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Game
Game2017
The Shrouded Isle
Developer Jongwoo Kim, Erica Lahaie, FX Bilodeau
The Shrouded Isle is a 2017 management simulation video game developed and published by Kitfox Games. From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
193 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 14, 2026 · last updated Oct 14, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
67
Fresh
122 positive · 59 negative
95% range 60–74%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 122 | 59 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 2 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
525 of 781 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
68% recommend · 126 yes, 60 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 186 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mostly Positive (1,076 of 1,531 positive).
Players praise the game's Lovecraftian atmosphere and art style. [1][2][3] Many reviewers criticize the heavy reliance on RNG for progression. [4][5][6] Some find the gameplay loop repetitive and shallow. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
As a detective-style game, I was initially intrigued with the gameplay loop of balancing various stats while trying to hunt down the secret sinners in my community. If that was all the game was, I'd have an absolute blast. Unfortunately, there's an RNG element to the actions you take that is so punishing it renders the rest of the game pointless. I'll give you an example. One of the stats is Obedience. If it falls …
- [7]
I was excited for The Shrouded Isle since I enjoy management and detective games, and the cult theme and the look of the art style really drew me in. Unfortunately, after a great start, I found it rather shallow and repetitive. You're a mysterious cult leader tasked with maintaining the cult values over five years - ignorance, fervor, discipline, penitence and obedience. These are numeric values that go up and down …
- [1]
The Shrouded Isle - A relaxing village simulator... if your idea of relaxation is sacrificing townsfolk to appease an ancient god and managing a cult on the edge of collapse. I noticed the game because of the art style and the Lovecraft theme, but it was the gameplay that really hooked me. You can tell the developers genuinely care about the game. The sound and atmosphere are perfect. Game is a mix of settlement …
- [3]
A wonderful little indie gem with strong Lovecraftian vibes. The bleak visual style emphasises the dark and cold atmosphere of the game. As a high priest, you take religious control of a small fishing village with a doomsday cult. The game is mainly a mixture of simulation and detective game, as it is your task to find the sinners among the villagers and sacrifice them to a rising, bloodthirsty god in the sea. But …
- [2]
The Shrouded Isle will show you that being the high priest of a dark god is a pretty dangerous job. Any job, including picking flowers in a green field, can be stressful if your boss is a big enough bully. However, the threat of being yelled at, humiliated, having your bonuses taken away, or even fired is nothing compared to what awaits you as the high priest of the Slavic god Chernobog. As his name suggests, this …
Summarised from 34 of the 198 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 12, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
The Shrouded Isle sits at 67% positive across 181 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 193 · most liked firstAs a detective-style game, I was initially intrigued with the gameplay loop of balancing various stats while trying to hunt down the secret sinners in my community. If that was all the game was, I'd have an absolute blast. Unfortunately, there's an RNG element to the actions you take that is so punishing it renders the rest of the game pointless. I'll give you an example. One of the stats is Obedience. If it falls below a threshold at the end of one season, it must get back to that threshold…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I bought this game 8 years ago, played it until my first victory, and then promptly forgot about it until yesterday. And despite this, I can guarantee you that this game has no replayability whatsoever. In fact, completing it a second time has been a chore. Let me explain. This is not a management game. Nor is it a "political sim" or a survival game. This is a puzzle game. You have a finite amount of resources, shuffled randomly with each playthrough, and if you don't play your cards well,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Shrouded Isle is a combination of a low-fi town management game, and a social deception elimination board game like Werewolf or especially Avalon. You begin the game with a town full of villagers belonging to one of five Houses, each with an associated "satisfaction" score gauge. In addition, each House is tied to a job representing one of five "Virtues," and one villager from that House must be tasked to do the job every turn, improving your House Satisfaction when worked. These Virtues…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Shrouded Isle - A relaxing village simulator... if your idea of relaxation is sacrificing townsfolk to appease an ancient god and managing a cult on the edge of collapse. I noticed the game because of the art style and the Lovecraft theme, but it was the gameplay that really hooked me. You can tell the developers genuinely care about the game. The sound and atmosphere are perfect. Game is a mix of settlement management and roguelike elements. If you don’t like the game, it’s probably just…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I am 32 years old. My ex-wife and I have a daughter together, and we adopted our son together. Both are now 4 years old. When we were going through our separation, I felt lost and unhappy. I was self-destructive. One day, I was so angry with everything spiraling out of control that I punched a concrete wall in a moment of overwhelming emotion. This resulted in breaking my fifth metacarpal in my right hand—the hand I worked with, played games with, and used to carry my children to bed—the hand…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Interesting, but not really what I'd expected. The gameplay loop is a pretty simple -- but not easy -- task of keeping numbers balanced, but revealing the information you need in order to do so leans a bit too heavy on luck for my liking. Maybe there's something I'm missing, but it seems extremely punishing with no way to recover. The graphics and presentation are really nice. I just wish there were more to it.