Cults & Daggers, a sprawling and complex turn-based strategy game created and developed exclusively by renowned game designer Rod Humble, is launching today on Steam for PC & Mac for $29.99. The game delves into the tumultuous time between the death of Buddha and the birth of Christ when mystical cults dominated the ancient religious and societal landscape.
“Without a doubt Cults & Daggers caters to a specific audience, one that enjoys complex and high chaos situations where you try and navigate your faith in a tumultuous world,” said Humble, CEO of Chaphat LLC. “This game is a passion project for me which I designed and built on my own. I’ve read quite extensively about the time period and thought that the subject matter, the rise of ancient religious cults and societies, was fascinating and worth exploring.”
As Cults & Daggers opens, you learn that the Old Gods are plotting to destroy a planet they can no longer rule, and you are tasked with creating your own religious faith to fight a secret war for the soul of the world. You’ll have to recruit loyal disciples throughout the Mediterranean in order to spread your faith by preaching to the masses and converting noble families. Along the way, you’ll have to deal with spies, assassinations, martyrs, occult forces, prophets and blasphemers, all while battling the Old Gods and other rising cults for the hearts and minds of the world.
Exciting features of Cults & Daggers include:
• Secretly manipulate the rise and fall of great cities throughout 400 years of history
• Gain influence by building temples, performing sacrifices, preaching, recruiting noble families, etc.
• Weaken opponents through blasphemy, assassination, robbery and subversion
• Destroy evil places of power to thwart the Old Gods and earn grand rewards
• Disciple skills include teaching, killing, hiding, performing spells & curses, preaching and more!
• Carefully manage your religion’s Faith and Hope levels in order to gain power and influence
• Spend Faith and Occult to cast spells, and bring curses and miracles to the world
• Extensive single-player mode with procedurally generated disciples and city data
• Multiplayer for up to 4 via Multiplayer Hot Seat and Play-By-E-Mail (PBEM)
• Procedurally generated technology tree and adventure system
• In-depth modeled spying system allows for deep subterfuge
• Game includes free Cults & Daggers ambient music album