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      The Roguelike Meta Series: Cult of the Lamb – Part II

      Posted by Write Meow ·

      The Roguelike Meta Series: Cult of the Lamb – Part II

      Your Cult, Your Way

      Previously in this series, we looked at the roguelike elements of developer Massive Monster’s Cult of the Lamb. But those ingredients are only one part of the mystical concoction that makes the hybrid game so irresistible.

      Ultimately, the core of any good cult simulator is cult management, and Cult of the Lamb is no exception. 

      Base building is the sacrificial heart of the action, the key to progression, and the source of abundant emergent gameplay. 

      In the beginning, you’re all by your lambkin lonesome as you build up your Cult HQ: planting crops, cooking food, and building sleeping quarters to keep your followers fed, healthy, and well-rested. You’ll probably put in a few body pits to do something about those rotting corpses (after all, we can’t all be immortal like the Lamb). Your followers will get old and keel over soon enough… so why not spring for a nice crypt on your compound? 

      Cult of the Lamb | Courtesy of Massive Monster

      Then, over time, you can get enough sense through your loyal followers’ adorably thick skulls to take care of basic tasks for you: running the kitchens, prisons, healing bays, and even gathering resources. That way, you can take on a higher-level managing position and tend to loftier spiritual matters more befitting a respected religious leader such as yourself… 

      Divine Dictatorship

      The base management side of the game presents players with crucial choices that will have huge ramifications (lambifications?) for their playthrough. 

      Players decide between different Doctrines for their cult—permanent traits imposed upon followers—the benefits of which lend themselves to different playstyles. Do you prefer generating more Devotion or accomplishing tasks faster? How do you want folks to react to followers' sacrificial offerings? Do you want to incentivize cannibalism? 

      Giving players multiple valid choices with both benefits and disadvantages is always a fascinating concept in games. We play with the idea in our game Bite the Bullet, where everything you consume is a choice with pros and cons. You really are what you eat… and whether that helps or hurts depends on your situation and playstyle. 

      When a game’s choices are as riveting as in Cult of the Lamb, we invest more in the entire game. No matter what you do, it’s critical to keep your faithful fanatics happy, even when you’re giving extreme orders. Otherwise, your followers will begin to spread dissent… and any good cult leader will tell you that you have to stamp out dissent.

      Cult of the Lamb | Courtesy of Massive Monster

      Sometimes, followers want something that isn’t good for them or the cult, but refusing it may hurt their faith in you. Bad experiences or skepticism about your divine ordination can lead your followers to turn on you, so you must choose wisely. 

      And if you’re going to be tyrannical, you can’t look like you’re being tyrannical. 

      Perhaps schedule a nice happy worship dance after a ritualistic sacrifice? That way, you can keep folks blissfully ignorant of their peril, like the Machiavellian mutton you are. 

      Players get to indulge their god complex as they conduct sermons and lead the divinely prescribed duties of worship, rituals, and sacrifices to increase their flock's faith. They might install some propaganda speakers to ensure everyone hears them loud and clear. 

      Cult of the Lamb | Courtesy of Massive Monster

      Of course, they may schedule a faith-filled fast now and then since it’s a good way to mortify their followers’ worldly desires (and save on valuable resources!).

      Take care of your followers, and they’ll take care of you. They'll aid you in battle and strengthen your cult so you can conquer the Bishops of the Old Faith in service of The One Who Waits… or sacrifice your followers to the eldritch horror for experience points.

      Because Cult of the Lamb is a farming simulator… for souls. And it’s harvest time, baby. 

      Faith-Fueled Feedback Loop

      The real magic trick the game pulls off is how seamlessly the base building and roguelike portions mesh together. 

      Bouncing between the management and roguelike sides of the game is the alternating motor that makes Cult of the Lamb a uniquely enjoyable gaming experience. The devotion generated by your worshippers builds up the strength of your cult, which in turn helps you conquer the heretics on your crusades, increasing your abilities to support your worshippers.

      Cult of the Lamb | Courtesy of Massive Monster

      The two systems function symbiotically as a perfect feedback loop. They must support each other while independently completing their separate progression trees to upgrade: one progression for you and your abilities and one for the state of your compound.

      This hybrid dichotomy takes two gameplay loops that would be perfectly satisfying on their own. It makes them even more fulfilling by breaking them up and alternating between them in a push-and-pull of interest. 

      The flow of gameplay see-saws as the Lamb keeps both spinning plates balanced, constantly hopping from one game style to another. Despite all the things you must do in your busy cult leader schedule, the game never makes it feel like a chore or some Sisyphean task. Somehow, it gently guides you toward what needs to be done, and it’s always satisfying… 

      Cult of the Lamb | Courtesy of Massive Monster

      …usually. Sometimes there’s just an ungodly amount of poop to clean up. But hey, that’s life as a cult leader.

      Players can misplace a lot of time in this cycle of systems, as each side keeps the other from overstaying its welcome and becoming stale. After finishing tasks for one, you’re always looking forward to getting back to your missions on the other!

