This thing sounds completely mental.
5 Likes
It just explains nothing. Confusion through obfuscation.
There are a couple of vids on YouTube that explain the mechanics without spoiling anything.
1 Like
[This might be considered a victory]
Well played game. Iām not even mad.
4 Likes
So hard and complex. I used to play on the plane, but was a week between games and I lost continuity
1 Like
Cultist simulator (despite the lame name) is one of the best and most original games I played in recent years.
It really clicked with me.
Besides Elder Sign Omens (a completely different game) itās also the best Lovecraftian game I ever played.
Everything in the game, from the cards, to the sounds, to the music, to the vagueness of the initial playthroughs set perfectly the mood of a early 900 foggy London or Boston.
Yesterday I almost won (or so I think, I was SO CLOSE), the play through lasted 30-40 mins.
I started razor focused on some key elements I knew from previous playthroughs would get me on āsomethingā while building up stats and getting all sort of items meanwhile.
Felt like an RPG. Almost no verb was left alone, timers always active (you lately discover, or so I thinkā¦never won mind you, itās way easier to build up in early stages than in late ones).
To people interested in the game, donāt get discouraged by the āgame tells you nothingā comments.
Itās only partially true.
After 3-4 deaths (a matter of 1-2 hours, maybe less) the mechanics are pretty evident and the game DOES explain things in the descriptions and in the card icons.
Yesā¦it doesnāt tell you precisely: You need this to do that etcā¦ but thatās part of the game.
Iām the āYou find a magical sword that seems to do somethingā more than āYou find a +4 magical sword that gives +8 only against goblins at full moonā type of gamer, so YMMV.
In the early phases there isnāt instant death so the game lets you experiment a bit, and find what does what.I donāt have great memory but if I managed to understand how to build up health, passion, reason, or complete ritesā¦everyone can do it.
After the initial phase, and after some events happen, the narrative really takes the stage, and itās pretty glorious.
Some advices from a total newbie (I didnāt even know about the game existence till 10 days ago):
- USE PAUSE. I canāt believe people donāt do this. Itās the first button I pressed to read all the cards. I always play on pause, ALWAYS.
- When you open a verb and click on the empty cardā¦ALL POSSIBILE USEFUL CARDS IN YOUR HAND HAVE A SPARKLING GRAPHICAL EFFECT. This saves you a lot of time trying. Some cards (later on) sparks but you canāt āstartā the verbā¦I think because I already used them to their fullest or I miss some key lore.
- READ THE CARDS, especially the new ones you produce after a bit of experimenting. Generally when you put them on verbs (before pressing start) they describe what they will do, and which items youāll eventually need to fully exploit them (warning, if you miss the required items, the verb could be stuck for a while so you will loose time).
- Follow your character inclinations. Persist in exploring your char peculiar characteristicsā¦if you are ālivingā as painterā¦go on in that. If you live as an accountant, go on. The game offers tons of possibilities, always, but I found that developing a jack of all trades insāt always a plus (or maybe itās just why I never won yet)ā¦keeping focused on just one lore, just one cult, just one type of behavior pays offā¦or at the very least lets you advance quicker to later parts of the gameā¦getting you intrigued even more. The first time I got in theā¦how to sayā¦the second part of the game it was by chance and after maybe an hour. I can now reach that part in less than 20 minutes.
The better you get at the game, the faster you reach pivotal points (a great compliment for a game like this, too many nice games/roguelikes became too boring having you repeating initial parts over and over).
Just my two centsā¦back dying.
5 Likes
If youāre feeling like youāre stuck on a hamster wheel, you need to experiment. Looking stuff up undermines the design.
2 Likes
I ran into the same issues playing on PC. Iāve found the mobile version helps me maintain continuity because I play more often. The UI isnāt ideal on a phone, but itās definitely usable. I just pause more often than I might otherwise to look at a bunch of different cards before making a move.
1 Like
Ok Iām intrigued. Downloading!
3 Likes
Just scored my very first (minor) victory.
I feel like a little Cthulhu.
What a game.
1 Like
I had a technically super successful start with loads of money, health, books, lore, skills, and yet terrible luck actually starting a cult. Absolutely swimming in resources and yet barely able to get off the ground.
1 Like
I just did my most succeful unsuccessful run.
Tried THREE times to pass the Stag Door but couldnāt find the right answer to the riddle, despite 3 successful expeditions and many injuries and dead cultists. Tried even to cross the Woods but lost my sanity there.
I was trying to recover and find the answer to the riddle in an ancient monks monastery, but apparently killing everyone there wasnāt good with the Bureau.
Still, I learned SO MUCH in this run itās ridiculous.
2 Likes
Huge flight tomorrow, and thanks to you yahoos I bought this. Hope the plane has charging ports.
5 Likes
This game is the is the reason I own a power bank.
3 Likes
It took me about 5 tries and about 13 hours to unravel the puzzle that is this game. Ive not quite finished a good victory but it seems pretty inevitable. Iām not sure how much replayability Iāll get now Iāve solved the mystery that is the mechanics of this game, even though I know thereās more to see. I may well give it another run or 2 to see if my efficiency improves, or if thereās any more twists it might have in store for me.
Iāve thoroughly enjoyed being lost in this world.
3 Likes
Iām in the middle of a FANTASTIC run.
Always wondered what special items were for, besides being able to sell them for funds or for some special eventsā¦NOW I KNOW, and the game just became (if possibile) even better.
This game is very neat but kinda hard to play on my phone. Iāve never wished I had one of those 7" monsters (lol) before.
Yeah, this just does not work for me on the phone screen. Took a look at the PC version, but I really donāt like the aggressively tilted look of it, so I guess nothing to do but wait for an iOS sale and grab it for my girlfriendās iPad, since it wonāt run on mine (canāt update it to iOS 10) if I actually want to play itā¦
I bit the bullet and got it for my girlfriendās iPad. This is definitely the platform to play it on. Got all the way through my first ādescent,ā which seemed like it was cruising pretty good when it just sort of stalled out for lack of money, and because it was impossible to have some of the more transient resources around when they were called for.
EDIT: Second run went much faster than the first, and both stalled and ended for the same reason: lack of transient resources, and no reliable way that I know (yet!) to get them.
EDIT 2, since discourse has that dumbass rule about not having more than three posts in a row: This game is very frustrating, but I canāt stop playing it.
2 Likes