Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven | Review
Somethings Rotten in Lambmark
Cult of the Lamb was one of my top games of 2022. The updates have been non-stop, with the new expansion ‘Woolhaven’ hitting today. Winter is coming for our cult-leading lamb and his devoted flock. There is a creeping rot at the heart of it all. It’s nearly as big as the main game, full of new systems, upgrades, and decorations, and it is fantastic.
The Mountain
Woolhaven can only be accessed once you are at the endgame of Cult of the Lamb. You will need to defeat all four bishops. Once that is accomplished, a new totem will arise at the top of your cult’s base.
A few donated items later, and a path opens to your ancestral home. Woolhaven is all about the history of the lambs, their almost utter annihilation, and how you must make their killers pay.
For nearly 20 hours, I fought monsters covered in rot, grew my home base to nearly twice the size, and maintained my flock. There have been so many updates that I was bombarded with new systems and collaborations the moment I started playing.
It’s a ton of fun, but almost overwhelmingly large for someone returning after 3+ years. The story, much like the base game, takes a few twists that, while I saw them coming, I loved all the same.
A Brilliant Mix of Old and New
Cult of the Lamb is a game I gave a 9.6 back at launch. It has only gotten better over time, with tons of updates and free DLC. There is a co-op mode, which I didn’t get to test out, but everything is better with friends.
Woolhaven adds an entirely new progression path. To the right of your fast travel marker will open up a new city and the mountain beyond it. Your goal in the expansion is to bring the spirits of your ancestors back to life, one piece of special wool at a time.
Wool and a new type of wood are the main currencies added into this rogue-like base-builder. As you rebuild the town, various new systems like raising barnyard animals for wool and meat become available. There is a downside to leveling up the God of this area, though.
They are the bringers of winter, and every time you level them up, unlocking more of the mountain, stronger Winter weather will hit your Cult’s camp. To combat this, you’ll build a furnace and gain new rituals. As a cult leader, you can choose to lock everyone’s warmth in for a day or even have your cultists marry one another.
There is a sauna you can build, alongside a rot-powered furnace to help keep your minions warm. New rot minions show up, able to work all day with no need for food or water. The catch? They die after ten days, no matter what you do. Just what is this ‘rot’?
Rotten to the Core
Yngya, the forgotten God of the lambs, is the power behind this expansion. Everything you do is for them, as you rebuild their town and power to make those who killed the lambs pay. The unfortunate side of this is that Yngya has unleashed a festering rot into the mountain.
It destroys all it touches, and early on, I suspected we might end up having to turn on our forgotten God at some point if this rot were to get out of control. To progress in the mountain, you’ll continue your rogue-like runs through various levels. There is a snowy mountain outside as well as a cavern system within. The DLC does a great job of mixing runs and cult camp maintenance.
As you are at the end of the game, your camp is mostly self-sufficient if you’ve set it up properly. This meant I could focus on the new systems while making sure I had enough food stored during Winter. The ground freezes over, and without rot fertilizer, you cannot grow anything during the cold seasons.
Progression is constant, with systems that allow for more relaxed interactions, though your ever-aging cult members mean you have to constantly refresh your numbers. Juggling all of these systems was panic-inducing for my first hour back.
It had been nearly 2 years since I had played the game. Thankfully, even as a returning old hat, I got into the swing of things quickly thanks to some solid tutorialization on the new systems, letting me ease back into this crazy world.
Wrapping Things Up
Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven is an excellent, pricy expansion. I spent over twenty hours, having an absolute blast, learning the secrets of the mountain. If you have an endgame save, then Woolhaven is absolutely worth the cost for fans of the title.
Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven
Played on
PC via Steam
PROS
- Tons of content
- Interesting story
- Looks, sounds, and plays as well as ever
CONS
- Requires an endgame save
- Costs nearly as much as the base game
