Hoo, boy. I was really not looking forward to the Sins of the Flesh update for Cult of the Lamb, and that’s a hard thing to say, because it’s been one of my favorite games to come out in recent years, and I’ve been begging for a content update for a while now. A dungeon crawler and cutesy village builder jam-packed with hand-drawn-style cartoon animals, it’s the perfect (if not a little obvious) backdrop for a game about surviving being ritualistically sacrificed to an evil god, taking down his dark cabal, usurping his power, and using it to found your own cult of cheery and sometimes canibalistic cultists. What, evil can’t be cute too?

Still, when I saw Devolver Digital hyping up its much-requested “sex update,” I was a little concerned. Sure, it’s all good, clean fun watching your loyal followers slurp down the bowls of poop you’ve lovingly whipped up for them, or having to wade through a crowd to wrap up a corpse of an elderly ox person who drops dead in front of an idol to you, only for every other looky-loo in the vicinity to annoying stand in your path staring and lett out a high-pitched and inquisitive “Huh.” But my sweet little villagers bumping uglies right before my delicate eyes? Hey, a person’s gotta have standards.

Luckily, the seven-or-so deadly sins — of which lust is one of the first you have an option to unlock — are still played for laughs in this game rather than… other sorts of appeal. And you know, it actually adds a little bit of fun and a lot of depth to the ways you can play.

Addressing The Sexy Elephant In The Room

Yes, yes, we all know why you’re here, and we’re not here to judge. Your animal friends in this game can have sex, and you can, and should, encourage them to do so if you really want to get the most out of the experience. Best of all (for me anyway; you do you), you don’t actually have to see anything, because everything takes place in a new, specially designed mating tent. Just pick two cultists, take a look at their compatibility and traits, and if they like each other enough, there’s a chance they’ll go into the tent and emerge holding a comically oversized egg. Yes, even in they’re both mammals. I didn’t make the rules.

And I gotta say, baby cultists elevate Cult of the Lamb’s dissonant cuteness to a level even higher than I’d thought it could go. Just look at their weird, craggy heads! Best of all, you get to pick the two traits they start with from the ones their parents are passing on and two random ones per coupling, so I guess Devolver even found a way to make eugenics adorable. Precocious little scamps.

But maybe that’s not enough visual appeal for you. I hear you. How about we all get naked and dance around a statue in the woods? Because that’s one of the first new rituals you’ll have access to. You even get to choose your favorite dancer, and they’ll be rewarded by getting a hefty increase to their sin meter. Speaking of which…

Sin Is In (But Be Careful What You Ask For)

The whole concept of Sin unlocks a ton of new possibilities for your little slice of heaven. I love being able to customize my commune (which I’ve named The Ewenity), but the inside of the temple, where some of the best action happens, has always been static and kind of boring. Not anymore, though! The more your followers sin, the more unlockables you can get, ranging from decorations like extra statues of you to full renovations. I’m particularly fond of the nature motif that they handed me almost right off the bat.

There are also two new crops for your fields — hops and grapes — and if that’s not particularly exciting for you, you can also set up a bar and use those crops to make a variety of tasty beverages to make your villagers act, well, let’s say silly (but more importantly, sinful). Just don’t leave them unattended after they’ve been in their cups, because alcohol makes some people violent, apparently. And if you’re in the mood for music, but you don’t feel like seeing your cultists doffing their robes and shaking their stuff, you can also set up a drum circle that builds up sin for one lucky music fan via a fun rhythm minigame.

You’ll want to be careful about which specific members of your flock you’re leading down that sinful path, though. I’m very protective of all the former big bosses who’ve converted to my teachings, and I had a particularly scary moment. After leading my sweet three-eyed kitty god, The One Who Waits, into the confessional to shoot the breeze about wrath and more wrath (at least, that’s what I’d gathered from his picture bubbles), he horked up one of those coveted sin worms, then immediately cursed me for leading him down a dark path and was swallowed up by a pool of ichor.

Could I have resurrected him? Not sure, because I immediately noped out of that scenario and closed the game, opening on the autosave from the end of my last crusade, and I’m not trying that again with any of my favorites (especially you, Leshy, you adorable wormy moss ball thing).

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Bedpans And Broomsticks And Boomsticks

That’s all just skimming the surface of the new additions to Cult of the Lamb. I had a lot of fun when dungeon delving too, particularly because, for the first time, they let me bring a gun. The blunderbuss line of weapons has great range but deals more damage the closer you are to your enemy, and it’s a blast to use. Pun intended. Granted, it’s also the first ammo-based weapon in the game, but the ammo refills, and pretty quickly.

Even back home, doing chores got a lot less boring. Sure, I could finally upgrade my janitor station, but why would I want to let someone else experience the joy of sweeping up poop, especially when that poop now comes in different varieties (one of which is full of gold coins) and upgrades my magical poop-sweepin’ broom with increasingly cooler looks and increased cleaning efficiency. Finally, The Sims isn’t the only series that lets me upgrade cleaning skills while neglected dirty dishes pile up in my real-life sink.

All in all, I’m feeling a bit sheepish (okay, I’ll stop with the puns) for shying away from Sins of the Flesh. It’s a great expansion, and it’s breathed new life into one of my favorite games.

Cult of the Lamb

Released

August 11, 2022

Developer(s)

Massive Monster