The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Imagine yourself sacking New York, Great Cthulhu at your back, your tank spitting shells, the Necronomicon in hand, and your own private army of crazed cultists painiting the town red, in blood of course. Such is the heady feeling one gets when playing Cults Across America: The Boardgame of Cthulhoid Domination. Ah, the power. Great Cthulhu is mine to control! The world grovels at my feet! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oops,sorry, got carried away. But such is the charge one gets when playing Cults Across America.

Cults Across America can be played one of 3 ways, the BloodBath Scenario (self - explanatory, I believe), the Standard Game, and the Strategic Game. Choose one, it doesn't really matter. This game is one to be played for it's sly humor and general sense of being in on the joke, not to bolster one's sense of being a great strategist.

For the record, the game mechanics are something like this. You set up by placing counters in US cities. Different cults can occupy the same city, which makes the city in question a contested city. As such, it cannot be counted when obtaining more cultists. Players obtain money, which can be used to purchase equipment, more cultists, and generally increase one's position. Enough money and you can purchase a Nuclear Reactor and the dreaded Cosmic Ray Gun, which hits and kills anything on the board. Probably to powerful, but that is not the point.

There are also cards. And what cards! One of my favorites is the "Not" card, which immediately cancels the effect of card played against you. Another has some effect on cultists in Milwaukee, WI, during the week of a certian big gaming convention. The cards are fun. Again, be forewarned. The right card played at the right time will upset turns of careful strategy. And again, that is not the point. You will love the cards. I know I did. After playtesting I took them out and read them again just for a good chuckle.

As you can tell, I really liked this game. It is fun, easy to learn, plays quickly, and does not take itself to seriously. It's pricy, but I think you will find it well worth the cost in the hours of laughs and fun you'll get out of it. And isn't that why we game, to have some fun?

Get Cults Across America. And when you're starting the plauge in Waco, watching Nyarlathotep drive the populance mad from the cab of your Big Honking Truck, tell 'em Keith sent you.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Cults Across America
Author: Jeff Tidball Category: boardgame Company/Publisher: Atlas Games Line: Call of Cthulhu Cost: $35 at DragonCon, $45 retail or from the publisher Page count: na ISBN: na SKU: na Playtest Review by Keith Burkhead on 11/24/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Modern_day Horror Comedy Conspiracy	Imagine yourself sacking New York, Great Cthulhu at your back, your tank spitting shells, the Necronomicon in hand, and your own private army of crazed cultists painiting the town red, in blood of course. Such is the heady feeling one gets when playing Cults Across America: The Boardgame of Cthulhoid Domination. Ah, the power. Great Cthulhu is mine to control! The world grovels at my feet! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oops,sorry, got carried away. But such is the charge one gets when playing Cults Across America. Cults Across America can be played one of 3 ways, the BloodBath Scenario (self - explanatory, I believe), the Standard Game, and the Strategic Game. Choose one, it doesn't really matter. This game is one to be played for it's sly humor and general sense of being in on the joke, not to bolster one's sense of being a great strategist. For the record, the game mechanics are something like this. You set up by placing counters in US cities. Different cults can occupy the same city, which makes the city in question a contested city. As such, it cannot be counted when obtaining more cultists. Players obtain money, which can be used to purchase equipment, more cultists, and generally increase one's position. Enough money and you can purchase a Nuclear Reactor and the dreaded Cosmic Ray Gun, which hits and kills anything on the board. Probably to powerful, but that is not the point. There are also cards. And what cards! One of my favorites is the "Not" card, which immediately cancels the effect of card played against you. Another has some effect on cultists in Milwaukee, WI, during the week of a certian big gaming convention. The cards are fun. Again, be forewarned. The right card played at the right time will upset turns of careful strategy. And again, that is not the point. You will love the cards. I know I did. After playtesting I took them out and read them again just for a good chuckle. As you can tell, I really liked this game. It is fun, easy to learn, plays quickly, and does not take itself to seriously. It's pricy, but I think you will find it well worth the cost in the hours of laughs and fun you'll get out of it. And isn't that why we game, to have some fun? Get Cults Across America. And when you're starting the plauge in Waco, watching Nyarlathotep drive the populance mad from the cab of your Big Honking Truck, tell 'em Keith sent you. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)