The Seals of Cthulhu

The Seals of Cthulhu

Designer: Sean Epperson
Artists: Son Duong, Darrin Michelson, Kris Quistorff

A quick-playing yet very strategic bidding and bluffing card game, set within a Cthulhian universe, where 2 players battle for the fate of the world.

15-20 mins
Game
Length

10+
Ages

2
Players

Med-Light
Game
Weight

A quick playing yet very strategic bidding and bluffing card game, set within a Cthulhian universe, where 2 players battle for the fate of the world.

One player assumes the role of a cultist, bent on bringing about the end of the world. The other plays an investigator seeking to thwart the cultist and save the world.

Players use the forces under their control to try and gain artifact cards, seeking to complete them and unlock powerful abilities. These artifacts also allow players to gain control of other cards…at the cost of giving them to their opponent.

You must outwit and out-strategize your opponent if you hope to win the battle.

“The player who last encountered a nightmarish horror that left them gibbering and unable to form thought will go first…”

And thus, your duel begins in The Seals of Cthulhu.

32 Tarot-Sized Cards
4 Investigator Influence Tokens
4 Cultist Influence Tokens
1 Active Player Marker
Rules Book
Cloth Drawstring bag

How to play the game… in three images!

1) The investigator and the cultist each have 6 cards and 4 tokens.

2) The investigator chooses a card from her hand and places it face down. She then bids 2 of her tokens. At this point the cultist has a choice – he can either take the 2 tokens and let the investigator have the card OR he can bid 3 of his own tokens to try and win the card. In the second image, the cultist bids 3 tokens.

3) The investigator loses her card but gains 3 additional tokens. So while the cultist gained the early card advantage, the investigator has the bidding upper hand.

Now it would be the cultist’s turn to try and gain a card or bidding tokens.

The game plays in 5 rounds. You attempt to collect both halves of an Elder God or artifact to use its power. Whoever has the most control points at the end of the game wins.

What are you willing to give up to gain?