Shadows of Forbidden Gods - Occult Procedural Dark God Strategy 

Just thinking about it ... sealing a dangerous entity for 1000 years is probably not that good an idea. Because it's likely the entity will have faded into mysticism by then. Which would then lead to the future civilizations responsible for renewing the seal not taking it seriously, shrugging it off as an obscure story. So the entity breaks free again. Which means, paradoxically, a much shorter time-span like 100 years would probably be much safer. Because that can be well preserved in documentations and the last eyewitnesses probably just died very recently. Which means everyone is much more keenly aware about the entity and the necessity of renewing the seal.

I kinda want a game where a dark god flat out refuses to wake because no one is worthy and instead seeks to reinforce their crumbling prison out of sheer spite.

I´ve been looking for something like this ever since the "That Which Sleeps" hoax. Thanks Splatts for keeping these gems on our radar.

I'm just at the character selection screen and this is impressive. Just the lore and each god's mechanics (which contribute to the lore). Mmm delicious. Ophanim would have to be my top choice, given it sounds like you get to play Palpatine, using two seemingly opposing sides against each other to play the long game and boost your cred. The ultimate false flag! Also I find it hilarious how Iastur is so on the nose for the being he's a reference to. It's literally a one letter difference, and they're right next to each other on the alphabet. I might just give this one a try...

Looks like a clever way to blend RPG elements with 4x Strategy. Play as an agent wandering amidst the empires.

Awesome video! and cool to see you play this game! personally a very enjoyable one I find. I once had a epic tale of last minute saves and a unfortunate end for a hero. I had a really solid run going a few agents scatters causing problems. I had 2 agents in this key coastal city (max shadow) embroiled in war with a nearby nation. A massive opportunity, a huge war between 5 armies broke out in the sea, with a very powerful hero leading the army to save the city. Deaths were uncountable, certainly nobody would notice if I... summoned a giant skeleton army in the middle of this causing massive chaos. I sent 1 agent over to the battle field, one with low profile, to start the ritual, the other agent stayed in the city (an aristocrat who was focusing on making money and hiring mercenaries. turn after turn of the battle, more bodies to rise and cause mass destruction! However, the hero noticed the ritual and left the battle field to stop it, a close battle between hero and agent ensued. The hero, saved the day... The battle soon ends, all sides taking significant loses. The Hero returns home, to celebrate his victories and the heroics no one else knew of. However the Aristocrat was the one who greeted him with a group of payed swords. Slaughtered in an alley for interfering with my work. The world would still fall. Its things like this that make games like this shine, and I hope the game leans into this sort of story telling. I obviously romanticized the details, but that's the fun of the mechanics of games like this.

This legitimately a game that i wouldnt have found in a million years yet its mechanic suits me really well. Kudos to you Mr.Splattercat

Would love to see a long-play on stream of this game.

This looks exactly like my type of game. As per usual, thanks Splattercat for your showcases, they really make it easy to find these kinds of independent titles.

Me: This looks interesting despite the UI looking like it needs a lot of work. SplatterCat: This writing reminds me of Cultist Simulator. Me: You had my attention, now I am intrigued.

The concept for this game is awesome, definitely adding it to my wishlist! Thank you Splattercat for these great intros :)

Would be fun to write down the order of events in a whole game of this and use it for a D&D/CoC campaign, making the world move forward as time progresses and having major npcs, world events, and so on all play out based on how the game turns went haha

This game seems extremely cool. Really unique and creative, good writing, and great UI. It’s like pandemic but backwards and fantasy. Super cool.

So basically it's lovecravtian god simulator, it looks awesome

Just downloaded the demo. You haven't told anyone about how the music SLAPS! Like wow it is atmospheric as hell

Interesting. The premise and gameplay reminds me of what That Which Sleeps promised in the Kickstarter then utterly failed to deliver, except this looks like it will deliver.

