Cthulhu Dark Providence Review

"Players start the game with a secret allegiance card. They may be an investigator, seeking to prevent impending doom. They may be cultists whose goal is to usher in an era of darkness via otherworldly beings. Finally, they can be one of two types of dissidents: either a former cultist or a former investigator. There may be multiple of each role in a game, and a player's success will be tied to other players on their side to some degree."

"Throughout the game, players will build up their decks with asset cards, claim cities, control agents on the board, collect mythos cards, open/close gates, and manipulate the ritual and investigation tracks. Every turn, a player has two actions plus any free actions they get from cards played. Most actions are tied to a card being played, plus additional cards played for resources such as influence cubes, wealth, or power."

"Once a player has completed their two actions, they draw back up to five cards without discarding unused cards. A player may spend one of their two actions to discard cards to allow for some deck cycling. The core mechanic in the game is an on-the-board auction. Players will use cards in their hand to place influence cubes on cards and cities."

"If, at the beginning of their turn, a player has the most cubes on a card/city, they may spend those cubes to claim it. Players' agents, including t"

Players take secret roles as investigators, cultists, or dissidents and compete for points tied to allies. Each turn provides two actions plus card-granted free actions, with most actions requiring playing cards to gain resources such as influence, wealth, or power. Players build decks with asset cards, claim and control cities, manage agents on the board, collect mythos cards, and open or close gates. They also manipulate ritual and investigation tracks. After completing actions, players draw up to five cards without discarding unused cards, with an option to discard to cycle the deck. The main mechanic is an on-board auction where influence cubes placed on cards and cities determine who can claim them at the start of a turn.

Read at Board Game Quest