Why does this have timers?

[Agent Orange]

They stress me out, I cannot even finish reading the cards or consider my options. Why would you add this?

[Wintermute]

Spacebar puts the game on pause. And this answer should really be pinned by this point -_-

[Agent Orange]

Ha, thanks for the fast answer. Although I am not sure I will try the game again. I liked the atmosphere it delivers but I consider this timer a big design flaw, even if it lets me pause. Reading takes time and considering my options takes time as well. I don´t need to be artificially stressed out by a timer. The game is just not for me I suppose.

[SayyadinaAtreides]

Think of the timer less as something pushing *you* to act, and more as something that controls how different parts of the game interact. More than pushing a time limit on the player, it forces you to make choices (slowly, quickly, however you like) about prioritizing resource use.

If you use Health to Explore now, then you can't use it to Work until both the Exploration is finished and the Health has time to refresh. Which do you choose? Or do you instead focus on building up more health so you don't have to choose if the situation comes up again? Just one example. Another one would be how timers interact with money. Every cycle of Time will cost 1, but you also want to spend it to gain books or other resources. So do you spend more resources on work, which gets you extra money, or do you put extra purchases on hold while you do more interesting (but less efficient) kinds of work?

I leave the game paused for long stretches at once, take however long I wish to make decisions and read things, then unpause with the timers sped up until it's time to make another decision. In the beginning it can feel overwhelming if you view the timers as a pressure on YOU, but they're really not intended to work that way.

Cultist Simulator may not end up being for you after all, but I would strongly recommend giving it another try and take it as slowly as you want. If yo u can remind yourself that the timers are there to interact with each other, and not you, it may help take enough of the stress away while you figure out the basics, at which point I found the timers to be much less intimidating.

[Agent Orange]

Ok, great answer, thanks! I will give it another shot.

[Agent Orange]

So after trying it out a bit longer, I think that this is not a cultist simulator. It is a trial-and-error simulator with a cultist theme.

I just randomly click cards and some combinations work but I won´t remember which ones. It is even worse that some cards are temporary. This is awful. Just my opinion. I am glad they gave a free trial.

[Wintermute]

Originally posted by Agent Orange:

So after trying it out a bit longer, I think that this is not a cultist simulator. It is a trial-and-error simulator with a cultist theme.

I just randomly click cards and some combinations work but I won´t remember which ones. It is even worse that some cards are temporary. This is awful. Just my opinion. I am glad they gave a free trial.

It's a strange game. Not to everyone's liking, that's for sure.

[Agent Orange]

Hm yes, it is strangely fascinating. I read a guide now and it makes more sense. Also it helps that I died now and could become a doctor.

[Fantastic Fwoosh]

Time management (knowing a action like working takes 60 seconds on one activity and having another job with a timer of 80 lets you moonlight or not over-investing additional resources in a cycle like loop to leave you time to develop your skills) and reading the subtleties works.

• Clicking the empty slots will usually highlight accessible cards to slot into them, though it might not have a effect (often the text to the side will change)

Cards have special identifiers and modifiers on them, you might want to call them `spheres` if it makes it any easier though they are called aspects in game. Your bequeathed starting snippet of lore from a initiate playthough is a abstract piece of learning you can gain more of for mystical means.

• this snippet gifted to you for has a power level, and this power level is a important resource though more types and strengths can be glimmered through mystical dreams & artifacts, that's as much as ill say for fear of spoiling anything

[Agent Orange]

So how do I get more cult members? Does it happen automatically? In my first game, I had 3, now I am stuck with only one. No new members in sight.

[Sintonir]

Originally posted by Agent Orange:

So how do I get more cult members? Does it happen automatically? In my first game, I had 3, now I am stuck with only one. No new members in sight.

Well, to get to know someone, you need to talk, right? It can be not obvious what you need to talk about... Try something to make them really interested.

[Agent Orange]

Well yes, but there is nobody to talk to. I suppose they come up during the mating season, when you can gather acquaintances?

[Agent Orange]

Ah never mind, got one now, probably from talking about the unspeakable.

[Wintermute]

Originally posted by Agent Orange:

Ah never mind, got one now, probably from talking about the unspeakable.

Yep. It will give you either a potential recruit or a patron. Highly suggest grinding it out until you start getting Misatken identities.

[Dorok]

From reading this, timers are for stressing players, nothing else. The game could have been as well designed as a Grand Strategy game with ton of auto pause and no attempt of superficial time stressing.

Job and life give me enough stress, I don't need some use some low quality stress based on time, let face it as an action game it's a crap.

[Wintermute]

Originally posted by Dorok:

From reading this, timers are for stressing players, nothing else. The game could have been as well designed as a Grand Strategy game with ton of auto pause and no attempt of superficial time stressing.

Job and life give me enough stress, I don't need some use some low quality stress based on time, let face it as an action game it's a crap.

They are for progressing game. To let things happen. There is always pause available to read or to make decisions.

If we're being realistic, most of the game IS waiting for timers to pass, and some of them really couldn't be any slower. While some of the timers are attached to resource management and threats, they only become "stressful" if you failed to plan for something, or got really, REALLY careless with the threat in question.

There IS one, very specific exception, when timer made me want to smash the computer - but by the nature of this topic, we are clearly not talking about Witnesses.