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I was excited for The Shrouded Isle since I enjoy management and detective games, and the cult theme and the look of the art style really drew me in. Unfortunately, after a great start, I found it rather shallow and repetitive. You're a mysterious cult leader tasked with maintaining the cult values over five years - ignorance, fervor, discipline, penitence and obedience. These are numeric values that go up and down based on your actions. Each season, you pick five advisors from five houses,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Expected a story-driving investigative game, but this is just a gambling sim. Re-roll the inquisitions until you get something you can tolerate. Bad roll? You lose the game. A strong theme doesn't make up for weak mechanics.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A new game from the Lead Designer of Lucifer Within Us and The Shrouded Isle! Check it out:
neutral · AI labelView post →The theme is solid. It's bleak as hell. But in a rare twist the roguelite nature only does damage to this game. After a few attempts, the theme can be thrown out the window and everything is quickly reduced to boring numbers and seeing meters going up and down. No matter important information is never really explained or apparent. This is "Bad RNG" the game made manifest. And it's all busy work in a bad way. I did "complete" it once. Not recommended.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TL:DR; Mostly style and not much substance, little to read and even less to do. Almost entirely RNG. This game drops you in the deep end right away with no tutorial or explanation as to the games mechanics. Fortunately they're quite simple- balance 5 stats of your cult and the favour of the 5 family's who represent those stats. Depending on who you pick as advisor for each season these stats go up and down. If they go down too much, you lose. You'll get a few extra tools to manage this system…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Its so so so close to be being good, but simply relies too much on RNG for it to be actually engaging to play.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Shrouded Isle will show you that being the high priest of a dark god is a pretty dangerous job. Any job, including picking flowers in a green field, can be stressful if your boss is a big enough bully. However, the threat of being yelled at, humiliated, having your bonuses taken away, or even fired is nothing compared to what awaits you as the high priest of the Slavic god Chernobog. As his name suggests, this boss will not tolerate any failures. If you don't sacrifice enough people and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →RNG killed the cat. They could have done with more Cthulhu horrors and less random generated stats for characters and outcomes.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I find it frustrating that the game doesn't end after you kill off all the major sinners in a play through. In the later half of the game you just kill off innocents for no good reason just because you played correctly and beat the clock as fast as possible. There should be multiple win conditions instead of just waiting for Chernobog to show up to save the villagers from their deadly sins. There needs to be a reminder mark indicating which household member was sacrificed last season in case…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love a good cult aesthetic game. Visually great. I enjoy a resource management, mastermind style game, but it just feels a bit one note. I would enjoy more variaation or story between the seasons, or something to make it more interesting. Other than the obvious resource balancing, nothing really seems to make that much difference. Takes way longer to complete than it should purely based on the awkward UX and slow animation. I'm sort of interested in trying to get more endings to see what…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →👎 i like the premise and style, but this game is just not playable. you are juggling equally weighted priorities and there's no path to successfully navigate. figuring out i didn't need to select all 3 advisors each time seemingly was the key to being able to course correct to restore balance, but no... this game is just a tug of war with your stupid god and your stupid god hates you. edit: so my negative review still stands, but i did mess around with the game enough to learn most of what…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Has some flaws, mostly that's too rng reliant, but overall a very fun, intriguing game especially if you enjoy esoteric/occult themes. Glory to Chernobog, and may you find your fate amisdt the Shoals.