All Hail the Lamb!

Thanks to some very nasty weather in my area (snow...and then several rounds of freezing rain that coated all that lovely snow and all the streets in a nice, thick layer of ice) I've had some unexpected free time.  The weather is so bad that staying in and tucking into a comfy game is the safest and best option for spending my time.  I decided it was the perfect opportunity to tick a game off of my wishlist (plus, it just so happened to coincide with payday, so extra bonus).  I decided to take a risk on a game with a decidedly quirky sounding premise--you play as a cute, lil' lamb...who's also a cult leader.  Not weird at all, right?  Cult of the Lamb offers up the perfect opportunity to be the cult leader you've always secretly wanted to be.

What is it?

Steam has it tagged with the following--action roguelike, roguelike, base building, and cute.  Cute is a bit of a curveball, but there's definitely something charming about the animal-like characters.  The premise is that your character, the lamb, is captured for sacrifice by an old god who is trying to break free from captivity brought about by four newer gods.  The poor lamb is sacrificed...but instead finds itself given a real devils bargain--the lamb can become the instrument of the old god, be reborn, and help destroy the "false" gods who are keeping it captive.  Not a bad deal, eh?

Before you can actually conquer any gods though, the lamb has to build up its strength through forming a cult to provide devotion.  The base building part of the gameplay revolves around creating a comfy cult settlement that provides for all the needs of a budding cult member--they need food, shelter, a place to worship, and a nice, clean environment.  Each day operates on a clock and the lamb can command cult members to take care of tasks around the base or to worship.  Worshipping at the central shrine provides devotion, which operates as a currency that can be used to unlock new buildings for the base.  Keeping your cult members happy and alive requires cooking meals, cleaning up after them (there's poop!), and building their faith through daily sermons and rituals.

That's only part of the gameplay though--the other part is where the roguelike elements kick in.  The four old gods that must be conquered are each locked in a dungeon full of enemies that must be defeated.  Each dungeon area has a sort of theme and a certain number of rooms that randomly spawn--most rooms contain enemies that must be defeated, but some rooms contain special characters who give the lamb buffs, new weapons, or other helpful opportunities.  The combat is surprisingly enjoyable--different weapons spawn at the start of the dungeon and sometimes can be swapped at random points throughout the dungeon.  Each dungeon area must be cleared multiple times before you can face off and try to defeat one of the old gods.

My full playthrough clocked in at 24 hours.  It's probably possible to have a playthrough be either longer or shorter depending on how much attention you decide to pay to follower requests and side tasks.  I usually opted to complete my follower requests, so it took some extra time.

Pros:

+ The gameplay loop is very fun and the way they divided it between fighting through the dungeons and managing your cult is genius.  In order to keep things balanced you have to figure out how to split your time between fighting through the dungeons and taking care of cult needs at the base.  It's easy to feel gung-ho about charging through a dungeon only to return to a base full of dissenting followers because you neglected their needs.  I suppose that some people may find the base management aspect a bit tedious, but it's worthwhile because of the combat buffs that you can unlock through member faith.

+ Multiple gameplay difficulties with unlockable permadeath mode upon completing a full playthrough.  I opted for the default difficulty ("balanced" I think) and found the combat challenging, but definitely doable.  It's one of the roguelikes where you can spend resources to upgrade things between dungeon runs--ever so slightly making things easier for the next run.

+ Run your cult how you want to.  You can choose to be a ruthless tyrant or a benevolent redeemer--it's all in the doctrine that you choose.

+ Okay, the "cute" label on Steam is somewhat deserved.  Your followers all take some kind of animal (or weird, demon-like) form.  The lamb itself is also pretty cute.  The gameplay and premise of the game is decidedly not "cute" though--you can sacrifice your own followers and be pretty nasty to them...if that's the vibe you're going for.

+ Managing your cult can be hilarious.  Your cult members live their lives while you're away--they age and can die; they get into fights; and, best of all...they poop!  It's completely possible to come back to base and find a pretty apocalyptic scene--poop everywhere!  Dead bodies rotting in the middle of the compound!  And sick cult members barfing all over the place from the lack of sanitation.  Luckily, all can be fixed with a little bit of time and effort.

If you don't keep your cult members happy they can dissent--basically they start speaking against you and they can turn other members against you.  If their level of dissent gets too high, they will eventually leave the cult (taking some of your hard earned resources with them).  They can also randomly reappear in a dungeon...and you have to fight and kill them.

For some weird reason my cult members kept requesting to eat poop.  This is something that you can do--cook a special poop dish and make them eat it.  Sure, it'll probably make them sick, but they asked for it, right?  To deny them would mean a loss of faith in your leadership...so who am I to keep them from eating poop?

The bonfire ritual is a flaming good time!

You can perform special rituals--some of them are more mundane, like a funeral for a dead member, but you can also make your followers trip on mushrooms; you can sacrifice followers (a possible solution for those dissenters--teehee); you can marry your followers (as many as you want!  It's your cult after all!); and many other funny and more serious options.  Some rituals raise faith and others will make it drop.

+ Discoverable cosmetic options to give your cult members a unique look.  Plans for special outfits drop in later dungeons and also when you do certain tasks in your base.  You can also purchase follower appearances which will make it possible to find many different types of animal/demon followers throughout the game.

+ It's still being updated.  Part of the reason I chose to grab it was because it was on sale thanks to a recent major gameplay update.  The update revolves around "sin" in your base and includes new buildings, events, and unlockable cosmetics.

+ The music fits the game well and doesn't get annoying at all.

+ Ran well.  I only had one issue where it randomly got stuck when I looted a certain relic.  Sadly I had to scrap the entire dungeon run and re-load, but it did only happen that once.

+ There are a few packs of cosmetic oriented DLC available for purchase.  They include new decorations for your base, new outfits, and possibly some new follower forms.

+ Discoverable items that drop in dungeons.  Each zone has a sort of theme and you can find a nice array of decorations to give your base the perfect vibe--be it bones or leafy wreaths.

+ Replayability factor is high.

+ You can pet the dog!  Some of your followers take a dog form (although, it can be a bit hard to tell) and you can pet them for a little extra loyalty.  If you see a dog shaped option when you speak to them, give 'em a pet!

Cons:

- Controller "recommended."  As soon as I started the game it prompted me that I needed a controller.  You can play with mouse and keyboard (something that I briefly considered), but it really wants you to use a controller.  I busted out my handy, Amazon Basics XBOX 360 controller and it worked like a charm.  Granted, I always am a little bit awkward with a controller at first.

- If you're someone who takes religion VERY seriously, this game might make you feel some...feelings of the negative sort.  It's not directly making fun of religion, but it's definitely incorporated certain aspects of religion that might make some people feel uncomfortable.  Overall, I found it to be very silly though.  If you're someone who has strong feelings about religion...maybe skip it.

Recommendation:

Cult of the Lamb is an absolute blast.  The base building and management aspect of the game perfectly combines with the combat to make for an A+ gaming experience.  Don't be fooled by the quirkiness; it's a real gem.  Highly recommend!