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

You are led by cultists down a path with skeletons as lining your way. Braziers emit faint illumination. A swinging ax falls as you’re laid down before the pillars of sacrifice. Instead of being killed, however, life is offered to you. You are met by The One Who Waits, a faceless entity who appears in front of you. It bestows its favour upon you as a living crown. With the promise to vengeance, new power is instilled into your body. You are more than a lamb brought to the slaughter — you are now a god given flesh.

Rogue-like adventure game Cult of the Lamb wraps the grotesque in a charming little package of characters that look like they could be pulled straight from a children’s story. Simple animations in 2D are quick and easy. Even though the overall narrative is about vengeance and consumption as well as sacrifice, there’s still a certain levity to this animation, which features picture book illustrations and bright 2D backgrounds. It is enhanced further by the whimsical score, which includes a kind of midi vocal song that sounds like worship music or chanting. This helps to disarm the player as they make their way through the dungeons in search of the Old Gods who sent them to offer sacrifice.

Cult of the LambIt’s a mix of dungeon-crawler sim and religious management simulation. Your tasks are divided between caring for your followers and exploring procedurally generateddungeons. This dungeon is short and consists of only a few stages. Players can complete them to get valuable resources. You will find unique NPCs on each stage. Some of them offer temporary talents and tarot card cards which can give you temporary powers. Other NPCs can give you more powerful weapons or help to grow your community. You can die and be reborn at The One Who Waits’ will, but only if you have lost any resources. It’s stock and standard, and doesn’t deviate much from the already established roguelike formula.

Image: Massive Monster/Devolver Digital

What is the point? Cult of the LambUnique is the chance to create a really horrible pocket of organized religion. You, the player are ultimately doing this. You are cultivating followers, using your supposed “divine” powers to lure them into your flock. You see their loyalty as the key to advancement and increasing your influence on the Old Gods who cheated you.

You may feel vindicated or even just morally justified at first to seize their followers and move them to your budding settlement. You begin to see the potential of your religion as you uncover doctrines by using dark sacred tablets. This is where it all begins. Cult of the Lamb’s wider commentary and more engaging narrative lies.

Your cult’s beliefs will be affected if you try to impose doctrines. And before you know it, despite the pentagrams and pseudo-Satanic imagery, you’ve created a monster resembling something like the Catholic Church. It is not an easy thing to say: Religious doctrines about wealth and possessions can be imposed on your followers in order for them to obtain gold. You accrue a currency called “Divine Inspiration” when your cultists worship an idol at the center of your settlement. To further strengthen your cult, you can send missionaries. This gameplay loop will allow you to Cult of the Lamb The question is: Is every form of religion cultlike? You can indeed create a new cult by acquiring capital.

Image: Massive Monster/Devolver Digital

This being said Cult of the LambIt allows players to go completely insane or hilariously bizarre. A follower asked me to make them a meal of fecal matter. They were shy but insistent. Accepting this quest would have generated faith, which would have increased this follower’s belief in not only the cult, but in my godlike powers. But I declined. I didn’t need someone eating shit and making the entire convent ill. Because while you can go out of your way to sacrifice those most loyal and devout to your cause (or even impose a doctrine allowing members to murder and cannibalize one another), your followers are the backbone of your society.

My time was spent trying to satisfy my followers. I gave them gifts and invested in agriculture. This is the most important aspect of my job. Cult of the LambThis made the sim game quite enjoyable. With my flock growing, I began to pay more attention to how my time was spent between dungeons. This led me to make sure that I gave enough time to preaching and to cultivating crops for my congregation to eat without making them sick. It was even more challenging when I received the plague, pestilence and famine from the Old Gods in the final game.

You can gamble with the wizened old Ratau (a rat who had once occupied your same position) at the Lonely Shack, or fish at the Pilgrim’s Passage for foodstuffs. These areas have a lot of interesting characters, whose backstories are often layered and enhanced with charming pictures book-esque designs.

Image: Massive Monster/Devolver Digital

However, engaging in these leisurely activities isn’t without consequence. Followers can and will die — either by your hand, or through the passing of time. You can either bury them at your convent or have their remains eaten by the ones that still remain. Or, you can sacrifice them prematurely to The One Who Waits. Cult of the LambDoes a decent job trying to make each follower feel human. Some of their requests ask you to help them find loved ones, or to locate flowers in the forest. Like everything else, however they eventually become an end in themselves.

Whatever cult you create, the focus of it all will be on worshipping, consumption and sacrifice. For more power, and greater control over everything you do, You, the lamb serve as an obvious and pleasant irony Cult of the LambThis begs the obvious question: What kind of leader will you be? Are you going to lead your flock into ruin? Will you allow them a false autonomy from the shackles of the religion you’ve cultivated over hours of laborious work? Will you let them go to slaughter and become the gods you dethroned and attacked?

Cult of the Lamb The game will be available on August 11, on Windows PC, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Devolver Digital provided a prerelease code for the game. The PC review was conducted. Vox Media also has affiliate relationships. They do not affect editorial content. However, Vox Media might earn commissions for products bought via affiliate links. Here are some links to help you find. additional information about Polygon’s ethics policy here.