Honey, I Joined a Cult

About

"Honey, I Joined a Cult" is a simulation game where you build and manage your own cult, recruiting followers, managing their needs, and expanding your base. As the leader, you'll need to balance your cult's strange beliefs and bizarre rituals with the demands of the outside world, while avoiding the attention of the authorities. With various customization options and gameplay choices, this game offers a unique and entertaining experience.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

77%

Audience ScoreBased on 837 reviews

story12 positive mentions

grinding23 negative mentions

The game features a charming art style and humorous writing that adds to the overall enjoyment.
There is a high level of customization for cults, including the ability to name followers and choose their appearances.
The gameplay offers a satisfying management experience, allowing players to build and expand their cult while managing resources.

The gameplay can become repetitive and grindy, especially in the late game where waiting for resources becomes tedious.
There are several bugs and issues with the AI, such as cultists ignoring tasks or getting stuck in loops, which can disrupt gameplay.
The game lacks depth and complexity, making it feel shallow after a few playthroughs, with limited replayability.

story
145 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
90%
2%
The game's story is criticized for its lack of depth and progression, with many players feeling that it starts strong but quickly becomes repetitive and uninspired. While there are missions with mini-stories and humorous elements, the overall narrative feels incomplete, leading to a grindy experience where players often wait for tasks to complete rather than engaging with a compelling plot. Many reviewers express a desire for more varied missions and a richer storyline to enhance the gameplay experience.
- “I am having so much fun; I wasn't sure how good I would be at running my very own cult, but I am loving the building of the base, upgrading rooms and characters, and the story is funny too.”
- “The game approaches the darker aspects with a wacky pizzazz - you're taking financial advantage of your followers, your recruits are isolated and alienated from their families, you recruit and discard your cultists as assets instead of as people.”
- “The mini-stories in missions are great.”
- “The game felt like they wanted to include a main story after the tutorial, but instead it's just the same ending.”
- “My biggest issue is that the story and main objective weren't enough to motivate me.”
- “There's a lot of waiting for things to happen, either building resources, waiting for research, or waiting for missions to complete.”
gameplay
117 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
72%
9%
The gameplay of "I Joined a Cult" has received mixed reviews, with many players finding it limited and repetitive, often describing it as a slog with slow progression and poorly optimized mechanics. While the game's whimsical themes and humor are appreciated, the mechanics feel shallow and lack depth, leading to a lack of engagement after a few hours of play. Overall, the game shows potential but requires significant improvements in gameplay variety and challenge to maintain player interest.
- “I joined a cult is a uniquely crafted management simulator that uses a variety of different mechanics to create a cult simulator that adapts to create a nice pace of challenge at every stage.”
- “The variety of decorations and rooms add some spice to the gameplay, and I'll admit that part of why I played as long as I did was to make a couple of pretty, themed compounds.”
- “The mechanics have been thought out pretty well, and as content gets added, I'd wager that this will be a pretty great game.”
- “Limited gameplay, highly repetitive.”
- “Unfortunately, after your cult is set up, there's just...not much to do gameplay-wise.”
- “The mid- and late-gameplay was an absolute slog of waiting on poorly optimized NPC AI and over-extended goalposts.”
humor
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely appreciated, with many players noting its quirky dialogue, dark humor, and charming art style that enhance the overall experience. While some find the humor to be clever and engaging, others feel it can become repetitive over time, especially as gameplay progresses. Overall, the game successfully combines a light-hearted tone with satirical elements, making it an entertaining choice for those who enjoy a comedic take on cult management.
- “The satire in the game made me chuckle, with funny dialogue from the characters as well as hidden messages in the scroll chat.”
- “This game is clever, adorable, absolutely hilarious, and soooooooo addicting!”
- “The game play is addictive, the humor is quirky, and the style is cute.”
graphics
81 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
38%
58%
4%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their cute and colorful art style, which enhances the light-hearted and humorous tone of the cult management theme. Many players find the visuals aesthetically pleasing, with well-crafted environments and charming character designs that contribute to an enjoyable gaming experience. However, some critiques mention that while the graphics are appealing, they may not be innovative or particularly special compared to other titles in the genre.
- “The bright and cheery graphics with the promise of 'just one more thing' made this game a lot of fun to spend time in.”
- “The game's art style is immediately captivating, featuring cute and colorful graphics that bring a light-hearted and humorous tone to the otherwise eccentric concept of cult management.”
- “The visuals are not just pleasing to the eye but also add to the overall enjoyment of the game, making each interaction and development more engaging.”
- “The game is too linear, doesn't give any incentive for finishing it (or playing it) and is essentially just a base builder with worse graphics than Evil Genius.”
- “This is just a management game with a low effort graphical style that looks like it was made in Windows Paint.”
- “Because of all of this, the goofy art style begins to become a grind, and what was once a cool idea vanishes behind the same silly lines and frustrating numbers game.”
music
41 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
46%
7%
The music in the game is generally well-received for its funky, retro 70s vibe, enhancing the overall aesthetic and gameplay experience. However, many players find the soundtrack limited and repetitive, with only a few tracks that can become monotonous over time. While the execution of the music is praised, there is a strong desire for a greater variety of songs to maintain engagement.