      Cult of the Lamb | Courtesy of Massive Monster

      The End is Nigh

      Progress in Cult of the Lamb remains exciting because, apart from having so much “to do,” there’s a great sense of freedom in how you choose to do it. The game doesn’t even really mandate when you need to engage in its roguelike portions—you’re free to decide when to crusade and how often. You’re a grown lamb, after all. 

      In our final installment on Cult of the Lamb, we’ll look into how this power of choice heightens the stakes for players…

      Game over for now -- be sure to progress through all the entries in Mega Cat Studios’ Roguelike Meta Series!

      The Roguelike Meta Series: Cult of the Lamb – Part I

      Posted by Write Meow ·

      The Roguelike Meta Series: Cult of the Lamb – Part I

      A Look into the Lamb’s Tale

      Hey, kids! Ever wanted to start your own cult but weren’t sure which undying elder god to devote your existence to? We can help!

      When developer Massive Monster summoned Cult of the Lamb from the depths of the netherworld in 2022, they quickly found a large flock of devotees singing the praises of this fun and unique genre mash-up. Its innovative blend of base management sim and real-time roguelike dungeon crawler attracts a diverse range of gamers… but how does this unearthly demi-game balance these radically different elements to become the ultimate cult simulator?

      Adorably Horrible/Horribly Adorable

      With visuals as fluffy as its pastoral protagonist, a quick glance at Cult of the Lamb’s gorgeous storybook art style belies its absurdly dark content. This is the uncanny dichotomy at the heart of its popularity. 

      The game follows the path trod by its genre predecessors, Nuclear Throne and particularly The Binding of Isaac, contrasting bleak horrors with charming—and in this case, downright adorable—graphics. The cutesy cartoon visuals can help make the game's vile situations more palatable, playable, and even a little funny in a dark sort of way. 

      But this contrast can also make its horrors all the more horrific and discomforting. 

      Cult of the Lamb | Courtesy of Massive Monster


      After all, you play as the Lamb, recently resurrected by the shadowy deity “The One Who Waits,” to lead a cult devoted to him. You gather and nurture lovable cartoon animal followers, feeding off their devotion, and look them right in their big, smiling, whole-hearted cartoon animal eyes as you lead them to the slaughter. 

      This spectrum of experiences and striking interpersonal dynamics tug on players’ emotions and add weight to their choices for their cult. Players often become pretty invested in their followers and their camp as they work to grow a cult worthy of the Bishop of Death.


      Crusadelike

      Anyone who told you running a cult is easy has clearly never run one before. 

      Successful cult administration requires navigating Cult of the Lamb’s perfectly crafted seesaw of gameplay, which teeters between a distinct base management sim and a roguelike dungeon crawler. 

      In order to manage resources at your cult base, you’ll need to acquire the necessary resources—and for that, you’ll need to embark on crusades. 

      Crusading is where the game’s most traditionally roguelike elements come into play. The rooms are randomized and contain procedurally generated resources, perks, and weapons. At the start of a run, players are offered a random choice of weapons, each with its strengths and weaknesses, and a random choice of curse abilities, such as summoning tentacle attacks or spewing poison. 

      Cult of the Lamb | Courtesy of Massive Monster


      Runs are also augmented by Tarot cards, which offer randomly offered special effects that can be stacked across a run. These include abilities like harvesting bonus resources or spawning offensive tentacles whenever an enemy strikes them. 

      Where Cult of the Lamb diverges from many of its fellow roguelikes is that its dungeon-crawling aspects exist within a broader game, meaning that there’s no permadeath. Instead, you’re just faced with a failed resource-gathering run while your world and character keep on going. 

      Crusaders choose their way through randomized, branching dungeon paths that vaguely indicate what they hold in store: resources, shops, better weapons or health, or new followers to indoctrinate. Having even this amount of choice gives an increased sense of control and purpose to the quests amid the general uncertainty. 

      Cult of the Lamb | Courtesy of Massive Monster


      We love this dynamic, and it’s one we’ve incorporated into our bullet heaven roguelite Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood. As you slash through waves of enemies, you must choose between paths with terrifying trade-offs… spare the innocents and receive more rewards. Or take a shorter and safer route to sacrifice civilians to Nicolas Cage’s Dracula? Choices are powerful, and that power rests with you! 

      Half the Battle

      As with any other roguelike, the wide array of random systems—assorted traps, environmental obstacles, new offensive options, and a variety of enemies requiring various strategies to combat them—keeps these holy moral missions fresh and lively. But this random variety can be especially effective in Cult of the Lamb since it’s all delivered in relatively short runs! 

      Cult of the Lamb | Courtesy of Massive Monster


      As the dungeons are only a portion of what the game is about, they’re significantly smaller than those of most other roguelikes like, say, The Binding of Isaac, lasting closer to ten minutes each. 

      And that’s good news because back at camp, your followers are absolutely lost without you, living in their own waste and wondering what happens if they stick silverware in the electrical socket. 

      You’ll want to get the resources you’ve acquired back to home sweet compound ASAP, where you can indoctrinate the friendly converts you met along your crusades and guide them toward being good and productive members of a brainwashed society. 

      In our next installment, we’ll explore the home base side of the game’s unholy alchemical equation and see how that side supports the roguelite elements. 

      Game over for now -- be sure to progress through all the entries in Mega Cat Studios’ Roguelike Meta Series!