What an intriguing game, I love the well thought out and intricate mechanics that get you into the atmosphere of the game.

reminds me a bit of pandemic, only instead of a disease trying to outpace modern medicine you are an elder god trying to outrun jesus

500 turns seems like a short game but I think I saw in the options that you can turn turn timers off. Looks good!

I love that the video games market still supports fresh ideas even when they miss the bling and buget of highly developed genres. Thanks Splat to be a part of this.

I love this game and how well it explains its mechanics; I definitely want to pick it up when it comes out!

I am really liking the longer videos as of late, keep up the good work Splat :)

It might be interesting to add a "dark but not evil" deity into the mix at some point, in which your goal is to establish some sort of genuinely benevolent dark imperium.

There are two things that give me a deep, primal fear. The vast deepness of the ocean, and a creature/god that is so big that it dwarfs the planet. So...that thumbnail really hit me with it.

Very glad to see you picking up this game! Hope you play it more. :) 15:00 - strategy tip! You can lower security in a location by infiltrating adjacent locations. In this case, it would have made sense to start with the covens. With the warlock (is expendable and has decent lore), you could also use them to pump shadow into the area. 28:50 - yeah, I think the Elder Tomb spreading shadow is a new feature, because I only noticed it doing that in the most recent version. 31:10 - unless something changed that I missed, you don't accumulate profile and menace just by sitting there. You get profile and menace by COMPLETING tasks.

Wow, these 40 minutes passed by! I really like how you explain the gameplay and I'd love to watch you play more!

Definitely started to get wrapped up in this. I'd watch a playthrough or two (which hasn't fit your format for years, but I'll still mention it). I loved "Let's Play" Splat, but your commentary is still good enough that I'll watch "first look" Splat.

Splatty, you had me at Ruinarch, and solidified my interest when you said Ruinarch + Crusader Kings.

Looks like a game that I could really love. Thanks for the recommendation! :)

Splat's Sixteen Word Review of the game starts at 43:20

I want more "Forbidden Gods". They're all interesting with their abilities, but I kind of want their art to be more dynamic and elder god'ish.

I remember there was a game in development with this premise that didn’t finish - That Which Sleeps. Glad to see another game take up a similar concept. Thanks for highlighting this game! There’s a demo on steam for it, think I’ll check it out.

Wheel of Time but you play as the dark one. Legitimately so many WoT inspirations here.

Oh wow, this games looks very very cool and right up my alley. Thanks for the video splattercat.

This game is awesome! I'd love to see videos or streams covering the other gods too!

Would really like to see more of this

Well - now it seems That Which Sleeps is nothing more than a scam this will have to do.

Two things. I want to say thank you for showcasing so many unheard games and also for giving me a ton of options to play different games here and there

Hold on, isn't this just 'Plague Incorporated', but with extra steps? Neat.

it looks really cool, and challenging

Games like Dungeons & Dragons often have cultists, dark gods, and evil forces trying to overthrow the world, but for the most part events just happen to the players based on what needs to happen in the story. This games simulates a simplified (though still very complex) framework for modeling what these cults would actually be doing, and how they could be stopped. I could envision a mod for this game where a D&D game runner modeled their campaign world in this game, and even potentially modeled the players' choices in the game. You could use the options/restrictions/pacing of the game simulation to inspire the actions of your villains and cultists in the D&D world, and it would probably feel much more real, because the NPC motivations would be based on a framework where they could actually win. At the very least, it could give you lots of ideas for how the bad guys would act and what their options were. At best, with a mod that let one player play both sides, the DM could effectively have a shadow simulation of the campaign world informing their story that the players never knew about.

You´ve become fairly popluar on RU-vid, being a Dark Goddess shouldn´t be too hard for you Splat ;)

I HAVE SPENT SO LONG LOOKING FOR THIS VIDEO. I'VE FINALLY FOUND IT.

Wait, is this by the same guy who made Shadows Behind The Throne? I remember playing that years ago, fun indie title. If so, glad to see that he's continued developing the basic concept.

