Evil Cult

[b][i]Evil Cult[/i][/b] gives the player control over a [i]Cult[/i] which tries to take over key figures in society to spread its influence and complete the [i]Final Ritual[/i], before any of the competing cults. [b][i]Generators[/i][/b] generate resources, making them an obvious prime target for expansion, yet the easier (cheaper) to influence [i]Adepts[/i] increase the probability of gathering [i]Virgins[/i], which serve as resource wildcards and are of course necessary for rituals as a sacrifice. [b][i]Sects[/i][/b] within the cult allow for some optional micro-management. However, the player's attention is mainly directed at the expansion on the map, resource balance, and awareness of the [i]Investigator[/i]. The [b]Investigator[/b] is a computer-controlled invisible entity that tries to sabotage the Cult. Every cult in the game has to deal with their own Investigator and balance how many resources should be invested into battling them directly or whether expansion is more important and defending the resource Generators is enough or if Investigators should in fact be avoided at all cost and all cult activity is put on pause until awareness is minimized. Experienced players will change their Investigator counter-strategy over the course of one game, mixing them within one turn even. As a comparison: the Investigator is somewhat reminiscent of the [i]Robber[/i] in the board game (Settlers of) Catan. The ability to exchange two resources for one other also reminds of the trading system familiar to Catan players. Depending on map size, difficulty setting and luck, one match can last [b]6-30 minutes[/b] (or up to around 60 on huge maps). Pro: [list][*]The perfect Casual (or even "Roguelite") 4X game for me because: [list][*]Early game is usually very short, reaching the tense part of the game quickly [*]Sects can be assigned a Task but will pick a reasonable one automatically if player prefers not to micro-manage [*]I'm the kind of player who enjoys early game in Heroes of Might and Magic, Civilization or Master of Orion but loses interest when micro management takes over the game. The player's attention in Evil Cult stays on the game map nearly all of the time, that's the way I like it.[/list] [*]Very atmospheric music, which for me creates a feeling reminiscent of Deus Ex and Uplink [*]Many configuration options for custom games (number of nodes, size of map, various probabilities...) [/list] Notes [list][*]There are sound effects, some of which one has to get used to (ASMR-like breath on node takeover, laughter on failure). Other sounds strongly remind me of HOMM 2 and Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space. [*]Shortcuts like [ESC] and [Space] allow closing menus and pop-ups quickly [*]There is a basic interactive tutorial but if you don't remember your current task you'll have to try to restart to see the last instruction again (or click around exploratively to hopefully take the intended next step) [/list] Con: [list][*]I dislike the bright puzzle cartoon color scheme of the default game and prefer the [classic mode], which you have to pick before starting the game. Some colors (resources, map background image) can be customized (modded?) rather easily by editing image files in the game's folder though. [*]Custom games don't have any tried-and-tested pre-made templates except for the default custom configuration [/list]