Cults Across America - a satiric game based on the Call of Cthulhu role playing game. The objective of the game is to beat up to 5 players to achieve the victory conditions, those being when a faction achieves Hands Across America and controls the US President, or when enough victory points have been accumulated.

The first thing to say is that there are actually 3 different ways to play this game. Firstly there is the standard game, this typically takes 2 - 3 hours to play and can easily be enjoyed with a few beers. The second, the strategic game removes some of the Victory Cards from the deck and is limited to a number of turns based on the number of players. The final version is called The Bloodbath scenario, designed for victory to be gained by being the last man standing.

Setting Up

Setting up the game is the first decision point, which of the Personalities do you want to try to control, how are you going to take control of an area to ensure that you can proliferate freely, outside of others influence. Each player puts his cultists, two at a time out onto the board and then places a High Priest and Sacred Relic. Control of the Personalities is then decided, the minders being the faction with the largest number of cultists and High Priests in the city.

Game Play

The game takes part in 4 key phases, Initiative, Action, Proliferation and Bookkeeping.

In the Initiative phase the sequence of play for the next turn is determined by rolling dice and the counters are passed to each of the players.

The Action phase consists of 2 segments, movement and combat. In the movement phase you are able to move your cells, any High Priests, Personalities and other counters to an adjacent city, or you can roll a dice and try to move one of your pieces to the Dreamlands. In the combat segment the active player chooses where they are going to fight, enemy factions are then fought one at a time with all players having the chance to take part. Strength of each party in the combat is then determined and dice rolled to determine the result.

Proliferation has several parts, firstly each person gets $10K and receives a card, though they can buy more for $5K each. Each player can also upgrade a Cultist Cell to a High Priest, this costs $20K. New cultists are placed on the board, 1 in each city with a resident High Priest, 1 new cultist for every 4 cities that player controls and up to 3 more for $10K each. Players are then able to purchase equipment, varying in cost and effeciveness, from Sticks and Stones all the way up to a Cosmic Ray Gun or a Nuclear Reactor.

The Bookkeeping phase settles the outcome of the plague, it can spread to adjacent cities, cause casualties amongst the cultists in the infected city or fizzle out. The phase also has a check for cult infestation and pays dividends for nuclear reactors.

The Hooks

There are many aspects of this game which can cause players to love it or hate it.

Firstly the personalities; The Miskatonic University Marching Band - improving combat rolls of all friendly counters in the same city, The Pope - who negates basic weaponry in the city and reduces the cost of new Cultist Cells, The Ambassador from Uruguay who instantly eliminates any other personality who shares the same space, The Director of The CDC who has the ability to start the Plague or help in the construction of a Plague Bomb, The President of the United States who can call out the National Guard when involved in combat. All of these personalities can be killed, however, the President can reappear in one of 6 cities after death, following an election during the Bookkeeping phase.

The Plague; Can be initiated either through one of the Cards or by The Director of The CDC. What is there to know about plague ? The most important is that it spreads and it kills. During the bookkeeping phase it spreads to an adjacent city on a roll of 1 or 2, each city is checked. Then each counter is checked and is killed on a roll of 1 or 2. The plague fizzles in a city that has no Cultist Cells, High Priests or Personalities or if a 1 or a 2 is rolled on a dice.

Your Tactics

What will be your tactics when you play this game !

Conclusion

I love this game, it satisfies a chaotic need and my tactic is to use the plague to spread terror, to force the other players to retreat from areas whilst I try to survive the plague. It features a smattering of Cthulhu monsters such as Nyarlathotep, Hastur, Cthulhu itself or Hunting Horrors, Dimensional Shamblers and Gugs, these can be summoned by the cards, assisting in combat against other factions. You may find the Necronomicon making an appearance, with it you are able to summon a Creature each turn if it is under the control of your High Priest.