Cult of the Lamb preview – Sure to be a cult classic
In a land where many gods once ruled, there are now only a few. They are paranoid, fearful, controlling, and they want you dead. Sacrificing you will put an end to the prophecy they all dread coming true, or so they think. Little do they know that your death will actually make you their worst nightmare, a vessel for a long-buried god hellbent on making its return. Wrest followers from sacrificial clutches and build your power to destroy those that tried to destroy you… It’s time to raise The Cult of the Lamb.
Okay, so technically, you can name your cult whatever you want. But for our purposes, it seemed easiest, and most thematically apt, to name the group after the titular lamb who’s running the show. Establishing yourself as the cult leader to beat in this funky little game consists of three main components: going on crusades through the lands of the ruling gods, maintaining your cult base, and powering up the Red Crown. These elements often overlap; for example, to build up your cult’s headcount, you need to go on crusades to find new converts, who you can in turn build loyalty with to have them work faster around your cult compound.
The main point is to use your crusade runs, which are reminiscent of a rogue-like style, to gather followers and other supplies that you can use to build up your compound and power up the magic crown you get your supernatural powers from. Crusades have you choose a certain god’s realm to take on, where you start with randomly generated options for your weapons and magical abilities. What kinds of tools are at your disposal can be changed as you upgrade your crown and camp. You also use these runs to disrupt the god whose realm you’re in and ultimately kill them so you can usurp them in the name of your own dark benefactor. The top god in a given area is the area’s boss, and the one you’re working your way towards through these rogue-like runs. Killing them takes you one step closer to putting your own patron god back on the throne.
Running the cult compound itself becomes a management sim. You are responsible for keeping your cultists clean, fed and faithful, all while making sure they get the work you need done around camp. After all, you can’t run a cult without a strong supply of free labor. Most of your power comes from your followers, so it’s important to prioritize them, but not so much that you aren’t using them properly or are shirking on your crusades. Like any good management sim, Cult of the Lamb is all about finding a balance.
Seeking out that balance in this game is what makes it such a compelling play. The loop of crusading and building up your compound is extremely satisfying because they feed into each other so cohesively. Unlike some games that mash genres together, but don’t blend them well, Cult of the Lamb makes each part of its gameplay loop feel like it is essential to the other parts, and they often bleed into each other. You can’t manage your cult without going on crusades. You can’t go on crusades and kill stronger gods without maintaining your following and power base. The give and take here is fun and compelling, making it so easy to fall into a cycle of “one more run” that demonstrates the quality of any good rogue-like.
These genres are blended smoothly and in a way that makes both more interesting as a result, which is all anyone can really ask of a game. Players who enjoy either will find something worthwhile here, and those who are maybe more intimidated by rogue-likes may find enough here to keep them going. Regardless, Cult of the Lamb will definitely be a contender for Game of the Year in 2022.
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