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Shrouded Isle is a haunting masterpiece of interactive philosophy, where the medium of games truly becomes art. As High Priest of a fog-shrouded cult, you orchestrate the delicate balance of five virtues—Fanaticism, Ignorance, Penitence, Discipline, and Obedience—while five noble families scheme in the shadows. Every season demands ruthless choices: whom to elevate as advisor, whose hidden vices to expose through subtle interrogation, and ultimately, whose blood will sate Chernobog's…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's an OK game, but hard to recommend. First the strengths: it captures the feeling of hopelessness needed in any Lovecraftian work as you attempt to sate a god through ritual sacrifices in a small village. There are no good choices to be made; just bad and less bad ones. Unfortunately the game can feel both too punishing and quite shallow. RNG plays a big role in each run, and learning to mitigate it is a frustrating experience with no positive feedback; you are simply expected to…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sacrifice the virtuous, hail the sinners ! A fun and challenging cult simulator with a cool Lovecraftian vibe. The different choice of colors might be difficult for some but the mechanic of the game is quite interresting. And simply playing as the evil guy is pretty fun by itself. Here, you hunt the nicest members of tour community while trying not to anger too much their families. The loop gets harder as the game progresses, as your possible candidates for sacrifice diminish. With gritty…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Relies very heavily on RNG and the gameplay turns from wondering how you should play things diplomatically to looking at how certain decisions will affect the stats that game has. Managing a cult sounds like a fun idea for a game but this just isn't that. You quickly realize that you're trying your hardest to balance the stats like it's on a tightrope. Maybe I just suck at managing things but I had a really hard time balancing things correctly. It always seemed like just as I fixed something…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →At-A-Glance: Game type: Management Genre(s): Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Cult Art: Fascinating two-tone hand-drawn art Length: 4-5 hours for a single game Pace: Medium-paced Tags: Gorgeous artwork, cult simulator Computer requirements: Low end Notes: I played this for a few hours, and I've already come to the decision that this is a woefully unfinished game that gets by almost exclusively on its flavor. The artwork is immaculate, and it's likely to be the ultimate draw for many people into this. It's…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Honestly a great theme. Sadly it comes down to being a really boring game consisting of balancing random stats to avoid permadeath.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is ahead of its time, because it was released in 2017 but plays exactly like AI slop. The art is cool, but you don't have to buy the game to look at it. The UI is slow, broken, and feels vibe-coded by elite human capital. The game mechanics are unfunny, uninspired, pointless slop.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i need help, this game makes leading a cult actually difficult. Please stay ignorant and stop rebelling, I am begging.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →There are a lot of things I like about this game, and I do think it can be an enjoyable experience- which makes it hard to have to say I don't recommend it over all, but read my review and make your own choices based on what you like. The positives about the game, it has great art direction and vibes. The theme and aesthetics and how you progress through it the first time can be satisfying and interesting. I really enjoy how the music progresses and changes as you get further into the game.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →best roguelike social deduction game i've played
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →tedious and too decided by RNG
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Cool premise, but fails to deliver on it in anything resembling a satisfying way. Characters have no personality and you can't do much with them besides command, torture, and execute them, so instead of, say, getting up to a lot of fun drama as you pick favorites and screw your favorite congregants on an altar, you are instead left to the unveiled drudgery of plate spinning and numbers management. Skip this yawner.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Shrouded Isle is a Management Simulator but with a Lovecraftian twist. It is hard to call this an actual game. More a browser clicker, in my opinion. Once you figure out how to investigate your subjects and to minimize number of houses, winning becomes easier. Nevertheless, this clicker relies too much on RNG and sometimes a run is doomed from the start. The true ending (and it's achievement) are really hard to get as RNG can mess you up. Even by skipping, you waste so much time. So why a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think this game does something pretty cool but it is fairly flawed. I appreciate that the game quite deftly gets me into the mind of a cult leader, down to the completely immoral way I had to start looking at my flock to make it through to the end. That said, the game doesn't have enough depth to get into once you figure out the spreadsheet style approach that makes the most sense given the unfair difficulty of it. Definitely worth trying, but probably not worth investing more time than you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Started playing The Shrouded Isle and I recommend it if you want a fun little game about running a cult that you can dip into while waiting to see if your baby is actually asleep or about to randomly wake up again. A niche audience, but a well-served one.
