Official Rules
Overview
Crazy Cultists is a quirky, fast-paced, competitive card game where players race against each other to summon The Dark One! Gain the Unholy Adversary’s favor and thwart your competition by unleashing terrible hexes on them or by giving them a good ol' fashioned “Beelze-Beatdown”. It's a no-holds-barred free-for-fall fight to be the first to light all 5 candles in your pentagram and usher in a thousand years of darkness!
In Crazy Cultists, you must build up favor with The Dark One by stacking Favor Point cards totaling up to 10 points. Once you reach 10 or more points in your Favor Stack, you earn a candle token for your pentagram board. Earn five candles to win!
Set Up
During setup, each player receives (1) pentagram board and (3) cards. The candle tokens should be placed anywhere within reach of all players. You are free to look at your (or a careless fellow culist’s) cards. That's it. Easy peasy.
Players should come up with their own way to determine who goes first (we usually prefer the ol’ first one to play a card method) then continue clockwise.
*Diagram above depicts an in-progress game.
Gameplay
Players take turns either building favor with The Dark Oneby creating a Favor Stack or sabotaging a rival cultist by playing Hijinx Cards.
Only one card can be played per turn (this goes for both Favor and Hijinx Cards). Drawing a new card signals the end of a player’s turn. It’s important to remember that players cannot have more than 3 cards in their hand at any time.
If the deck is exhausted, simply reshuffle the discard pile and resume playing.
Favor Cards
Favor Cards are valued between 1-4 points and are the only cards players can use to create their Favor Stack. Favor Cards do not need to be played in any sequential order, but once they are stacked, they cannot be rearranged.
Creating a Favor Stack
Favor Cards are stacked one on top of the other so that the corner number can still be seen. Once a player has reached 10+ Favor Points in his or her Favor Stack, the entire stack is discarded and that player earns a candle token.
A player can have any number and any combination of Favor Cards in his or her stack.
How To Win
A player wins by collecting 5 candle tokens for his or her pentagram board. For every candle a player has, his or her Favor Stack starts with +1. This means that if a player has 1 candle, he or she only needs to stack a total of 9+ Favor Points to earn the next candle (see diagram).
Hijinx Cards
Hijinx Cards are used to target other players and sabotage their favor with The Dark One. These cards produce a variety of effects, but most commonly cause a player to discard the last 1, 2, or 3 cards played in his or her Favor Stack. The effects of a Hijinx Card are resolved immediately and then it is discarded.
Fall From Grace
Discard the most recent card played in your Favor Stack.
Polymorphization
Skip your next turn. Put this card next to your Favor Stack as a reminder. Discard after your turn is skipped.
Infernal Inferno
Discard the 2 most recent cards played in your Favor Stack.
Toiling Trouble
Discard 2 cards of the same value from your Favor Stack. Pick any pair as long as they are the same value.
Hex-O-Rama
Discard the 3 most recent cards played in your Favor Stack.
Evil Eye
Show your hand to the player that dealt you this card. That player may take a card from your hand and add it to his or her own hand.
Beelze-Beatdown
Discard your entire Favor Stack.
Nerdronomicon
Look at the top 3 cards of the deck. Put 1 card in your hand. Return the remaining 2 cards in any order on top of the deck.
Counter-Spell
Negate the efffects of a single Hijinx Card. Can be played at any time.
Switcheroo
Trade the last card played in your Favor Stack with that of the player that dealt you this card.
The “Counter-Spell” is the only card that can be used at any time to negate the effects of another Hijinx Card. Resolve these effects immediately, then make sure everyone draws back up to 3 cards.
Rule Variations
Devilish Mode - Once a player has reached enough favor points to earn a candle, everyone must discard their current Favor Stacks and start again.
Fiendish Mode - Players must reach the exact number of favor points needed to earn a candle. Any player that goes over the favor limit must discard his or her entire stack.
Beast Mode - Requirement to get any candle token is 6+ Favor Points. First player to 3 candles wins.
Feel free to come up with your own rule variations!
Rules Reference
Shuffle the cards from this pack into a separate deck and set to the side of the Main Deck with its own designated discard pile. When a player earns a candle token, instead of drawing a new card from the Main Deck, they may draw the top card from the Dark Powers Deck and add it to their hand.
Mechanically, these cards function the same as regular Hijinx Cards, but are read from the perspective of the player (not the target).
When a player uses a Dark Powers Card on their turn, it is discarded (unless otherwise stated) to the Dark Powers discard pile. The player then draws back up to their hand limit with cards from the Main Deck.
Optional Additional Setup
When setting up the Main Deck, remove the following cards and place them back in the box:
2x Fall From Grace
1x Infernal Inferno
1x Hex-O-Rama
1x Evil Eye
1x Counter-Spell
Dark Powers Cards
4 Favor Points
Add this card to your Favor Stack for a mega boost.
Life Siphon
Take the last card played in another player’s Favor Stack and add it to your own.
Black Spire
Target player must stack 3 or more Favor Points on this card before resuming play on their own Favor Stack.
Necromancy
Search the discard pile of the Main Deck and place any 1 card back into your hand.
Dark Baptism
For the next round, you cannot be the target of any Hijinx Cards. Immediately take another turn.
Ouija
Target player must show you their hand. You may decide to swap hands with them or make them discard their hand.
Fear The Reaper
All players must discard their hands (not including you).
Puppet Master
All players must give their hands to the player to their right.
Forbidden Alchemy
Draw 3 cards. Return any 2 cards from your hand to the top of the deck in any order.
Scrying Bones
Search through the main deck and choose a card. Show it to everyone then add it to your hand.
Hail Yourself
All players must reveal their hands (not including you). Take 1 card from any player and add it to your own hand.
Voodoo
Discard any cards from your hand (including this card). Target player must remove the same number of cards from their Favor Stack.
Heavy Metal
Discard the last card that was played in everyone’s Favor Stacks (not including you).
Want to learn even more about Crazy Cultists? Check out Crazy Cultists and the Frequently Asked Questions.