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Cult of the Lamb

Cult of the Lamb combines roguelike gameplay with cult management and I simply couldn't put it down.
Cult of the Lamb Game Cover
93%Game Brain Score
gameplay, graphics
grinding, stability
96% User Score Based on 66,663 reviews
Critic Score 87%Based on 5 reviews

Platforms

Nintendo SwitchPlaystation 5Playstation 4Xbox Cloud GamingXboxSteam DeckWindowsPlayStationXbox Series X|SPCXbox Game PassCloudMac OSXbox One
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Cult of the Lamb Game Cover

About

Cult of the Lamb is a single player and multiplayer hack and slash game with fantasy and comedy themes. It was developed by Massive Monster and was released on August 11, 2022. It received positive reviews from critics and overwhelmingly positive reviews from players.

Buy Cult of the Lamb on PlayStation Store. Start a cult, build your flock and explore a mysterious, procedurally generated world.

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Cult of the Lamb screenshot
Cult of the Lamb screenshot
Cult of the Lamb screenshot
Cult of the Lamb screenshot
Cult of the Lamb screenshot
Cult of the Lamb screenshot
Cult of the Lamb screenshot
Cult of the Lamb screenshot
Cult of the Lamb screenshot
Cult of the Lamb screenshot
Cult of the Lamb screenshot
+17
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96%
Audience ScoreBased on 66,663 reviews
gameplay3.3k positive mentions
grinding1.7k negative mentions
  • The game offers a unique and addictive gameplay loop that masterfully blends roguelike dungeon crawling, base-building, and cult management mechanics, praised for satisfying combat and strategic progression.
  • The charming and distinct art style combines cute, cartoonish visuals with dark, occult themes, complemented by a stellar and atmospheric soundtrack, creating a memorable and immersive game atmosphere.
  • Cult of the Lamb delivers a witty, darkly humorous narrative with expressive and emotionally engaging character designs, fostering a compelling connection to the quirky followers and the overall cult management experience.
  • The game can become repetitive and grindy in mid to late stages, especially with cult management micromanagement and the endgame content, leading to tedium for some players.
  • Technical performance issues such as bugs, crashes, optimization problems, and frame drops are common, particularly in late-game scenarios and on certain platforms, detracting from overall polish.
  • Replayability is somewhat limited due to repetitive combat, short main campaign, and lack of meaningful endgame challenges, making extended engagement a challenge for some players.
  • gameplay
    7,273 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Cult of the Lamb offers an addictive and well-balanced gameplay loop combining roguelike dungeon crawling with base-building and cult management mechanics. The combat is smooth and accessible, while the cult management adds a satisfying layer of strategy and progression, though some players find the mechanics shallow and the gameplay repetitive over extended sessions. Overall, its charming art style, engaging mechanics, and continuous updates create a uniquely enjoyable experience that appeals to both casual and hardcore players.

    • “From the moment that I started, I was hooked by its unique blend of rogue-lite dungeon crawling, base building, and cult management mechanics.”
    • “The gameplay loop is incredibly addictive: gather resources, build your cult, dive into dungeons, come back stronger, repeat.”
    • “While the game divides itself between colony sim and roguelite, both mechanics complement each other perfectly, forming a nearly perfect gameplay loop.”
    • “The gameplay loop quickly becomes stale, and its combat needs more if it wants to be an actually good roguelike.”
    • “The gameplay is repetitive and gets boring quickly.”
    • “The combat gameplay side of it is somewhat similar in concept to Isaac, but plays very differently; if you don't like Isaac like me, you should still give it a shot.”
  • graphics
    6,096 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's graphics stand out for their unique blend of cute, cartoonish art style mixed with dark, occult themes, creating an engaging and visually charming contrast that many players find captivating. The hand-drawn, 2.5D visuals are praised for their expressiveness, vibrant colors, and detailed animations, which complement the quirky, sinister narrative and gameplay. While the art style is often cited as a major highlight and key part of the game's appeal, some users note occasional visual clutter or performance issues but agree that the aesthetic greatly enhances the overall experience.

    • “The art style is a delightful blend of cute and creepy, like a bedtime story gone horribly wrong.”
    • “Cult of the lamb is an absolute visual delight with its unique art style that’s both adorable and creepy in the best ways.”
    • “The art style is beautifully crafted: cute but dark, cozy but unsettling.”
    • “The art style is working against the gameplay.”
    • “Also don't get distracted by the artstyle.”
    • “The art style is garbage.”
  • story
    4,593 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Cult of the Lamb features a charming and darkly humorous story that effectively blends base-building and roguelike dungeon crawling. The narrative is straightforward yet engaging, enriched with quirky characters, lore, and side quests that add depth without overwhelming players. While the main story is relatively short, post-game content and updates expand the lore and gameplay, maintaining player interest beyond the initial playthrough.

