Pentagram & placement

Plan before placing

1. Read the target. Compare it with the ritual’s displayed score.
2. Read the cards. Separate printed points from bonuses that depend on neighbors or other conditions.
3. Plan the positions. Give conditional cards the neighbors they need; put useful cards beside a modifier when its effect resolves.
4. Check each change. Use the board’s visible values to check your plan before committing another card.

This is a planning checklist, not a guaranteed Chapter 1 route.

Printed points are only the start

The linked Demo footage shows neighbor bonuses and permanent increases to neighbors’ base points. A small printed value can still help a larger combination.

Thinky Games’ Demo hands-on gives an example: a card that gains two points per neighbor gains four with two qualifying neighbors. This explains a relationship; it does not establish every current card’s value.

Use the text in your build. June public-Demo footage and later exclusive-Demo footage show different Weak Lupus values. Do not import a number from another version into your calculation.

Why order can matter

Public-Demo footage around 10:00 shows Octopod’s text permanently increasing both neighbors’ base points. Decide which cards should be beside it when that effect applies.

Footage around 11:50 shows Lasius with a bonus conditional on both neighbors being odd. A permanent change can affect that condition. Recheck the visible values rather than relying only on the original printed points.

We checked the card text shown in this recording, not every possible order of effect resolution.

If you are still short

Recheck conditional bonuses before sacrificing another card. Read card burning before trading for different options, or the Sanity reserve if the ritual ends short. Summoning is part of the chapter, but this page does not list every Demon or its conditions.