There's a cute culty lamb video game
Inside the Australian indie sleeper hit which topped gaming charts this weekend
Inside the Australian indie sleeper hit which topped gaming charts this weekend
Something curious has happened this summer in video game land. Where once Mediaeval quests or military missions might have dominated the release schedule, some of the biggest hits over the past few months have been of a much cuddlier ilk.
Yep, some of the hottest video games of the summer have featured critters from the animal kingdom as the main characters, rather than firearms and toxic masculinity. Only last month, Stray, a video game about a cat wandering a dystopian city became a hit with both gamers and felines alike. Now, a little lamb (of no connection to Mary Bo Peep) is stealing hearts and climbing gaming charts.
The game in question is Cult of the Lamb, which somehow manages to be extremely adorable despite having a demonic sheep at its centre. The premise is this: when a lamb is saved from death by a “mysterious stranger” (reading between the lines…it’s Satan), they need to build up a loyal cult following to repay the debt. Players have to ward off rival cult leaders, perform some satanic rituals, deliver sermons, mount crusades and build your flock of worshippers.
Yep, so it’s basically Animal Crossing with a nefarious bent – add in some adorable creatures and a soothing soundtrack and it’s no surprise that it’s become a cult hit. From Australian developer Massive Monster, the game launched on 12 August and quickly reached No 1 on the US Switch store, the main outlet for Nintendo games.
Speaking to The Guardian via the Australian Associated Press, developer Julian Wilton seemed shocked at the game’s sudden uptake among players. ”It’s just blown up, it’s been pretty crazy,” he explained. “I wouldn’t be surprised in the first month if we hit like a million units.”
The game has already recuperated its investment costs through pre-sales and has over 12,000 Steam reviews – many of which are positive and note Cult of the Lamb’s addictive qualities. However, with the huge numbers swarming to play, bugs have been found, something which the developers hadn’t anticipated. “There’s just so many people playing the game that there’s no way you can find some of these bugs that people are finding,” Wilton continued.
Whatever the story, this devilish lamb is seriously too cute…
