Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that most of us have spent a good portion of the past few years indoors, but it’s noticeable that the most popular videogames of recent times have allowed us to set up a new home – an escape from our own four walls that offers similar comforts, a digital place in which to simply exist. Think of the pandemic success of Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley – heck, even the steadily expanding hub in Hades came to feel like a safe haven for Zagreus, not least with such a handsome range of decorative options.
Cult Of The Lamb’s instant success, then, is no great surprise – not least since it combines elements of all those games (albeit with a macabre edge that means you’re more likely to murder NPCs than turn up at their house with a gift). Yet while you can place buildings and decorations wherever you like, it never feels like a home: you’re encouraged to see your cultists as little more than a resource, while structures are only ever designed to speed your progress through the dungeons.