    • “The story, extra content, world building, and music show how much effort and care the developers put into the game... it truly feels alive.”
    • “On a real note, Massive Monster have made an incredible game, the art is so beautiful and well-thought out, the environments are incredible and tell so much story without needing words, the story itself is amazing and the lore is incredible (I love a game that doesn't give you everything, only tidbits, it makes it feel so much realer than massive dumps of boring exposition).”
    • “The story, music, art style, characters, and gameplay progression all combine to create a one of a kind experience with the player both taking care of the cult in a more relaxed atmosphere, and going on high-stakes missionaries and quests, defeating enemies, unlocking different zones, and slaying the bishops, all leading up to the final boss fight.”
    • “The story forces players to replay previous levels far too many times without introducing new mechanics, resulting in repetitive and monotonous gameplay that artificially lengthens playtime.”
    • “Combat becomes largely unnecessary in the late game; the developers’ solution, as mentioned above, is to force players through repeated old content via the story.”
    • “Followers will give you quests that you literally mechanically can't complete.”
  • music
    3,523 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in "Cult of the Lamb" is universally praised for its unique, catchy, and atmospheric soundtrack that perfectly complements the game's blend of cute and dark themes. Composed primarily by River Boy, the soundtrack enhances both the peaceful cult-building and intense dungeon-crawling segments, with players often describing it as one of the best game soundtracks in recent memory. Alongside the charming art style, the music greatly contributes to the game's immersive and memorable experience.

    • “The music is the greatest ost I've ever heard, it was inspiring how amazing it was.”
    • “The soundtrack is absolutely stellar (rest in peace river boy).”
    • “The soundtrack perfectly captures the eerie and enchanting atmosphere of the game.”
    • “The soundtrack is pretty limited and can get annoying after a point, but maybe they'll add more music in a future update.”
    • “The music also gets boring after a while but that's just something to do with personal preference.”
    • “The music has almost no variety so it gets grating.”
  • humor
    1,844 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Cult of the Lamb masterfully blends dark, tongue-in-cheek humor with adorable, cutesy visuals, creating a uniquely hilarious contrast that players consistently praise. The game’s humor shines through quirky follower interactions, morbid rituals, and absurd cult management scenarios, providing countless laugh-out-loud moments. While some find the scatological and dark comedy repetitive over time, overall the witty writing, playful satire of cult tropes, and charming characters deliver a consistently entertaining and memorable comedic experience.

    • “Okay so I probably should not be admitting this even hypothetically but if we are being honest and this is a safe space then I need to say that Cult of the Lamb has absolutely no business being as fun as it is and yet here I am late at night after reading my lessons on the Book of James running dungeon crawls as a possessed lamb building a woodland cult like it is my second job which technically it is not and if my parents ever walked in and saw the animals mating on screen I would never hear the end of it at Thanksgiving but the thing is the game is so obviously stylized and tongue in cheek that it feels more like a Tim Burton fever dream than an actual endorsement of anything dark and the management loop is just ridiculously satisfying because you are farming and cooking meals and assigning little leeches and spiders to chop wood and worship at your shrine and make love and kill each other and I keep telling myself this is basically just church administration with more tentacles and less sex and honestly the leadership mechanics are weirdly compelling because if you neglect your followers they get cranky and dissent and then you have to decide whether to inspire them or intimidate them and there is probably a sermon illustration in there somewhere about servant leadership versus fear based authority but I am definitely not using clips from this game in youth group because that would be a whole meeting with the elders that I do not need the combat is tight and fast and colorful and the art style is so cute it disarms you completely which makes the darker humor land in this absurd almost satirical way and I genuinely think part of why I enjoy it so much is that it is clearly exaggerating cult tropes to the point of parody like it is poking at blind devotion rather than celebrating it and yet I am still slightly convicted every time I perform a ritual and my little followers start chanting because there is something about leading digital woodland creatures in worship of a glowing idol before dancing naked in the firelight that feels just close enough to my day job to be uncomfortable in the funniest possible way but at the end of the day it is a clever roguelike with a sharp sense of humor and a surprisingly thoughtful loop about community management and power and responsibility and I love it and I will continue to love it quietly and if anyone asks I am replaying something wholesome and educational and absolutely not running a cartoon forest cult after 10 pm.”
    • “The whole concept from start to finish is unique, fresh, crude, but also just so funny to see cute critters being part of this almost Cthulhu-esque cult led by a lamb who instead is its shepherd (a playful imagery there).”
    • “The trope of cute visuals combined with dark themes makes the contrast funny and clever throughout the game. The humor is dark, self-aware, and dangerously charming, with hilarious character interactions, funny cult management antics like followers pranking each other by making them eat poop, and absurd rituals that keep the experience fresh and engaging.”
  • grinding
    1,791 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in "Cult of the Lamb" is a core and largely enjoyable part of the gameplay loop, blending dungeon crawling with farming and cult management. While many players find the balance between combat and resource gathering satisfying and addictive, the management and farming aspects can become tedious and repetitive, especially in the mid to late game and when pursuing 100% completion. Despite some bugs and micromanagement frustrations with follower tasks, automation options alleviate some grind, making it accessible though occasionally grindy for achievement hunters and completionists.

