History VideoGame / CultOfTheLamb

** ''[[VideoGame/MonsterProm Monster Roadtrip]]'' also received a crossover with ''Cult of the Lamb'' on October 26, 2023 adding The Lamb as a hitchhiker with their own events and ending.

* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: The Lamb can only choose one Doctrine of two possible options, which then becomes a permanent change to the function of the cult and the traits of your cultists. They are usually a question of trading great short-term gains at the cost of needing to micromanage your cult more and face severe consequences for failure, or smaller long-term benefits that reduce overall management complexity or ones that vastly reduce the negative outcomes of the inevitable, such as cultists losing less faith every time one of their own dies. [[spoiler:In the "Relics of the Old Gods" post-game update however, you can unlock the decrees that you didn't choose in the main game.]]

* MoneyForNothing: With the right set of upgrades, it's possible to end up with more money than you know what to do with, save for spending it on [[MoneySink Midas's Cave]]. Once you have ''all'' upgrades it becomes pretty much inevitable.

** What happened to the Bishops' crowns after they were defeated?

* AndTheAdventureContinues: [[spoiler:After defeating Narinder in the Refuse ending, the player is free to continue crusading, growing in power, and developing their cult with no time limit or restrictions.]]

* {{Crossover}}: The August 21 2023 update brought one with ''VideoGame/DontStarve'', featuring Webber as an unlockable follower, themed decorations, and a new survival-based Penitence Mode.

* DeathOfTheOldGods: It's mentioned that there used to be more gods than just the Bishops, but they've all disappeared, and the Lamb continues this by killing them as well. [[spoiler: By the end of the game the only deity left standing is [[DeityOfHumanOrigin the Lamb themself.]]]]
* DefeatEqualsFriendship: Whenever you defeat a miniboss they transform into a follower that can be inducted into your cult.
** [[spoiler: Not only can you also do this with The One Who Waits, but the 'Relics Of The Old Faith' update allows you to recruit the Bishops and The One Who Waits' followers into your cult as well.]]

* DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu: In the game, the Lamb can romance and marry their followers, which would fall into this trope given the Lamb's eldritch nature.

** This trope can also be taken another step further in the 'Relics of the Old Faith' update. [[spoiler: Since you can now recruit the bishops as followers and marry all of them, it's possible for the lamb to have an entire harem of former gods and goddesses.]]

* PlotLock: Subverted with the four bishops. Contrary to what many players would initially assume, you don't HAVE to kill any of the bosses to access the other dungeons; you only have to meet the required follower count to unlock each door. This can result in some level of [[SequenceBreaking sequence breaking]] if you choose to take the bishops out at random as opposed to the order intended by the developers (Leshy, Heket, Kallamar, and Shamura); granted the developers did account for players doing this based upon specific dialogue changes so it's arguably [[DevelopersForesight Developer's Foresight]]. However, this is played straight with the final boss [[spoiler: Narinder]] who requires you to defeat all four of the bishops in order to unlock the door to their domain.

* VideoGameCaringPotential: If you have a believer who's wavering in their faith and is starting to spread dissent among your ranks, the Lamb has the option of gently guiding them back to loyal worship of the One Who Waits, though re-education takes time (during which said heretic will continue spreading dissent). You can also instate Doctrines like ordering funerals for cultists that have died of natural causes, ordering your cultists to respect elderly cultists, and ordering everyone to learn to become vegetarian so at the very least, no one will starve or complain about the grass bowls you're feeding them.

