- Cult management simulator with lots of options
- Bite-sized runs that are easy to manage
- Lots of content!
I gotta say, even before Cult of the Lamb brought itself to mobile, I already loved it on PC. I enjoyed it so much that I included it in my book, The Best Life Adventure Games. With that in mind, I wanted to see if it could hold up to mobile phones, with their smaller screens and limited buttons.
For those who have not played the PC or console version, Cult of the Lamb is a sort of run-based, cult management sim that is split into two parts: looking after your cult and going into dungeons so that you can fight off a bunch of enemies and picking paths to follow towards mini-bosses or large bosses.
The fighting aspect is run-based, with runs averaging about six minutes for me, so it feels like an ideal amount of time to really focus while still being on your mobile phone.
The runs are simple in construction – you get a weapon at the start and then go through a bunch of procedurally generated rooms. These often have enemies in them, though sometimes they have other characters who might have tarot cards that affect that specific run or people who need saving for your cult, or just people who want to give you advice. It’s interesting seeing what you end up with! After each dungeon, you can start following a path towards whatever is at the end of the run.
Sometimes, these paths allow you to see one-shot rooms that heal you or that are markets to purchase from, for example. Sometimes, the option gives you a new cult member, and other times, you can pick an option that has a lot of a resource you might need.
At the end of each run, there is a mini-boss or full boss to take on, which are often quite challenging compared to the rooms. However, you’ve likely levelled up your items by then and might even have a few decent stat changes, so it’s not too bad! You’ll be collecting resources and coins as you get through the rooms, which you can bring back to your cult.
The actual fighting in Cult of the Lamb feels good on mobile. The on-screen, controller-style layout makes sense for this type of experience and is easy to interact with. The only real issue with the small screen size, for me, was when I was trying to talk to other characters. Often the text box felt very large, going over the creature’s head, which doesn’t really affect gameplay but isn’t as polished as it might feel.
When it comes to the cult aspect, you can visit your cult after your runs. There, you can make food, build new buildings (or decorations), run sermons, and interact with your followers.
There is also a platform where new followers you have unlocked will appear, where you can change how they look before they are converted, which is so strange to me! Once they are in your cult, you need to make sure their needs are met, and they are being used properly to continue with your growth.
The management aspect isn’t too tough. On mobile, I did find the button to start building to be a little difficult to understand at first, as I primarily just wanted to tap the build place on my campground, not go up to it and tap my hand. Building items on the grid is also something to get used to – I’m not sure why I can’t just tap exactly where I want each item, but otherwise, the controls feel really good.
Cult of the Lamb has a bunch of quests, which do get too long. This has a little scroll bar, which isn’t the end of the world, but if you complete a quest that’s not at the top, it doesn’t show you what you have completed and instead just pops up the quest box, which is a little strange.
I do find that having these quests as goals to work towards gives a lot of direction and becomes an easy way to figure out what you are doing next, especially if you need to put it down for a bit.
Cult of the Lamb is a very well-made, polished, fun cult-based management sim with a lot of general content. I do feel bringing it to mobile is a smart choice, especially with how short the runs are. The whole thing still feels fluid, and it’s interesting manning decisions that affect my cult and shape my cult to work in the way I want them to.
If you haven’t played Cult of the Lamb for whatever reason, now’s the time to get in on it, especially if you have Apple Arcade!