    • “Not too grindy, and is pretty rewarding the more you level up and collect followers.”
    • “Achievements are hard to get, but not too grindy and over the top.”
    • “It's not grindy and death is not very punishing, the game is always rewarding you for playing it.”
    • “My only gripe is with the "endgame" - purgatory for the base game and wool farming with woolhaven - which is way too grindy to my liking.”
    • “Cult management quickly turns into tedious micromanagement with little real depth or meaningful choices.”
    • “Once you keep that in mind, though, fighting feels very satisfying and although i hate grinding, i love doing the extended dungeons to see what loot i can get.”
  • replayability
    990 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Replayability in "Cult of the Lamb" is generally praised for its blend of roguelike dungeon crawling and base-building, offering customization, multiple cult doctrines, and randomized dungeons that encourage multiple playthroughs. Many players find the game fun and enjoyable to revisit, especially with regular content updates and DLCs enhancing replay value. However, some note that the replayability is limited compared to deeper roguelikes, with repetitive combat, a relatively short main campaign, and minimal endgame challenges reducing long-term engagement.

    • “The loop is super replayable with the four different regions and new game + with the trials, plus the new DLC elevates it to another level.”
    • “This game has insane replayability and a unique mix of townbuilding and roguelite mechanics.”
    • “And if you could guess from my Switch hours, it has near-infinite replayability with how you can build/customize your cult and do challenge runs including achievements, optional modes, or self-imposed rules.”
    • “Replayability is somewhat limited—after 20-30 hours, most content is exhausted, and the lack of endgame challenges or meaningful progression post-credits is noticeable.”
    • “But I cannot in good faith recommend a game with such little replayability and lack of content in general.”
    • “The game is hurt by the lack of replayability but makes for a mostly satisfying single playthrough.”
  • stability
    700 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's stability is notably inconsistent, with numerous reports of bugs, glitches, crashes, and softlocks, especially during later stages, boss fights, and co-op play, which can sometimes make progress frustrating or impossible. While many users praise the game's fun and engaging core experience, frequent freezes, visual and gameplay glitches, and occasional save corruption detract from its overall polish. The developers appear actively patching issues, leading to improvements over time, but the game remains somewhat buggy, particularly on certain platforms like Mac and consoles.

    • “Extremely polished with little to no glitches.”
    • “I rarely or never do reviews for games but man... what a masterpiece from the developers, as it feels like a breath of fresh air with a game that's not buggy out the wazoo on launch and an absolutely beautiful game and soundtrack.”
    • “All of the bugs that were bothering me have been fixed (it's still not bug free, mind you, but I only see very very minor things now).”
    • “Constant freezes, crashes every so often, camera issues, etc.”
    • “The game freezes and crashes a bit too often, and the only time it automatically saves is after a mission.”
    • “Very buggy, can't complete the 3rd location (even though I completed the 4th location already) because slain foe becomes yellow and nothing happens after.”
  • atmosphere
    304 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's atmosphere masterfully blends adorable, cutesy art and music with dark, cultish, and eerie themes, creating a unique, immersive, and often cozy yet unsettling experience. Players consistently praise the distinct biomes, dynamic soundtrack, and harmonious contrast between lighthearted visuals and macabre subject matter, which together keep the world engaging and memorable. This captivating atmosphere is a standout feature that enhances both the base-building and roguelike gameplay elements.

    • “The game's adorable paper-cutout art style and chilling yet playful soundtrack create a unique atmosphere that lingers long after gameplay ends.”
    • “The art style and atmosphere are exceptional, creating an immersive experience that’s both eerie and charming.”
    • “The soundtrack and sound design also deserve praise for reinforcing the game’s eerie yet playful atmosphere.”
    • “The atmosphere was also a letdown.”
    • “Cult of the lamb oozes atmosphere but the gameplay leaves a lot to be desired and becomes monotonous far too quickly.”
    • “All in all, I really want to like the game for its atmosphere, but on a gameplay perspective it just isn't there.”
  • emotional
    290 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Cult of the Lamb uniquely blends dark themes of cult leadership with a surprisingly wholesome, heartwarming atmosphere, leading players to form genuine emotional attachments to their adorable, quirky followers. The game's emotional depth is enhanced by touching storytelling, memorable music, and a balance of humor and poignancy, creating an experience that can be both joyful and heartbreaking. While managing the cult and making tough decisions can be emotionally taxing, it also fosters a compelling and often intimate connection with the game's characters, making it a distinctively emotional roguelike.

