Cultist Simulator 12+

Over a year ago, I first gave this app two (2) stars. I played it a few times, couldn’t understand it, and deleted it. In the three weeks since I re-downloaded it, I have won twice, lost countless times, and become completely immersed in Cultist Simulator’s compelling and mysterious atmosphere.

Let me be clear: this game is hard. It takes time to work things out, it’s infuriating when you unwittingly end the game before you can win. But once you’re into the (admittedly steep) learning curve, it is incredibly satisfying to know how to combat various events and happenstances, and when (/if) you win, it feels well earned.

I don’t review many games, only if they’re awful or amazing. Cultist Simulator is amazing. Exactly my kinds of game, exactly my kind of atmosphere. 10/10.

If you like punishing, you’ve come to the right place. Cultist Simulator is a genuinely fascinating and engaging virtual card-game where you only have one save and there’s no take-backs. It’s a game of trying to reach ascension via Sensation, Enlightenment or Power. The game works by making you learn the rules as you play, and by periodically dropping difficult challenges in front of you. It’s fun, and sometimes immensely frustrating.

The frustration is the killjoy for me. Mess up your timing or selection once? No take-backs! Get distracted by anyone or anything whilst the live timer is running? You lost your job! And it’s easy to miss the build-up of game-ending problems with everything that’s going on. Although there’s a snap-to grid for the virtual cards, the organisation system is your own, and as it gets busier and busier it’s harder and harder to keep track of what’s going on. There’s no real warning you’re nearly at game over until a card or system turns red - and by then, it’s probably too late.

This is fun. I’d buy it again. But stand back, and you realise that it’s got elements of a rat maze made harder by what appears to be degrees of random chance. The only way to learn is the hard way. And I was kind of hoping we’d gotten beyond that in game design now. But hey - I’d buy it again and I’ll play it again. And again. Eventually I’ll win. I hope.

This game is quite interesting and exciting when you first start. Reading the description and reviews, it seemed like a very mysterious game as you’re suppose to find out how to play. When I first played it, it did match the descriptions quite well. It starts off slightly confusing and all but as you continue you start to read more of each card and try to look for clues on what to do.

But it does get quite frustrating and in the end it feels like a waste of money. The mechanics works, the graphic are good, and the idea is interesting, which earns the 3 stars from me. But it feels very difficult trying to make significant progress in the game. Trying to gain new cards just to study another card is hard because you don’t get a tutorial. Your character always seems to stop developing at one point because of the difficulty.

My point is, the situation of “I can’t seem to get past this point” happens too often. This makes the game frustrating and boring, while defeating the purpose of the game.