Cultist Simulator

I played the mobile version of the game and enjoyed it immensely. It doesn't take long to get the hang of things and the RNG is relatively forgiving - my first 2 playthroughs ended quickly, but my 3rd playthrough went all the way through the major victory conclusion and the follow-up to the conclusion. This is some beautiful, atmospheric, Lovecraftian horror. The soundtrack is gorgeous. The flow of game-play and managing the different 'timers' is addictive. Like other people have said pausing is an important mechanic in the game, so it is a GREAT time-killer to play here or there during your down-time. You have to do a lot of dragging and dropping cards which are scattered all over the game board - this is easy enough on mobile but I agree I suspect this could require a lot of wrist and mouse movements on PC.

Cultist Simulator is a weird game. It is not for everyone, it is quirky, its approach to design may even disagree with some of you. You are trying to become immortal by learning the secrets of the Mansus, by playing cards (which can represent anything from people to magic items to feelings of Dread) into slots (called Verbs) to create new cards and progress further into the game, which may sound boring to some but is really an oversimplified way to look at it. However, once you understand how it works and how each card can impact your game, the game clicks. You begin this cycle of reading the card, understanding which card can go where, trying new things and gradualy come closer and closer to a victory. What drives it is the superb world building and narration. You will create stories along the way, pieced together from events in the game and start to share tales of your cultist and what happend to them. Will you go insane by reading too many arcane books? Will you finish you life behind bars because that pesky detective survived the attack from your Voiceless Dead? Will you invoke Ezeem so he can reforge your flesh (with the right words of power, of course)? Cultist Simulator is very much a worker placement / resource management game, but at its core is a fantastic narrative experiment and and eerie tale of fascination.

To be honest, I'm quite surprised to see that many positive reviews. Don't get me wrong, this game do have potential, it was made with passion, but... If you have not liked Sunless Sea - you won't like this game. If you liked Sunless Sea - please keep following in mind. Unlike Sunless Sea, Cultist Simulator is visually static. One table, many timers, not much of any movement. Like Sunless Sea, there are hella lot of text to read - and quite a lot of text to read! But, unlike Sunless Sea, texts are shattered to small easy to miss, hard to assemble pieces. And what, except of farming coins/hearts, am I supposed to do in this game? Learning the ropes is even harder than in Sunless Sea. At current moment, I lost the game three times in a row, incidentally, then won one, incidentally. Without even having any clue about how whole story progressed or how close to win/loss I was or stuff. Don't get me wrong. I do enjoy hard to learn, hard to master games like ADOM, Dwarf Fortress or EVE Online. Cultist Simulator beats all three at once at how HARD it is to learn. Not my cup of tea. Sorry.

The main object of the game is to remember which card combinations does what and where and how to time them. It is fun for a while but you basically need a spread sheet to keep track of things. The great writing and story line kept me engaged for a while but in the end it felt too much like work and I gave up after opening the Stag door.

Cultist Simulator is an immersive and addictive rogue-like solitaire game. But, more importantly, it's true to its name. When you are playing, you ARE a cultist, no - a cult LEADER. Unless you just want to work as a clerk, hoping you get your raises before depression gets to you - mundane life is also a cult iof sorts. But if you decide to looks beyond the filthy skin of the world - all sorts of wonders, excitements and horrors await. You are free to choose your temptation and pursue it as best as you can: share your knowledge with other people and recruit them, strengthening your cult, consult prominent scholars and discover hidden lore, avoid the gaze of the Suppression Bureau (or just destroy evidence and get rid of nosy investigators), organize expeditions, fight curses, summon alien beings, using forgotten rites - and then sacrifice those beings, because they're weak in Aspect you seek. All of your cult's strength serves one purpose - discover the Mansus among the Wood, approach it, penetrate the Gates - and ascend to the High Rooms, where the Hours debate and Glory is close. Shed the flesh, walk in the footsteps of the Watchman - and you will never grow old.