A quick brief for those unfamiliar with this esoteric (and addictive) game:
“Cultist Simulator” is a 1920s-inspired roguelike narrative card game available on mobile and PC devices. It’s an unforgiving game with little guidance – but each win is monumental, with dozens of available endings… if you can find them.
Here are some of the most interesting elements of the game, in my humble opinion (with 175 hours in the game as of this post.)
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Branching Dialogue Choices – this game does not have traditional dialogue, but instead uses a “Verb” – an action spot that you can slot certain cards into. The “Talk” verb allows the player to discuss various advancements with peers or patrons, do cult business (ie destroying evidence, murdering annoyances, kidnapping, robbing, and more). Depending on which card you input into the “Talk” slot, the options available to you vary; some may educate you in languages, while others will assist with cult business – or, if you talk to a follower and invite them to the auction house or the Ecdysis Club, you can initiate a romance.
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Dynamic Quest Outcomes – the game uses a certain “chance” to determine whether a quest is a success or a failure; the more effort you dedicate to your work, the greater chance you will succeed is. However, the chance of failure is never zero, and your rewards are never the exact same.
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Moral Alignment Systems – no moral alignment system here! There are, however, “mystique” and “notoriety” cards that can generate when you perform acts that may gather attention. These cards do not dictate your morality, but instead the amount of attention you are garnering from potential rivals, law enforcement, and sometimes the public.
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Adaptive Character Relationships – character relationships and interactions do not typically adjust based on actions the player takes – the exception to this is the romance function, where the followers are able to grow in status based on your affections. The interactivity here is limited, with the romance only coming into play when the player initiates it.
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Player Performance and Strategy – the player gets to organize the entirety of the game board to their liking, and can also adjust the speed at which the game passes. There are more options to take in this game than are possible to discover in a single playthrough, meaning that each game has the potential to play an entirely different way.
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Customizable Player Characters and Worlds – the player gets to choose their founding cult principles, interest, and devotion. There is no visual character customization here, as the entire gameplay takes place on the surface of the in-game table.