Cult of the Lamb – Cute & Dark!

Cult of the Lamb is an action, rogue-like, funnily dark dungeon crawler with a mix of strategy. Developers Massive Monster have made a cracker of a game that a lot of people are going to thoroughly enjoy when it releases on August 11, 2022 on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch. Firstly, I would like to get this out of the way before I dive into the review. I generally do not like playing this type of genre. Endlessly hacking this and that to get more items to then hack more things is not something I enjoy when it’s packaged in this way. Plus… I’m generally not good at this genre of game. So going into this, I had a fair amount of bias. But, I’m quite happy that I put my ego in my back pocket on this one. Cult of the Lamb is not only interesting, but it’s also fun and engaging.

You play as an adorable lamb who has been given a second chance by a locked-up powerful being know as The One Who Waits. You’re charged with getting revenge, freeing the chained-up powerful being and creating a large cult following so they can be worshipped. There are four other ruling bishops/cult leaders who are getting in the way of this goal and your job is to crush them. There’s a lot of religious-like text and speech which delves into prophecy, how to treat followers and how the world is governed. You also get hints that the being you are serving is bad, but you don’t care because the other four bishops killed you and your race off.

One thing that stands out is that the game is brutal in the sense that you can sacrifice your followers, let them die or even force them to work even if they’re sick. While playing through the game, the background narration is encouraging you to manipulate your followers as you wish. However it is also in your interest to keep them alive so you can make them farm and worship. In-game you’ll need to gather wood, mine stone, farm food and produce money. You set up an altar which your followers will pray at, and based on the level of your town, you’ll get town upgrades or perks for your character. The more you keep alive, the faster you will grow!

There are two ways to kill your enemies; using a melee weapon, which has different attack abilities such as poison or life-steal, or spells, which can be targeted or have an area of effect. On top of that, you will get perks from cards and by using rituals to get things like extra health.

The town’s progression is based on levels and it has a tree-like structure. It’s fairly easy to figure out what you need to build – just make sure you place similar things close together. For example, the followers can’t water certain plants if it’s not next to a farm placement. Building the town is not a side thing you can dismiss but a large part of the game. You will need to not only hack your way through enemies but also tend to your town and followers.

The combat is fun and easy to manage as it’s all based on your keyboard, and there’s no mouse involved. The different melee options, spells and cards you’ll receive through the game allow you to progress whilst it gets harder and harder. This all adds up to a balanced and well thought out game.

The artwork throughout Cult of the Lamb feels unique and well suited to the style. The town is bright and bustling, whilst dungeon-crawling areas can be menacing and quite dark. The style also matches the cute/adorableness of the lamb whilst showing the dark side of what is actually going on, and the power struggle. The sound is also just as good and matches the style, with satisfying chopping and hacking sounds to the soft coos of your followers.

Overall, I REALLY enjoyed this game and once it releases later this week, I will continue to play it to enjoy the full scope of the story. It balanced base building, resource management and combat in an enjoyable way. It’s one of the few in this genre that I will continue to play.

This review utilised a Steam key provided by Devolver Digital and Cult of the Lamb releases on August 11 on PC, Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.