I Can’t Wait to Play More Cult of the Lamb

Build your flock. Destroy the non-believers. Spread your word. These are your goals in Cult of the Lamb, an upcoming action roguelike from Massive Monster and Devolver Digital. It’s adorable, it’s disturbing, and it’s a whole lot of fun.

You take control of a cute but possessed lamb that was saved by The One Who Waits, a stranger who speaks in cryptic riddles. In return for saving your life, you must build a cult in his name. Venture through the world of false prophets, fighting off hordes of enemies and other cult leaders, and spread the word to become the one and only true cult.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, I love roguelike and roguelite games. Playing through the demo I sensed hints of The Binding of Isaac with the health system and Slay the Spire when it comes to navigating different paths. However, Cult of the Lamb introduces more than just endless rooms of enemies to defeat. The followers you indoctrinate need a central base to congregate. Your followers, who each have their own set of traits, will be put to work, gathering resources for you. The catch? You need to keep them happy and well-fed by cooking meals and building structures.

After taking care of your followers at your home base, you need to head out on your next crusade, all the while foraging and converting new followers. In the demo, I saw doors to 4 worlds; Darkwood, Anchordeep, Anura, and Silk Cradle. I only explored Darkwood, which is accurately described. When it comes to combat, you have your main weapon and a mega weapon that requires fervor which is collected by slaying enemies. Throughout the run, you’ll encounter shops to upgrade weapons or an ally who will read your cards, granting you a special tarot power. After destroying all the enemies in a room, you’ll be granted either gold, resources, or even blueprints you can use at your cult’s home base.

After exploring rooms and choosing your path to the main boss, it’s time to gear up for the big battle. One thing I learned towards the end of my demo play session is if you see a training dummy, hit it! These dummies will generate fervor, so you can refill up to the max and start the battle ready to punch hard. I was able to beat the boss in one run, but it wasn’t a total cakewalk. You have to time your dodges and hits carefully otherwise you’ll be in a world of trouble. For me, it’s the perfect amount of fun and challenging and left me wanting more when the demo ended.

Visually, the game is stunning. The colors and flat animation style work perfectly for the cute and grotesque creatures you run across. I ran into a few frame drops during my demo, but that’s not totally unexpected when playing a work-in-progress build. The demo is short - I completed it in about 30 minutes - but it gave me just enough insight into the game that I’ve already wishlisted it on every console I own.

Cult of the Lamb comes out on August 11 on PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Head over to Steam now to download the demo and pre-order for an exclusive Cthulhu skin, which I have to admit is adorable. I’ll be counting down the days until this game comes out so I can build up the most epic woodland cult there’s ever been!