The Agent/Hero system is surprisingly good. Each character has their own desire & motivations that make the game feel so much alive. One smear campaign and 50 turns later two empires have been warring each other ever since. Leaving widespread death, keeping the heroes busy and leaving the shadow spread unhindered.

Dangit Splat! You know what I just realized? I have 68 titles in my wishlist all with status "Coming Soon". Guess who's fault that is... YOURS! ;)

Vinerva, so she pretends to be Minerva/Athena? Daaaamn.

Is the 30 minute video better for the algorithm? I prefer the longer videos

This sounds pretty cool! But I wish instead of a fantasy setting it was sent in a noir early 20th century world like the OG Lovecraft books.

Imagine this game in the Warhammer world..oooooh momma

This looks a lot like that old kickstarter game "that which sleeps". But this game is actually playable, instead of being an undelivered promise. Definitely looks awesome and I'm curious how it shapes up in the future.

Great run-through splat, RPG meets 4X, two of my favourite things! Think I k ow whT I'm gonna be doing this Easter holiday! By the way, those city names look like Chinese pinyin, the q is pronounced like 'ch', qian is 'chyen', qiang is 'chyang'

My first playthrough, I was basically the Team Rocket of dark god cultists. Things did not go well. I'm pretty sure there were probably angry cats in those cities more threatening than my efforts. Particularly because said cats probably wouldn't have been stopped by rats.

You convinced me to buy this game, and I have since made a startling realisation. I would make a poor Elder God. I played as Iastur, and I managed to lose my flipping tome! This must be how Sauron felt when he lost the One Ring in the washing machine or however that happened.

Ok, this looks pretty dope.

Play some more of this!

The obvious solution: What better way to deal with a god than with religion? Put the ritual into religious scripture so that the clergy will pass it down for generations and preach it wherever they go. It'll be TWO thousand years before anyone hears the end of it! Problem solved!

i think the UX could be smoothed out, the UI feels a bit blocky too. besides that the mechanics looks fun enough.

Reminds me of illwinter games. That is a very good thing in my book.

i could absolutely watch you do a full campaign of this!

What a cool video! I'd love to see you finish it considering how much research you put into the video.

Omg im gald i found this channel, its hard to find indie game with good concept or creative mechanic

All it takes for Evil to overtake the world is for Good people to do nothing....

This is dope. Please give us a full playthrough or 7.

Hell yeah Let's ruin inecent people's life I love it

the game looks exactly like "shadows behind the throne"

Thanks for the intro. for such games that actually needs time to open, it was more helpful when you did 2 parts video with a time jump in between to show more advance gameplay.

This is looking amazing! Thanks a lot!

When i heard "the chosen one" i had the bard's tale in my head singing that friggin song... that left its mark for eternity in my brain

But, but, but, I just bought Dead Grid. Have mercy on my wallet! (Thank you for giving me yet another game on my wishlist, also appreciate you taking extra time to show off a complex game)

When it takes a full 15 minutes of non-stop explanation before Splat! even makes his first move in the game . . . o.0

This reminds me of a lot of CYOAs from /tg/

New drinking game! Take a shot everytime Splatter says "So/But anyways" :P

Pandemic but with dark gods instead. Looks interesting.

Shame it wasn't longer lol got really interested in your mission lol

Got the game, and I’m loving it so far! Already getting that “just one more turn” fix!

Thank you Splat, What would your power be if you were a forbidden god?

That 500 turn limit feels short, but the game looks really intriguing.

Interesting game with interesting premise. I like villain protagonist characters. Too bad it's still on early access.

I’m genuinely enjoying the content as I can enjoy a story while I work, keep on making these please! I want to know who wins, the dark god or the heroes.

YES! SOMEONE ACTUALLY DID IT! THIS CONCEPT WAS FROM A FAILED KICKSTARTER WHERE THE DEV NEVER COMPLETED IT.

Here is a short explanation, it’s plague inc, but you control what the plague does lol

Crusader Kings, Ensorcel, Skullduggery , yoink my money!

can you continue this please?

a versus mode would be interesting

This game has a cool premise. It's a shame it SO DANG UGLY. I wish it looked more like Civilization or Warlock.

