The concept of the game is simple. Loosely based upon H.P. Lovecraft's stories of Cthulhu and other Mythos creatures, the game is set in the 1920's against a backdrop of Earth recovering from the First World War. However, there is a strange atmosphere looming, a sense of foreboding, as if something was amiss for a better and more hopeful future for mankind.
As a new player, you will find yourself starting out your epic journey on a remote island. Whilst inhabited with some familiar features, you have no idea where this place is, or what part it plays in your long journey ahead. You quickly realise, however, that there are great forces at work in the world. An organization, known simply as 'The Group', have emerged to stop this threat to humanity, and are always looking for new recruits to help their cause. This elite, secret society has been formed to defend Earth from the mighty onslaught of the mighty Cthulhu and his followers. Earth is one of the few inhabited planets in our universe as yet unconquered by Cthulhu, and a struggle for the very existence of mankind is taking place!
Before you start
To begin with, you need to select which type of character you wish to play in the game. This information is presented to you through the games 'encyclopaedia', which is simple yet comprehensive help manual about the game essentials. There are two basic types of character to choose from - Profession, and Cultist.
Professions are generally defined as normal, everyday folk who have a particular skill set based on their jobs. Cultists are slightly different in that are seen more as an alternative group of people who have particular skills. Whether you wish to play your Cultist as a dark force to be reckoned with, or as a 'helper' to the Professions is entirely up to you and how you want to develop your character. There are 5 Profession types to choose from, and 5 Cultist types to choose from. This is an important decision to make at this stage, as each of their particular skills and strengths will help define you, as a character in the game. It is, however, possible to increase and extend any of the skills in the game as you progress. For example, a traditional Professional may well develop good spell skills, and a Cultist may prefer to have a high skill in weapons.
At this stage it is important for you to know that once you have selected your character you cannot change it. Start with the skills or character type that appeals to you most and develop others as and when needed. You should be aware, however, that certain character types have access to different segments of the game as part of their 'role'.
If you are unsure as to which is best, we suggest that you get help with the game from a number of other sources. There is a Wiki (LINK) on the game run and organised by the players themselves, and covers most of the technical issues, as well as tips, advice and background elements. We also have a very active forum with postings about all sorts of issues. And if that wasn't enough, why not pop into the chat room? Not only is there a great atmosphere, but there are dozens of online players only too willing to help new players get started and settled into the game.
First Steps
Once you have selected your character type, you will be transported to Remote Island. This island is an introduction map and will lead you on to the main global map later. It will give you a flavour of what you can expect from the game, and 'eases' you into many of the basic controls such as movement and location of many of your personal categories that come into play as the game progresses. Much of the game board operations may look daunting to you now, but there are only a few simple ones you need to know of at this stage. The rest will become apparent later.
Take a look at the main play area in the middle of your screen. The central hex is always your current location on the play area. Looking at the tiles on the play area, you will see that they represent your surroundings. You will notice that one of the tiles has a yellow 'blip' on it. We call these 'squircles'. A yellow squircle denotes that a quest is available for you to start. By clicking on this tile with the your pointer, your character will move to that tile. Sometimes you cannot move onto a particular tile. This is because your path is blocked for some reason, perhaps a building, wall or rock. Look around at the other tiles to see if there is an alternative route. A dialogue box will now appear that tells you about this new adventure. If you haven't done so yet, try this. Read the text carefully, as it will explain what you need to do next. Follow the basic clues for this first quest, and you will complete it shortly. This will give you some valuable points.
Feel free to explore the island as you wish - there are several features here that will appear again in the main global maps, but for now just get a general feel for moving around and exploring.
Moving on
Once you decide to move on and leave the island, the game starts properly and you can progress. You will be transported to England, where many of your adventures will start. You can earn money in various ways, either through a weekly wage, completing quests, or through trading, and you can start to kill creatures and explore new territories. Our advice here is to take things slowly at first. Look around and see what there is. Ask more seasoned players about things you are unsure of anything.
Creatures are another feature you will encounter. These all have a 'mastery' rating, depending on their powers and strengths. We suggest that you stick to 'Lower Life' forms or the odd 'Human' mastery before trying to tackle some of the larger ones! You will quickly die and end up in hospital somewhere. However, killing these creatures brings rewards - you gain experience, you get paid for your troubles and, occasionally, the creature may drop an item you can use later on!
You are also exposed to high levels of insanity - after all, these are the minions of Cthulhu, and their very sight and existence can terrorize you! If this happens, you need to get help from one of the many asylums in the game - but this will come at a price, either financially or physically!
Once you have a little money behind you, you can start to buy bigger and better weapons, health kits (useful when fighting creatures) and even travel abroad. As you start to travel to different countries you will notice the game starts to develop - creatures are harder to kill and quests become more complex - and more areas become available to you to enable you to increase your own skills and abilities.
In the Game Concept we mentioned 'The Group', an elite and secretive global organisation. Occasionally, the Group sets up tasks or 'Events'. It may be some new discovery, or a rescue mission, or simply to wipe out certain creatures. These are special occasions in that all characters in the game can take part in these Events. You will be invited to, and transported to, other lands or strange new realms outside of the normal global maps, where you will be challenged to complete quests, find items, and generally kill loads of strange creatures. These Events always attract great interest as there is much tension, fun and rewards to be had from them!
As you progress in the game you will be expanding on your skills. With these skills you can improve your character in a wide range of areas. It is this skill progression that will advance your character, and you can acquire larger weapons, better spells and access more challenging quests.
Some Technical Points
As already mentioned, Cthulhu Nation is set in the 1920's, and the game's calendar works from this period. You may find the world a little strange by today's modern standards - the currency used is the old British £/s/d (pounds, shillings and pence) and the weights and measures of lb/st/oz (pounds, stones and ounces) are from the period. There is a conversion calculator included on the game board to help you understand and work out this system.
Trams and trains are methods of transport inland, with airports and shipping ports available for world travel. Much of the technology from the period, including weapons and items, are available, and many of the events of the day are included in the game.
The game itself includes a whole host of features to keep you busy. Apart from those mentioned, it also includes libraries to research items, Guilds affiliations to help you develop, research sets to complete, an auction house to buy or sell various items, a mining system to help you smelt and forge items, a banking system to save your money, warehouses to store your goods, an academy to buy or hone those important skills, and a market to purchase extra supplies (in addition to the in-game shops).
On top of this, you have access to a journal which helps with your quests as well as the opportunity to make your own notes, and a full inventory system to help you sort your items out. If you have too many items and end up being encumbered (you can only carry so much, depending on your strength) try to make use of the warehouses, instead of just dumping those valuable items on the ground! There are many other elements to the game that you will encounter in your travels as well, but we will leave those for you to discover!
Finally
Cthulhu Nation is a flexible, fun, entertaining and challenging game that you can play at your own pace. It may be slightly different to what you are used to, and it is a web-based game. We are continuously working on it, and it is always evolving and developing to keep it fresh, challenging and unique. Be careful though - it can become addictive!
When you first register to the game you will have free-play. There are limitations to this in that only certain quests and certain countries are available to you, and you can only play the first tier of the game. If this suits you, you can continue to play like this for as long as you want. However, once you get a taste for more adventure, better weapons and more challenges, we know you will want to subscribe to the game! This opens up a whole new world of action and adventure for you, and sees your character developing in leaps and bounds. Not only that, you will receive FREE moves every month, as well as other useful bonuses. There is a full subscription page within the game for those of you who are interested.
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