How to Play Seven Seals: Cthulhu

Game Objective

In this game, you are the leader of a cultist sect, seeking to be the primary force responsible for breaking the seals that keep the ancient Elders distant from our reality. You can achieve an immediate victory or triumph by accumulating Power Points after completing 21 Rituals (rounds). But beware, Insanity could be your downfall!

Preparation (Setup)

Separate the Ritual Cards according to the number of players, as indicated below:

• Each player chooses a color of Cultist Tokens and places them in front of them.
• The Elder Cards should be arranged in the center of the table, with the seal face up, forming the Ritual Altar.
• The Insanity Tokens are placed on the table, near the Altar, where everyone can easily access them.

Consult the manual for details on this section.

Game Flow

The game consists of Rituals (rounds), which follow these steps:

1. Card Distribution: The last player who had a nightmare must shuffle the Ritual Cards and deal 7 to each player.
2. Card Selection: Players must analyze their cards, choose one to keep, place it face down in front of them, and pass the rest of their cards to the player on their left. This process repeats until all players have 7 face-down cards in front of them.
3. Start of the Ritual: All players pick up their cards. The player who dealt the cards starts the Ritual by playing a card of their choice into the center of the Ritual Altar.
4. Ritual Winner: The player who played the highest value card with the same suit as the card on the Altar, or the highest value Trump card if any were played, wins the Ritual.

Consult the manual for details on this section.

Actions and How to Play

During the game, players perform the following actions:

• Play a Card: Each player must play a card with the same suit as the card on the Altar. If they do not have a card with the same suit, they must play any other card they possess, of their choice.
• Place Cultists: The player who wins the Ritual must place one of their cultists on the Elder Card corresponding to the value of the card that gave them the victory.
• Reveal Elders: When an Elder Card receives its third cultist, it must be flipped to the face of the revealed Elder.
• Receive Insanity: If a player needs to place a cultist on an already revealed Elder Card, they receive an Insanity Point.

Consult the manual for details on this section.

End of Game and Scoring

The game can end in two ways:

• Immediate Victory: A player can win immediately if:
  • They place 3 of their cultists on the same Elder Card.
  • They place 6 of their cultists distributed across 2 Elder Cards.
  • They accumulate 4 or 5 Insanity Points.
• Power Points: If all Elder Cards are revealed without an Immediate Victory condition occurring, players count their Power Points based on the cultists placed on the Elder Cards. The player with the most Power Points wins.

Consult the manual for details on this section.

Tips for Winning

• Prioritize playing cards with the Cthulhu suit, as it functions as a Trump suit.
• Pay attention to the number of cultists you place on the Elder Cards, as this can guarantee an Immediate Victory.
• Avoid accumulating too many Insanity Points, as this can lead to your defeat.