Thank you so much for the useful feedback. This is very helpful.
The narrative style is very different from most other games. There's no actual story in a conventional sense. You have interactions with characters and your reactions determine what happens. It's a bit like in real life where there's no story, no neat and tidy beginning, middle and end. It's just a series of interactions with consequences.
The first two symbols represent your standing with the government (police badge) and the cult (cult guy). The last two represent your wealth and sanity. The decisions you make affect these meters. If any of them become empty or fill up, you will lose.