Cthulhu: Dark Providence

BaBalleflassstar8.5

Very fun chaotic sandboxy game with multipurpose cards, deckbuilding, area control, auctions and hidden roles with different scoring parameters. I love how streamlined and fast the turns go, even for a 4-5player. The turns are even faster than the Pax Pamir turns. On the topic of Pax, this has a little bit of the Pax feel as you buy/auction cards on an open market, area control with recruited agents, hidden roles/alignment, two actions + free actions on your turn, no upkeep/status phase that bogs down the playtime etc.. The game is all action all the time. I really dig it. Rating could go a bit up or down after more plays, but I'm impressed so far. Nitpicks: - Some people may be put off by the Cthulhu theme, but this is not a typical Cthulhu game where you jump around killing monsters or investigators. - It's very chaotic in the first game because of how different the scoring is between the roles. - Translucent cubes is a huge problem (especially the white/grey) to see when placed on cards as the cards colors gets reflected into them. - The player aids should have been a tad bigger explaining a few more actions AND included the different ways of scoring for each role. - The cardboard stands are flimsy and needs to be glued. - The insert doesnt support sleeved cards, but I found a good workaround using baggies on top of the original insert.