I’ve been aiting way too long to try Cult of the Lamb. From its conceptual uniqueness to its popularity, I’ve been waiting (shudder.) I like to ask why people do certain things–like why everybody from a certain culture believes in the same thing but others don’t. OR: Why does this cute indie game exist about a tiny lamb who is forced to destroy hordes of cultists and collect woodland creature followers to build a powerful cult of his own? Isn’t that a bit… much?
But this isn’t an anthropological midterm, it’s just the type of indie quirk I love.
So why not, let’s talk about Cult of the Lamb. What is it, why is it, and how do you collect followers and fight bizarre monsters from the ancient council? Plus why is it so popular and do I think it’s worth it?
This review was played on PC. Available on other platforms.
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Cult of the Lamb: Is This Really a Game?!
First of all, the hand-drawn nature of CoTL is mesmerizingly hypnotic. Also, it was one of the most popular games of 2022, and is riding fine into 2023. It’s full of darkness and questionable juxtapositions, but it doesn’t take long before the game starts to do what it does best–garner intrigue.
An ominous deity saves this poor lamb’s life from a band of evil gods, grotesquely illustrated in the intro, and asks you to start a committed cult for him as service. There’s really a lot to question philosophically about it all, but somehow it seems to work.
Tip: One thing to understand about Cult of the Lamb is that even though darkness abounds in it, there are good guys and bad guys but overall the entire story is intrinsically neutral.
Stunning & Something Unplaceable
What’s the gameplay like?
You get ahold of the game on your Nintendo Switch or PC and harvest berries before drifting into the woods again. Next up, start slashing and plundering the turf of non-believers, who are basically bad anyway, along with some horrible creatures. Then go back to make soup for some anthropomorphic cartoon fauna inhabiting your grove and start over.
It’s definitely a rogue-like for fans of the genre. After you clear each area, your deity buddy teleports you to your grove where you can put cult followers to work to build a load of possible structures, trinkets, and whatever. This game has so many settings and features (there are already mods too for even more content.)
Pretty soon, there are tarot cards that act as buffs and it becomes clear, this game IS A GAME.
You know there are worse things than cartoon occultism, and it’s pretty favorably accepted apparently. Actually, I’ve always enjoyed these types of characters and environments for their visual representation. It’s truly otherworldly and very eye-catching.
Critical Reception of Cult of the Lamb
I’d like to say overall that this game is art and whatever it may represent aesthetically is made with skill and dedication.
Cult of the Lamb was nominated for the best independent game for The 2022 Game Awards–won Best Indie at the Golden Joysticks–plus several awards at the Australian Game Developer Awards.
Also, just please ignore me about the game’s story allegory, it’s just a game really and you don’t have to feel weird about playing it, but you might find yourself having an interesting reaction to it.
So is it worth it? You bet your ram’s bottom it is. Is it for everybody? I honestly have no idea, but maybe/maybe-not.
Devolver Digital Rocks My Socks
Devolver Digital has been releasing solid games for some time now. Almost everything they publish is top-notch stuff, and I don’t know, but I guess I’m on board with them. They even have a pretty amusing website for the game: https://www.cultofthelamb.com/
Anyway, that’s pretty much it, I just wanted to talk about this game finally as well as describe my gut reaction, plus my eventual surprise and delight. There is a link to the Steam page below, which includes the demo on the right side of the store page. They’ve really got nothing to lose with the success of this game and others, but grab it while you can.
Thanks for reading Mr. Dave Pizza. I hope you liked this article. If you like my content, please be sure to look around and read other games I’ve talked about. I appreciate your visit and remember to feed your followers.