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Ambar
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Cthulhu Crusades
2017
Rules assistance for Cthulhu Crusades
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 15–30 min
- 9+
- Complexity 2.3/5
Rules assistant for Cthulhu Crusades
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Cthulhu Crusades is a board game released in 2017 for 2–4 players, 15–30 minutes per game, and ages 9 and up. It was designed by Alberto Cano.
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About the game
Cthulhu Crusades is a fast-paced card game, as much about chance as strategy, set in the dark Middle Ages under the sway of the Necronomicon. Storm the castle walls, make sacrificial offerings, invoke and call up creatures in this highly snappy card game. In more detail, your objective is to storm the enemy castle and take possession of their copy of the Necronomicon. The shields represent the defense value of the castle, and to storm a castle, you have to carry out an attack (swords) superior to its defenses (shields). To launch an attack, you should gather army formations, which are represented by soldiers, bowmen, and siege weapons cards. (You can attack with one or several cards at once.) Note that a castle cannot be attacked while its walls protect it. The village deck provides the basic resources of your village: soldiers, archers, gold, cultists, sacrifices, builders, thieves, etc. You start with five cards, and on each turn you steal a card from this deck and carry out one single action: attack, defend, build, call up, sacrifice, etc. Lay ambushes for your enemies, steal their gold, and surprise them with a night-time attack so they can't tell what you're attacking them with. Use the arcane knowledge of your cultists to call up the powerful creatures of the Cthulhu deck and scare the wits out of your rival while in combat. The siege deck contains siege weapons to carry out more powerful attacks, and you can use builders and gold to construct your siege weapons. Get special cards to scale the walls with greater speed and trick your enemies with the Cthulhu offering. The sea hides the terrible Deep Ones. If you manage to keep them happy by offering sacrifices, they will reward you with additional resources — but you never know how many Deep Ones might come!
Questions and answers
Cthulhu Crusades supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Cthulhu Crusades is 15–30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Cthulhu Crusades for ages 9 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Cthulhu Crusades has a complexity rating of 2.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Cthulhu Crusades belongs to these categories: Card Game, Horror, and Medieval. Categories describe the theme, setting and style of a game rather than its rules. Filter the catalogue by the same category to find similar games when you enjoyed Cthulhu Crusades and want something comparable for your next game night.
The credited designers of Cthulhu Crusades are: Alberto Cano. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Cthulhu Crusades as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.