After finally reaching a victory condition, i'm impressed to say that i still want more... The visuals are neat, with a simplistic art-style and a well drawn interface, i was amazed at the show of colours that was my "deck" after some hours playing. I couldn't be more satisfied with the visuals, a real pleasure to my eyes. The soundtrack is pretty good, and it fits well with the game's theme. There is not so much to talk about those, so yeaahh... The challenge factor is pretty rough at the start, and can be a bit overwhelming and frustrating, but after some progress it does gets a lot easier, to a point where some "challenges" aren't even a problem anymore. Here, the replayability factor is real! After going through so many frustrations and finally achieving a victory condition, i still want more, and it is what amazes me the most, i don't recall playing any game that made me feel like that before, and i'm sure that i'll have a blast playing again soon. In the end, it has got to be one of the best (if not the best) indie game i have played in my entire life, and it surely was a great decision of me to pick the "perpetual edition". I can't recommend it enough for anyone who likes exploration games, even if it is mostly through texts. Thanks for reading, and have a insightful dream, fellow cultist.

This game, so much as it is aesthetically pleasant and it features an astounding soundtrack, has a bit of an unealthy vibe to it. Gameplay is complex and unguided.

The game had me hooked on his themes from the get go: the synthesis of Lovecraft's "Dream Cyle", Clark Ashton Smith's saturnian tales, Chamber's "King in Yellow" and Machen's nightmares, what's not to love? Unfortunatly until recently I just couldn't crack it's mechanics, which so seemlessly complement and enhance it's themes. They just felt too obtuse, too arbitary, too opaque to actually have an internal logic; I just couldn't get past them. This though didn't prevent me from thinking of the game, of it's wonderful writing and it's simple but bewitching art style. I kept mulling on my failed early tries and I sporadically kept getting back to it, full of hard-headedness for being so constantly defied by it's unyielding apparent irrationality. The fact that the game kept pushing back against my efforts felt so right with how it is to actually study ancient philosophy and esoteric societies that I kept going at it, as the first, and only, hint of the game suggests. Now I've started speaking it's language and I feel like a modern Hermtes Trimegistos, with it's tantalizing possibilities and mysteries opening up to me. Just keep going and the Veil of Maya will part, opening up one of the most unique and frustatingly enjoyable games I've had the pleasure of experiencing.

As an HP Lovecraft-enthusiast, "Cultist Simulator" immediately caught my attention when I by pure chance stumbled upon it. However, when I started my first game I had pretty much no clue whatsoever of what I was doing, which was one of the main reasons to why I exited the game right after I quickly lost. However, the next day I felt that I should give it a second chance. This time around I felt intrigued. Although I still didn't have much of a clue of what was going on, I could discern the glimmer of a good game somewhere behind all of the confusion. After a couple of additional attempts at figuring out the game, I finally started to truly appreciate it. The game itself is basically an abstract, bizarre and rather surreal card game, one unlike any other I've played. Its Lovecraftian inspiration is of course obvious, but I can't help but wonder if the devs also have a genuine interest in esoteric and mystical matters. The game's lore is engaging enough to serve as the base for a full-fledged RPG, with the dream world "The Mansus" playing a central role. Elements such as insane painters, occult manuscripts and artifacts, abandoned hospitals and, of course, clandestine cults fit the Lovecraftian theme perfectly and so does the game's haunting music. The graphics are functional, yet the stylised portraits add some kind of otherworldliness that suits the game quite well. The cryptic nature of the game is intentional, but I feel that the devs overdid things a bit. However, the game does provide hints and I really recommend new players to read all text carefully. Also take note of if and when the texts change due to your actions. Clicking on cards and card slots will list various properties related to that card or slot, information that might very well might be crucial if you wish to get the hang of this game. All in all a confusing, but ultimately rewarding game for those that have the time and patience to give it an honest chance.