Cult of the Lamb review: Animal Crossing meets Dante’s Inferno

A cultist leads you down a path, skeletons lining the path as a brazier glows faintly. When you are placed in front of the sacrificial pillar, the ax is swung down. But instead of death you meet life. A faceless being known as The One Who Waits appears before you and does you a boon in the form of a living crown. A new power imbues your being with the promise of vengeance. You are more than a lamb brought to the slaughterhouse — you are now a meat-given God.

Roguelike action-adventure game cult of lamb The grotesque is wrapped up in a small package of charming characters straight out of a fairy tale. The 2D animation is simple but snappy. And even though the overall story is one of revenge, consumption, and sacrifice, there’s a certain levity with the picture book-style illustrations and his vivid 2D backgrounds. This is further enhanced by an almost whimsical score that incorporates a sort of midi vocal track that emulates chants and incomprehensible worship songs. In a way, it helps disarm the player as they go through the dungeons in search of the four old gods they sacrificed.

cult of lamb is a dungeon crawler and a religious management sim in equal parts, splitting the task between caring for hordes of devout followers and trawling procedurally generated dungeons. These dungeons are fairly short and consist of several stages that the player can clear to gain valuable resources. Each stage has its own small map where you can encounter unique NPCs. Some of them offer tarot cards that can empower you with temporary talents. Others can provide more powerful weapons, or stones, wood, and food items (including seeds) to cultivate a growing commune. If you die, you are simply reborn at the will of The One Who Waits, sacrificing resources gained during your run. It’s standard and doesn’t deviate too much from the already established roguelike formula.

but what cult of lamb What’s unique is the opportunity to create a truly terrifying pocket of organized religion because, ultimately, that’s what you, the player, are doing. You are raising followers and using your supposed ‘divine’ power to lure them into your flock. For you, their devotion is the key to progressing and expanding your influence over the quartet of Old Gods that ruined you in the first place.

At first, stealing their devout followers and taking them to your own budding abode feels like justification, or even morally right. Use to unleash doctrines and your religion will truly begin to take shape.it’s everywhere cult of lambA broader commentary and a more engaging narrative lie.

Imposing doctrines on your cult affects their larger beliefs. And despite the pentagram and pseudo-demonic imagery, before I knew it, I had created monsters that resembled the likes of the Catholic Church. And I don’t say this lightly. Religious doctrines about possessions and material wealth can be imposed to extort money from followers. When cultists worship idols in settlement centers, they generate a currency called Divine Inspiration. You can also send missionaries to gather resources to further strengthen your cult. Through that gameplay loop, cult of lamb Are all forms of religion cultic in some way? Yes, cults can be created based on the acquisition of capital.

Image: Massive Monster/Devolver Digital

Having said that, cult of lamb Allows the player to go absurdly or comically bizarrely straight forward. Accepting this quest would have created faith, and this follower could have developed faith in not only the cult, but my god-like powers. There was no need for someone to eat feces and sicken the entire monastery. While you can go astray to sacrifice the most loyal and devout people (or even impose doctrines that allow members to kill and cannibalize each other), your followers are your society. is the backbone of

I spent most of my time trying to keep my followers happy by showering them with gifts and investing in better housing and farming to keep them comfortable. cult of lamb It turned out to be a pretty fun sim game. As my proverbial flock grew, I became more aware of how I was spending my time between dungeons. This became even more difficult in the late game when the four Old Gods began sending famine, plague, and plague my way.

Gambling with a rumpled old ratau (a rat that once occupied your place) at the Lonely Shack or fishing for food at Pilgrims Passage. Some of the characters you meet in these areas are really interesting, with much of their backstory obfuscated and enhanced by a charming storybook style design.

Image: Massive Monster/Devolver Digital

However, engaging in these leisurely activities is not without consequences. Followers can and do die, either by your hand or by the passage of time. They can be buried in your monastery, their remains cannibalized by those still standing, or prematurely sacrificed to those who wait. cult of lamb does a good enough job of trying to humanize each follower with some of the individual requests asking them to find a loved one or find flowers in the forest. As with, it ultimately becomes a means to an end.

No matter what cult you create, it revolves around consumption, worship, and sacrifice. Everything you do, do it to gain more power and control. While you, Lamb, perform a delightful and obvious sarcasm, cult of lamb The question is what kind of leader you will be. Will you lead your flock to ruin? Will you allow them a false autonomy from the religious shackles you have cultivated in your hours of toil? Will it be?

cult of lamb It releases on Windows PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch on August 11th. This game was reviewed on PC using a pre-release download code provided by Devolver Digital. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These do not affect editorial content, but Vox Media may earn commissions on products purchased via affiliate links.discoverable Additional information on Polygon’s Ethics Policy can be found here.