Puzzle games have captivated players for generations. But what about these mind-teasing challenges that keep us coming back for more? Let's explore the reasons behind their enduring appeal.
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…
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.
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
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!
