Cult of the Lamb has been one of publisher Devolver Digital's biggest ticket items since it was announced at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2021. The latest venture by Massive Monster, a studio of three individuals from the UK and Australia, has appeared at numerous events - including as the first trailer in Summer Game Fest 2022's Devolver Digital Showcase. As Cult of the Lamb approaches its August release, a couple of demos have also surfaced.

PAX East attendees this April could play a Cult of the Lamb demo with a 20-minute timer to see whether they could get a few stages out from its evocative cold open, in which an innocent lamb is brought before an executioner to prevent the return of an eldritch deity. A second demo released for Steam Next Fest last month, this one untimed and complete with content through the end of its first area, the Darkwood. Having extra time to appreciate Cult of the Lamb's aesthetics and ramping gameplay mechanics makes it easy to see why Devolver Digital is bringing so much attention to the project.

RELATED: Cult of the Lamb Preview

Cult of the Lamb is a relatively simple title on the surface, split into two halves. One half is an action-heavy roguelike following the lamb's treks into the Lands of the Old Faith, wielding weapons fashioned by dark energy from their Red Crown. That aforementioned eldritch deity, "The One Who Waits," provides this gift after bringing the lamb back from the dead in exchange for their servitude. It has been chained in an ethereal realm, and can only be freed if players slay the four "Bishops of the Old Faith" who guard its chains.

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The other half is a management sim in which the lamb builds and maintains a thriving cult whose faith provides power. New recruits can be discovered throughout the Lands of the Old Faith, either being sacrificed by rival cults or in other precarious situations - for example some have been trapped by a carnivorous spider who will sell their catch for gold. Players must complete four crusades through the Darkwood to reach the first boss, Leshy, and Leshy's followers-turned-corrupted minibosses can also be indoctrinated.

Those trips through the Darkwood and the cult management between them are heavily tutorialized, which can feel slow, but the game has a lot of information to convey with an ultimately fun pay-off. Combat is the simplest piece in Cult of the Lamb, at least through to the end of the Steam Next Fest demo when players defeat Leshy (at this point no new lands can be accessed, but one can continue building their cult). The lamb has a dodge roll, basic combos with multiple weapon types, and a limited number of ranged "Curses" that can be recharged with each melee strike akin to Hyper Light Drifter.

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Crusades are roguelike in the truest sense, with players randomly assigned a weapon and Curse at the start that can be swapped out at key areas or augmented with bonuses from a growing catalog of Tarot cards. One could argue it's simplistic to a fault, as boss fights tend to drag, while bonuses resetting between runs make them feel ephemeral and drawn-out for the returned benefits of resource gathering. Yet, this is one area where Cult of the Lamb's management half starts doing the heavy lifting.

As players grow their cult, they can set their followers to various tasks like chopping wood, mining stone, tending to farmland, or worshiping at the altar in their campground within the ruins of The One Who Waits' last flock. Gathering enough devotion from followers (or stealing it from statues to rival Bishops) allows the player to enact "Divine Inspirations" - unlocking new buildings on a branching tree of options that expands as the cult level ups.

RELATED: Cult of the Lamb's Console Inclusivity Bodes Well For Its Release

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Cult of the Lamb has a day-night cycle like survival-focused titles such as Don't Starve, and each day the player can provide their followers gifts or blessings to increase their loyalty. Feeding cultists, maintaining their beds, answering questions, and cleaning up waste while maintaining an overall faith meter snowballs the kind of rewards that players will get from devotion and the sermons they conduct.

Getting enough attention during sermons lets the lamb upgrade their Red Crown, leaning into roguelite elements by unlocking new weapon ailments and Curses that mitigate some of the combat's malaise. The temple where players give sermons also opens character modifiers like new fleeces unlocked using boss items, as well as the chance to implement one of two "Doctrines" at a time after gathering three stone tablet fragments. These Doctrines range from giving each follower a new trait to unlocking rituals - some of which require the sacrifice of a loyal cult member.

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All these mechanics and more intersect in small, compelling ways the longer a cult is in operation, like creating fertilizer out of the waste cleaned up to maintain health. There are also an unexpected number of locales with side-activities around the world, from gambling in Knucklebones with The One Who Waits' former vassal Ratau to a fishing minigame reminiscent of Stardew Valley. The longer someone plays Cult of the Lamb, the more they should appreciate the diverse settings its layered pop-up book aesthetic can conjure up, as well as the catchy a cappella music tracks that seem straight out of a corrupted church choir.

Where Cult of the Lamb will truly shine upon release is in how much choice the player is afforded. Each cult member can be redesigned once they're indoctrinated, and the campground can be arranged however they see fit. However, the opportunity to roleplay is more deeply embedded. Because players can decide the order in which they activate Divine Inspirations and Doctrines, even binary choices create radically different opportunities.

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For example, one can lean into agrarian structures to maintain a happy following, and any dissenters can be dealt with through rituals that raise everyone else's loyalty through subterfuge; convincing them the heretic is being ascended to a higher plane, conveniently ignoring the piles of viscera that rain back down. Alternatively, the player can build gallows and body pits, setting Doctrines that convince followers of a sacrifice's benefits for their own sake. There's a surprising amount of room to express oneself, which should lead to replayability in the final product.

That openness extends to accessibility. Just in the Steam Next Fest demo, there are four difficulty levels alongside a host of settings like complete controller remapping, toggling visual effects like bloom, depth of field, or flashing lights, increasing text size, and lowering screen shake and camera motions. Cult of the Lamb's subject matter will certainly turn a lot of people away. Yet for those who enjoy its macabre design and manipulative elements mixed with endearingly adorable animals, there is a lot to dig into. This longer demo just makes it clear how much care is put into every detail.

Cult of the Lamb releases August 11, 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Game Rant was provided a PC code for this preview.

MORE: Cult of the Lamb Interview: Massive Monster Devs Discuss Inspirations, Adapting to Ongoing Pandemic