This looks really interesting and new, it looks like something I might like.

I just got this game, and I love how "she who will feast" is a snake deity. I might be playing purely with her ^^

Great atmosphere.

She who will feast is a modern take on Tiamat and her mushussu. The laughing God is a take on Apsu The fruit lady is a take on persephone/Aphrodite Ophanim is based off Cherubim/Lucifer and/or Pazuzu and his father/belial/baal You are Mummu (The Deified embodiment of Entropy, the spirit of chaotic force/knowledge which brings ordered things back into nothingness so that more rest may be brought to the void of uncreation that lies out of all existence, "the one that lies in the abyss...has awoken."

Seems like a cool game, you should do a longplay on Twitch!

*Plans a very convoluted plan* *Refuse to explain to followers and continue on causing the follower to grow bitter and slowly being converted into the light* *Hero and follower joins up to kill me* *Gets killed but gets to laugh one last line* *Just as planned...* *Everyone is confused as darkness faded away but never truly disappears from the world, causing me to reincarnate another time* *40k years later the world finally dies* *Laughs in squid* *Just as planned......* Is what I want to do if there is only that dude.... ;(

Why did I get a notification 3 hours after i watched the video? Oh RU-vid..you are so rascally💖..but in the spirit of the video "Thunder punch"!!!

Got a win. First try by random. Lost a lot of my agents trying to kill off hero’s ended up creating a dark empire with the hero in it and the army’s killed him a few turns later as he tried to leave.

I just played the demo that’s available on Steam. Sucked me in a good 4 hours. Turn 201 a message pops up concluding the demo. For going in blind, I spawned near the two orc tribes. Two continents full of human kingdoms otherwise. I quickly got my first agent killed, and started from scratch with another agent. Eventually I figured out how to interact with orcs, and that’s by going to an orc major settlement (fortress) and recruiting an orc warlord as an agent. I consolidated this first tribe by defeating an orc upstart, taking a banner of that tribe, and subjugating all of the clans of that tribe(have to have the banner to do this). All the while having two other agents infiltrating human villages and trying to spread my shadow. Orc boss went on to expand his tribe and develop more villages, eventually encroaching on the other orc tribe which soon declared war after I went as far as was habitable(a mechanic). Orc upstart of this other tribe had a bigger hp pool than my agent, and the armies these tribes produce are controlled by ai with its own priorities, so the war dragged on. Luck happened with a human hero, Ser Don Celese, hunting down this tough upstart and defeating him. Said hero’s own he was very low after the fight, and I happened to have my agent right next to the human, hopped in and took it out with no damage. Gained 193 gold (not easy to come by), two items(att damage, and boots that give 1 gold every time agent moves to another location), as well as a breakthrough for the tribal war. Shadow spread at this point into several human settlements and world panic had gotten to 30%, lots of hero activity on the borders but were occupied fighting the shadow. Demo ends as soon as I get to the other tribes fortress to subjugate them as well. Just a fraction of what the game has to offer for sure, and that was a blind play. I was going for having orcs as my catalyst for before/after the worm woke up. Thanks for reading, check out the demo!

saw the vidow, now I am intersted. Played the demo, Than there is a demo and it's fun. My whishlist increased. Thanks, i would probbly never found this gem without you!

Great game! (about to have a DLC and maybe an UI improvement if we're lucky) Worth getting the item Mod from the Steam Workshop

This game looks far too complicated for splatterboi

Raise madness, and deep ones, in a neighboring territory, causing war, and then internally, weakening resolve. Conduct operations cordially, in country, untill war begins, growing influence to quicken internal troubles when the pieces are in place. Great video, amazing game!

This looks like someone read Wheel of Time and thought "Yeah, I'd be a much more effective Dark Lord! There are even seals that need to be broken in order for you to fully awaken and a roaming "Chosen One" to put back into place!