positive · AI labelView post →An interesting mix between social deduction and resource management game in a pretty village stalked by cosmic horror where you are the inquisitor suppressing the unruly. While I found it fun - and very challenging - this tipped over into being blatantly unfair several times and did spoil things. Your ability to manage the 'resources' in this backwater depend on the character traits of your bumpkins (which are punishingly weighted against you) and there are very few ways to make your situation…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The aesthetic wears off and you realize the game is a uninteresting resource management game where every single resource is the same. There are ten numbers to manage. If any of those ten numbers is low two rounds in a row you lose. That's it. That's the entire game.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A wonderful little indie gem with strong Lovecraftian vibes. The bleak visual style emphasises the dark and cold atmosphere of the game. As a high priest, you take religious control of a small fishing village with a doomsday cult. The game is mainly a mixture of simulation and detective game, as it is your task to find the sinners among the villagers and sacrifice them to a rising, bloodthirsty god in the sea. But without upsetting the noble houses in the village too much or neglecting the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →OK IT'S THE SHROUDED ISLE i had low hopes but searching for "indie game occult village management" actually got me what i wanted
positive · AI labelView post →+ nice aesthetic - not the biggest fan of the mechanics if you like/are interested in the mechanics I would recommend My Lovely Empress
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun bite, especially if you get it on sale. No way to revert to a previous save or regret a bad decision (unless you go into the Application Data folder and start manually backing up your save states). Good atmosphere in the beginning; the core loop gets repetitive at the end but still provides for a very enjoyable evening or two. Plays quite a bit like a visual novel, and if only it had a skip read / fast forward option like they usually do.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's really mid. The vibes aren't hitting and the mechanics are shallow and annoying. You're managing 10 resource bars, trying to make sure none of them are too low, while all of them are basically interchangeable except for their names. The annoying part is that it's also kind of a detective game, but everything is randomly generated and you don't really have many clues to operate with in trying to find the biggest sinners, so you just click "inquiry" on random dudes until you hopefully get…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ignore my 100% completion rate. I like The Shrouded Isle a normal amount.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Yet another KitFox release I'm turning down. Too much GREEN...
