By Bella Ann Sanchez
A small Australian-made video game reached the top of the global charts when it was released in August this year – and its loyal ‘cult following’ remains strong.
To get the full story on Cult of the Lamb, watch our interview with Massive Monster Creative Director Julian Wilton.
Indie game Cult of the Lamb, made by Melbourne studio Massive Monster, combines the super cute with the darkly disturbing. The protagonist, an adorable possessed lamb, has to indoctrinate animals into its dark sect and then sacrifice them for greater power.
The game is filled with spiritual words and satanic symbolism that has caused some anger amongst parents of young gamers, and religious groups offended by the devilish design.
In the first few minutes of the game, I was slaughtered, summoned back to life and then tasked with forming my own cult as a repayment to the ominous deity who saved me.
Like most players eager to build their cult, I was surprised by the amount of poop that needed cleaning up as I set out to collect resources, launch crusades and grow my flock of followers.
As a mother of two young children, the game’s demand to cook my followers’ meals and clean all their mess was a task all too familiar. However, it turns out I’m really bad at the game. And to my surprise, so is its Creative Director, Julian Wilton.
“I kind of suck at the game as well”, he tells me before revealing the team at Massive Monster joke that “Medium (difficulty) mode is called ‘Julian Mode’ because yeah, I’m just not super good at it.“
There has been a lot of buzz around Cult of the Lamb following its huge success overseas, and fans at home were thrilled to meet the local gaming heroes at PAX Australia – the biggest annual gaming event down under, held as part of Melbourne International Games Week in October each year.
Massive Monster sold out of Cult of the Lamb merchandise on the first day of PAX and their panel was at maximum capacity, as gamers wanted their chance to meet the men behind the small indie company.
Furthermore, they won Game of the Year at the 2022 Australian Game Developer Awards, plus three additional awards for Excellence in Gameplay, Excellence in Music, and Excellence in Art.
The Australian gaming industry is small compared to the Asian and US markets but is well and truly punching above its weight. Untitled Goose Game, Unpacking and Hollow Knight were also produced by indie developers and became huge global hits in recent years.
The success of games like Cult of the Lamb prompted the Victorian government to announce an extra $5 million in funding to the booming gaming industry.
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