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Tiny Epic Games are in the business of making their games less tiny and arguably more epic from day 1. They often release an expansion alongside the base game and this was no different in the case of Tiny Epic Cthulhu. Cult of Chaos allows players to select from more characters, battle more Great Old Ones and also battle against the nefarious plans of cultists. You can even play as a cultist yourself and work to bring about the end of the world. Let’s open the Necronomicon once more and see if Cult of Chaos has what it takes to have me signing up for membership, or if it is destined to be the Cult of the Ignored.
More to the Madness.
If you are perfectly happy with the gameplay and level of complexity in Tiny Epic Cthulhu, then the first bit of good news is that Cult of Chaos can be treated as simply a more-of-the-good-stuff expansion. It includes 4 new investigators to play as, 4 new Great Old Ones to go up against and 2 new double-sided town cards to add some variety to the New Arkamoore game board.
I’m always a fan of expansions that provide some extra choices to players and if I purchased Cult of Chaos just for the above, I wouldn’t have been disappointed. The art and components are of excellent quality, as in the base game, and with now a total of 8 Great Old Ones to pit myself against, there is more than enough here to keep me occupied. However, there is yet more gameplay lurking beneath the shadowy cloak of the Cult of Chaos.
The Cult of Content.
Cult of Chaos introduces cultist tentacles and the eponymous Cultist themself. Whilst you are scrabbling to translate the Necronomicon and then to close the portals, the same as in the base game, the cultist is trying to gather followers and cast spells themself, all in the effort to ensure the success of the Great Old One and bring about the end of the world.
The presence of followers makes it harder for players to translate the pages they are placed upon. They cause an extra tentacle to be paid per follower. In the tight tentacle economy of Tiny Epic Cthulhu, this is something players can often ill afford.
Fortunately, a new action is available to banish these pesky followers back to the cultist mat. This works in a similar way to banishing shamblers and helps keep the task of translation manageable.
The presence of the Cultist themself makes translation tougher yet again. 2 additional tentacles are required if they are present and, in the second stage of the game, portals can’t be closed if the Cultist shares a space with the Great Old One.
It’s not all bad for players. You can always see which tentacle the Cultist will be going for and can make it harder for them to summon followers. The cultist also reveals the page of the Necronomicon as it moves to a new spot. This can help players plan for page translation, balancing out the additional difficulty posed by the Cultist and their followers.
Start Your Own Cult.
Cult of Chaos also allows players to play a special solo mode. The player takes on the role of the Cultist and actively works to summon the Great Old One, whilst an automated investigator tries to prevent them.
As someone who enjoys solo board games, this is a fantastic addition. Coop games, like Tiny Epic Cthulhu, often play very well as solo games and solo gamers are spoilt for choice here. You can play the game multi-handed with 2 to 4 investigators. You can play solo, using your own investigator alongside an automated assistant and now, with Cult of Chaos, you can help speed the end of the world instead. Just not right now. I’m not quite done with this review.
A Fine Addition to the Annals of Tiny Epic Cthulhu.
Cult of Chaos is an exemplary expansion example. It has a lot of additional content, most of which Tiny Epic Cthulhu players can get started with immediately (new investigators, new Great Old Ones, new location spaces). Adding the Cultist takes a little more work, but I still found myself confident enough with the new rules to get up and running with the expansion relatively quickly.
I can see myself including the Cultist more often than not. I like the predictability of their behaviour when a cultist tentacle is drawn. This allows for an additional layer of decision making. For example, if the Cultist wants a green tentacle and there is one on the next space, it may be worthwhile trying to pick it up yourself first, to stop the Cultist advancing their spell.
It does add slightly to an already lengthy setup. You need to place five cultist tentacles in the bag at the start and set up another mat card (the Cultist mat) with 10 followers and 10 tentacles. This setup, along with the general Tiny Epic Cthulhu setup, does get quicker overtime, but it will always be a good 10 minutes or so.
The expansion content will just about fit in the base game box, but it is a bit of a puzzle and my copy does have a tiny (not epic) bit of lid lift.
The final feather in the Cultist cap is the price of Cult of Chaos. Even for the full RRP of around £15, you are getting a lot of content here; I think this is one of the best value expansions I’ve come across in recent times. An easy one to recommend to players who enjoy the base game.
About the author:
When not reviewing board games, Graham is teaching maths, running a games club and failing to convince his students that baseball is the greatest sport ever invented. You can read his thoughts and opinions on all things board game on his blog, GrahamS Games.
You can find him on BlueSky, where he will invariably be wittering on about whichever game has currently captured his attention.
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