Cult of the Lamb is already doing quite well in terms of reviews. In fact, it may end up being one of the best games of 2022 or at least one of the best indie games of the year, anyway. As much praise as the game gets though, it’s not without its faults. The good thing is that several of these issues could theoretically be addressed in a future patch or update.
Cult of the Lamb has a road map menu on the starting screen, so it seems safe to assume that the developers have plans to keep the game active for quite some time. Unfortunately, nothing appears in this menu right now. The road map should unlock soon with the next patch, and, hopefully, the developers will fix several of these issues too.
7 Add Co-Op
The roguelike genre does not typically add multiplayer to the gameplay. There are a few exceptions including Children of Morta and Spelunky. There is a way to invite a cult member into the dungeons in Cult of the Lamb.
It would be interesting if the developers could fix it so that a second player, via couch co-op, could control this extra member. That’s one idea, but they could also try to implement a more fleshed-out method. A way to visit someone else’s cult, like in Animal Crossing, would also be an idea worth exploring.
6 Management Menus
It can be difficult to manage the ever-growing cult because of the lack of menus. The land players possess at the start of Cult of the Lamb is small, meaning cult members will be running all over the place and bumping into each other. It’s hard to talk to a specific member without accidentally targeting someone else or activating some other event.
There should be a menu in the game wherein players could look at the needs of their members without physically having to go up to them. The same goes for other management tasks like harvesting crops. Menus would help to fix a lot of the tedium for the sim elements of this new roguelike.
5 Add Checkpoints For Runs
Most roguelike games will not checkpoint players during a run. They must finish where they started or die in the process to save the game. Quitting in the middle of a dungeon in Cult of the Lamb will be like nothing ever happened when players start up their save file again.
Even though it is not the normal thing to do, the developers should add checkpoints to their dungeons. On average, most runs won’t take that long, falling between ten and fifteen minutes. However, even that amount of time can be a lot for some busy players.
4 Add A Bigger Map
Cult of the Lamb thankfully has a mini-map that marks where the player has and hasn’t been. As nice as this is to have in a roguelike, there are two things that could improve the map system. An option could be added to the menu system where players could pause the game to look at a bigger version of the map.
The map should also allow players to warp between any discovered room. Other roguelikes, like the recently released Little Noah: Scion of Paradise allow warping between rooms like this. This would save time on backtracking and time is a valuable thing in this hybrid roguelike/management sim.
3 Time Doesn’t Pass In The Dungeon
Time is one of the worst enemies in Cult of the Lamb even though it doesn’t directly affect health as a monster does in the dungeons. Cult members have high demands as time ticks by and it is easier to manage these expectations while in the village. However, players must dive into the dungeons to get supplies and to continue the story. Such is the cycle of a roguelike.
There is no avoiding it, but time does not stop while in the dungeon. All hell can break loose in that small amount of time when the leader is gone from the village. Coming back to chaos can feel disheartening, so, time should freeze while in the dungeon, or it should at least be an option.
2 Add Assist Options Besides Difficulties
There are thankfully four difficulties in Cult of the Lamb, which is three more than most roguelikes have. The one thing missing from these options, however, is a direct assist menu for features. Hades, another popular roguelike, allows players to lessen the damage if they turn this option on in the menu.
That would be one thing the developers could add to Cult of the Lamb too. An option to stop time in the village, as mentioned above, could be an assist feature too. It would also be helpful to directly turn down the expectations of cult members on some sort of sliding scale.
1 Upgrade Menus
Being able to look at all upgrade menus would be one final feature that would be nice to have. Some of the upgrade paths can be looked over at any point. However, the Sermon upgrade path, for example, cannot. It would be nice to see what has been unlocked and what can be unlocked whenever the player feels like checking.
This presumably won’t be helpful to every player in Cult of the Lamb. However, to create the best roguelike out there, a game needs to have options to cater to a wider audience. Even if this option just helps a handful of people, it should be worth the ordeal.
Cult of the Lamb was released on August 11, 2022 and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.