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So after finishing the game, I have to say it was fun, but it lacks some depth. Also the game is the most difficult at the beginning of a run, rather than getting harder with progression. Pro: music and writing is really good. The atmosphere can be compared to Darkest Dungeon Cons: It felt to me like you have seen 99% of the game after two hours. There will be small events, where you can choose but this just helpful in filling your obedience parameter for example. Even the "???" will finally…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I thought this game might be a bit more interesting with some neat writing but it just feels like guesstimation slider balancing. It's also very difficult in a boring way to me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Loved the look and the concept but there's just not enough behind it. The game itself is very light on content, with minimal flavor text and nothing really intriguing to hold the player. It's mechanics are simplistic and once you know a couple basic strategies the only real difficulty comes from RNG shafting you. After a handful of runs it was already starting to feel same-y, and without compelling flavor/story content there isn't really a reason for the player to actually want to keep going.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is the kind of game that is easy to overlook if you have hundreds of games in your Steam backlog as I do, as while the name is, like, FINE, it is not as evocatively titled as I would like a game as stylishly malignant as this. Maybe "Sacrificial Fam." When I started this review I did not intend to go with a joke pun title but I really do think a different name would have made this title stand out, and this concerns me because I definitely think everyone who can dig the idea of balancing…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game's very confusing and there doesn't seem to be clear instructions on how to play.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I kind of enjoy this game. but RNG will and can end your game experience. ten minutes into this game, and my status has dropped from "cult priest wannabe" to "pathetic amateur mathematician". this is not a cult game. this is a math game. there is not enough variation and writing to make it a cult game. there is only math, and endless suffering. "struggle most pleasingly" indeed.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'll start this review by saying, I can't recommend this game. Honestly, when I first saw the images and videos, it seemed like a beautiful game, with cool aesthetic choices and some kind of fun management story type game. And it was, at first... Well, I booted up the game and happily enjoyed those nice graphics and illustrations, the deep green with yellow looked just right. And god, great work by the artist ok? Well done! It stays consistent through the whole game and it's very very good.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm running a bit late tonight due to a headache, but tonight on my #stream I'm playing #TheShroudedIsle. I've never played it before, but I got it on sale and wanted to give this #cosmichorror game a try. ➤ www.youtube.com/@artgh0sts ➤ picarto.tv/artgh0sts
neutral · AI labelView post →Looked promising, but in reality is a chore. I don't like it and won't play it again.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →BLOOD FOR CHERNOBOG! BLOOD FOR CHERNOBOG! BLOOD FOR CHERNOBOG!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game made me realize I fail at the simple task of murdering people Edit: After many attempts I've finally did it! I like the game but it gets a little repetitive after some playthroughs.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is a resource management game. You have five resources and five families who each control one of the resources. You have to select a member of each family each season to try to balance each resource while maintaining favour with all of the families. However, you don’t know each character’s skills and weakness and can’t learn them without hurting the loyalty of the families. Also, you have to kill one person each season. ... Did I forget to mention you are the leader of a Lovercraftian…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The voices which caressed my dreams told me to do it. After thirty hours, (finally getting all acheivments) I can say that I recommend this game for people who are fond of those "managing resource-bar" games. The focus is on balancing between five different virtues, (or lack thereof) as well as taking family reputation/loyalty into account. There are some more mechanics and events, which in combination with each other allows for some very elaborate and thought-out strategies to "win the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My first attempt taught me everything I needed to know. You feel very blind, but it's a game experience I cherish. I grew up before the internet, playing Amiga games, and I miss that feeling of figuring out a new game and not knowing what the hell is happening exactly. I feel as though this game is simple enough to figure out, and your first attempt at beating the game will have constant AHA moments For example, it took me a while to realize the value of selecting fewer advisors, as well as…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →From my brief time trying to understand this game it seems to be a meter manager. You are the leader of a cult, and each round consists of 3 months (turns) of which your chosen administrators may (or may not) perform tasks. After 5 years of this (so 20 rounds - 60 turns) you will have to have accomplished.. something. I don't know what this something is. And I don't know how to accomplish it. Because the game has absolutely no tutorial, it doesn't explain how you win, how to progress…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For a short game that is also challenging, it is one among the most atmospheric you can chill. The price on sale is under a box of Cơm Sườn, cheap. If you want something to relax for a short time while challenging, this is a game for you. But i do not recommend doing the achievement, because the last achievements are very RNG heavily and they are not fun in doing so, will ruined you Overall good game
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Going to be brutal but this is not even really worth $1 due to the time it takes to complete 1 play through only to come to the realisation unfortunately its not really a game and has almost zero re-play-ability unless you are an achievement masochist. Initially yes the music, ambience, art style and writing is excellently done and draws you in, but after a while you realise there is almost nothing else but that. The premise is so very enticing but the actual game play decisions are so…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Confusing as hell and ZERO tutorial or information provided about how to play the game. Thanks a ton devs
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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