- “The music, on the other hand, is an appropriately trippy 70s retro sound.”
- “The funky and fitting music now plays in my head continually and I like it.”
- “You’ll first love the very 'hippie meets Shaft' vibes of the soundtrack, and then maybe start to think about muting it on occasion.”
- “The music is another thing that is pretty limited and repetitive.”
- “Speaking of monotony: the music is pretty underwhelming.”
- “Fun if you're into base building but the soundtrack gets real boring real fast.”
replayability
26 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
31%
58%
12%
The reviews indicate that "Honey, I Joined a Cult" has limited replayability, with many players noting that while there are various tactics and themes to explore, the gameplay quickly becomes repetitive and lacks significant differences between playthroughs. Some users appreciate the game's charm and humor, suggesting potential for future replay value with additional content, but currently, it does not offer enough variety to sustain long-term interest. Overall, while there are enjoyable elements, many recommend waiting for updates or purchasing the game on sale due to its low replayability.
- “Replayability - there are many different ways to play the game, including various tactics, themes, and endgame options.”
- “Honey, I Joined a Cult is a delightful simulation game that stands out with its high replayability and charming graphics.”
- “Tons of fun thanks to a beautiful balance of micro- and macro-management, great options to upgrade your followers, a healthy bunch of hours before you finish the game, and great replay value thanks to the plentiful path options.”
- “You're also led to believe this game has more replayability than it actually does.”
- “It feels short and the gameplay loop doesn't offer that much replayability aside from customizing the visual aspects of your cult and what path you want it to go down.”
- “Replayability is still low since it quickly gets repetitive and linear.”
grinding
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is widely criticized for its excessive grinding, particularly in the mid to late game, where players often find themselves waiting for resources and influence to progress. While some enjoy the management aspects, many feel that the repetitive nature of resource gathering and cult management turns the experience into a tedious chore rather than an engaging gameplay loop. Overall, the grinding detracts significantly from the game's potential enjoyment, making it feel more like a job than a fun activity.
- “But the game suffers from a common problem that plagues many sims: once you have a good routine down, you're just grinding resources until you earn enough to cash in for an ending.”
- “Considering that I enjoy modding Skyrim and Stardew Valley, the level of patience that I have is pretty high, but this game has got something about it that makes it feel like an unpaid tedious job instead of an engaging and rewarding activity.”
- “End game needs serious work, it becomes super grindy and the last 50% of the game or so was me afking and clearing the popups so it would progress.”
stability
16 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
19%
81%
Overall, the game's stability is a mixed bag; while many players report it as largely bug-free, there are notable issues such as minor glitches, missing textures, and AI problems. Some users appreciate the game's fun elements despite these bugs, acknowledging that it is still in early access and not expecting perfection. However, the lack of updates and persistent bugs can detract from the overall experience for some players.
- “It does appear to be entirely bug-free, which is a plus.”
- “Fun game, runs great on Linux.”
- “Largely bug-free with some text missing, which simply appears to be coded wrong or missing code, e.g., a dialogue box will have '%xxxxx%' where it might refer to an object.”
- “Good game, but it's buggy and it hasn't been updated in eons.”
- “Not only no ultrawide support, but also super buggy textures within the bordered screen.”
- “Building small and then trying to change things up takes too much resources and is also buggy as hell. Usually, after removing a wall inside a building, the game does not register this particular place as being inside, so again, you have to waste money, remove all foundations, and place them again.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
38%
38%
Overall, the game's optimization is a mixed bag; while some players appreciate the potential for strategic base-building and skill management, others criticize the poorly optimized NPC AI and repetitive gameplay. Minor performance issues and lag have been reported, but these may vary by system. Despite these drawbacks, the game offers some replay value through the opportunity to improve optimization in subsequent playthroughs.
- “Each skill factors into a couple of categories around the compound, and each skill point adds a bonus to a cultist's performance in that task.”
- “It's like a well-optimized Prison Architect with about 10% of the content of vanilla PA.”
- “The mid- and late-gameplay was an absolute slog of waiting on poorly optimized NPC AI and over-extended goalposts.”
- “You will eventually get to a point where things get repetitive and you realize you could have optimized things better on the way, but that gives the game some replay value.”
- “Some optimization required...”
monetization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
38%
38%
The monetization aspect of the game varies, with some players appreciating it as completely free from microtransactions, while others note the presence of mild to aggressive microtransactions that can be avoided. Overall, the consensus leans towards a positive experience, with many players enjoying the game without feeling pressured to spend money.
- “Completely free from microtransactions (no wallets harmed here!)”
- “Cosmetic-only microtransactions (style without the pay-to-win)”
- “Aggressive microtransactions, but avoidable (pay up or face the consequences)”
- “Mild microtransactions, not intrusive (a sprinkle of microtransactions)”
- “Mild microtransactions, not intrusive (a sprinkle of microtransactions)”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the emotional aspect of the game deeply impactful, as it captures the journey to success filled with hardships and challenges that resonate on a personal level.
- “It is a journey to the top, and the hardships and troubles make it truly emotional.”