    • “The game cleverly plays on that emotional tug-of-war, making you care about your followers even as you're making difficult choices that affect their fate.”
    • “The cult management sections of the game are addiction incarnate, the absolutely adorable presentation and stellar music from river boy made for an incredibly fun, relaxing, and heartwarming experience.”
    • “I made the mistake of getting too attached to some of my followers early on, even naming one of them after my cat... that was an emotional rollercoaster.”
  • optimization
    282 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game generally suffers from poor optimization, especially noticeable in late-game scenarios with large follower counts, complex bases, or DLC content, causing frequent stutters, frame drops, and occasional crashes even on high-end PCs. While some platforms like Steam Deck and certain consoles perform adequately, many users report significant performance issues, including in menus and during upgrades, leading to a frustrating experience. Developer patches have improved stability somewhat, but optimization remains inconsistent and is a major pain point for many players.

    • “The technical performance of the game is overall very good although for my PC specs it doesn't really take much to run it.”
    • “Gameplay on the Steam Deck ran flawlessly: smooth performance, no crashes, and perfect controls.”
    • “Simple, but addictive gameplay - unique and incredible art style - absolutely perfect performance and usability on Deck... honestly 10/10 for the price paid, sincerely hoping for sequel.”
    • “The gameplay is fun: building, fighting, resource gathering, checking the well-being of your followers, etc., however the game itself is poorly optimized, especially when opening research tree upgrades; the FPS drop is massive and it becomes almost impossible to check upgrades and read descriptions.”
    • “The game is very badly optimized, especially for something with sprite-based graphics.”
    • “Game optimization is horrible even on the lowest graphics setting; I rarely get above maybe 30 FPS and the game keeps running while lag spikes are happening, making you die.”
  • character development
    185 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Players widely praise the game's character development for its charming, unique, and expressive designs that balance cute aesthetics with darker themes, creating a compelling and emotionally engaging experience. While the art style and visual presentation receive near-universal acclaim for creativity and detail, some note limited mechanical progression or depth in character growth. Overall, the character design strongly enhances immersion, storytelling, and player attachment to the cult members and world.

    • “The character designs are lively and expressive, making it hard not to get attached to your followers.”
    • “The adorable character designs contrast sharply with dark themes, rituals, and sacrifices, creating a unique tone that feels both charming and unsettling at the same time.”
    • “The character development of the followers was unexpected and well done.”
    • “Furthermore, Cult of the Lamb lacks a compelling progression system or meaningful character development.”
    • “I will mark specifically the bird character design for NPCs as a negative because the beak is on the side of the head, and you cannot unsee that once you do.”
    • “Cute graphic and character design, not so cute on story plot!”
  • monetization
    59 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization of the game is widely praised for its absence of microtransactions, ads, and battle passes, setting it apart from many modern cash-grab titles. While some users criticize misleading advertising and pricing of DLCs, most appreciate the developers' approach of offering meaningful paid content and free updates without intrusive monetization practices. Overall, the game is seen as a well-balanced, player-friendly experience that resists exploitative monetization trends.

    • “Masterfully-designed game loop akin to an idle mobile game, except on PC without microtransactions.”
    • “Let's summarize: the game is well balanced, beautiful visual style, no microtransactions, excellent story, elaboration to detail, low system requirements, and a small price for such a product, the total - 10/10.”
    • “This game really makes you feel like an unstoppable god of destruction and better yet, no microtransactions.”
    • “Cult of monetization”
    • “Homescreen is a litany of ads.”
    • “The game is good and all but every single time they made the price higher and higher I feel bad for the new players also the game is a cash grab if you are willing to buy all of the DLC.”
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87%Critics’ scoreBased on 5 critic reviews
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15h Median play time
1080h Average play time
8-25h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 439 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Cult of the Lamb is a hack and slash game with fantasy and comedy themes.

Cult of the Lamb is available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Steam Deck and others.

On average players spend around 1080 hours playing Cult of the Lamb.

Cult of the Lamb was released on August 11, 2022.

Cult of the Lamb was developed by Massive Monster.

Cult of the Lamb has received positive reviews from players and positive reviews from critics. Most players liked Cult of the Lamb for its gameplay but disliked it for its grinding.

Cult of the Lamb is a single player game with multiplayer and local co-op support.

Similar games include Moonlighter, Going Under, Lynked: Banner of the Spark, Children of Morta, Nobody Saves the World and others.