When I first saw the trailer for Worshippers of Cthulhu, I was hooked immediately. A Lovecraftian city-builder where you build and manage your own island of cultists instantly appealed to me and the use of the Cthulhu mythos entities showed the developers were not afraid to go to dark places. I need to warn that the the game has depictions of blood, body mutilation, body horror, human sacrifice, ritualistic cannibalism, and more, so this is not for the faint of heart. You are building, managing, and nurturing your very own cult dedicated to the Great Ones, and as part of recruiting new followers and initiating them into your cause, you will be forced to do dark things and engage in forbidden rituals.
Worshippers of Cthulhu is both a game about running a cult but also uses classic city-building mechanics like road construction, resource management, assigning workers and more, and this works well enough, but then you embrace ideas from games like Cult of the Lamb and , things immediately take a turn. You are based on a mysterious archipelago, filled with effigies of the Old Ones, and you take the role of the high priest of a cult dedicated to Cthulhu, with the mission of awakening the Great Old One and bringing forth a new era. If you like City Builder games, then this will instantly appeal to you through the standard aspects such as buildings and construction, but there is something else as well.
Your cultists are not just there for doing the work, but are also to be used in rituals and ceremonies and molding these cultists involves carving a scar into them with a knife. These rituals can transform your cultists into horrific entities or simply sacrificing them. Sacrificing them will aid your patron’s return but you need to maintain the cult. Part of this is also meeting the needs for the cultists, keeping them happy and increasing their zealotry, which will allow you to gain new bonuses and more devotion. Faith is your currency and keeping the cultists faithful will be a bit of a challenge. As your cult grows, you can raise your initiates to high levels, with each rank coming with an increased labor capacity and the ability to produce more more specialized goods.
It is not all just city building and cult management, as you must also take part in sea combat and island conquests. These sections turn the game into an RTS, but these aspects of the game as not fully developed just yet and are part of the game that will no doubt be fleshed out. I really want to see more of this aspect, and perhaps integration of some distinct RPG elements akin to Warcraft III or Dawn of War II, but right now they are just in a basic form, so we will have to wait.
Worshippers of Cthulhu is a gorgeous game with brilliant visuals and a distinct art direction that help give the game an otherworldly feel. It definitely feels like a game that has captured the imagery of Lovecraft, and the horror aspects are wonderfully handled, creating an unnerving experience that feels unique. One thing I do wish there was more of though, was content relating to aspects of Lovecraft’s work besides Cthulhu as there is a lot more to it, but given that this is still an early access game, there is a good chance more will be added.
Speaking of the game being Early Access, Worshippers of Cthulhu is jam packed with content that has enough for several playthroughs. There is an excellent progression system and a lot of story, and there is a lot more to be added still. One area the game needs improvement in though, is the performance as there are some issues. The game stutters a lot during busy scenes, and struggles during cutscenes, which brings things down quite a bit. I am willing to overlook this though, because this will no doubt be fixed going forward, so it is not a deal breaker.
Ultimately, Worshippers of Cthulhu is a great game but with some issues holding it back right now. These issues will be fixed though, and that fact alone makes me excited for what is coming next. The future belongs to the Old Ones and Cthulhu shall rise again.