** Perhaps the biggest case of this was added in the ''Relics of the Old Faith'' update. [[spoiler: Initially, it seemed that Forneus' two kits Baal and Aym were KilledOffForReal during the FinalBoss fight, but it is now possible to revive them and return them to their mother. Doing so prevents you from having them as followers ever again, but Forneus rewards you with two powerful relics in return, as well as the knowledge that you have finally reunited a family that was torn apart so long ago.]]
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: ...Alternatively, you can just as easily sacrifice dissenters to the One Who Waits or put them into StockPunishment to make an example of how troublemakers will be treated. You can choose to make your entire cult cannibals, regularly sacrificing cultists for their meat to ensure loyalty among the survivors, and to regularly cull the elderly so that the younger cultists are more productive. Being cruel to [=NPCs=] other than your followers can also grant you exclusive rewards.
** You can destroy the surrounding areas of the merchants for no reason whatsoever, including killing some of their followers for meat or mushrooms.
*** [[DownplayedTrope There are no consequences for doing this and the merchants don't acknowledge it]], except for Rakshasa who will grow increasingly agitated the more you attack his partner. After the third warning, he'll attack you, serving as a mini-boss that can be defeated in exchange for the "Massive Monster Shrine" blueprint. This item is needed to unlock the secret Mad Monster Follower skin. Rakshasa will continue to sell you seeds, but will now quiver in terror.

** One [=NPC=] mission will allow you to sacrifice [[spoiler:Ratau, your former mentor]], another NPC. [[spoiler:You can no longer play knucklebones with him afterwards.]] This gives you [[spoiler:a piece of a holy talisman, and a new follower form.]]

* {{Crossover}}: The August 21 2023 update brought one with ''VideoGame/DontStarve'', featuring Webber as an unlockable follower, themed decorations, and a new Survival Mode.

** The August 2023 crossover with ''Videogame/DontStarve'' adds a Survival Mode, where the Lamb is given a Hunger and Sleep meter. The Permadeath comes into play once the Lamb goes too long without food or sleep.

* Crossover: August 21 2023 brought one with ''VideoGame/DontStarve'', featuring Webber as an unlockable follower, themed decorations, and a new Survival Mode.

* PendulumOfDeath: One of the environmental hazards introduced in the ''Relics of the Old Faith Faith'' update is a giant pendulum axe that swings back and forth while enemies are present. Despite its imposing appearance, it is fairly easy to avoid and can even come in handy if the player kites the enemies towards it.

** The "Senior Fight Club" strategy effectively runs on this trope: If you've selected the doctrine that favours younger followers but causes faith loss whenever an elderly follower dies of old age, then you are obligated to [[WouldHarmASenior kill your elderly]] as efficiently as possible. Thus, in the event of there being multiple elderly followers in your cult, there is nothing keeping you from forcing two elderly to fight to the death, and then sacrificing the "winner". Doing so also avoids the faith loss you might incur from outright murdering your elderly.

* AnyoneCanDie: Your followers ''will'' die, one way or another. Old age, illness, starvation, sacrifice... The list goes on. That said, you ''can'' revive them with the right Ritual.

* ArtisticLicenseReligion: A minor example seeing as how the cult is entirely fictional, but in real life cults almost never call themselves as such on account of the negative connotations (generally instead using "religion" or some varition thereof). Here, it's stated outright that what you're building is a cult.

* ItsUpToYou: The Followers by and large are pretty pathetic, being unable to feed or clean up after themselves, and seeming to be pretty incapable of fighting or defending themselves, either (best shown by the large number of them who are held as prisoners or sacrifices, as well as by the Fight Pit ritual, which is nothing more than a WimpFight.) As a result, the Lamb is responsible for pretty much anything of consequence beyond basic resource gathering. As the cult is upgraded, Followers will become able to do more on their own, such as going on missions to gather resources (This can kill them), tending to the crops and gathering food, as well as cleaning up the base, but the Lamb will always be the only one who can cook, fish, or fight.

** The Merciless Sword closely resembles the Energy Sword from ''VideoGame/{{Halo}}''.

* FlunkyBoss: Every single boss in the game, including [[spoiler:The One Who Waits]] summons smaller enemies to get in your way as you fight them. Most prominent with the [[BonusBoss Witnesses]], who combine this with GetBackHereBoss -- after taking damage they will disappear, summoning a wave of minions you need to take out before having another crack at them.

* PuppeteerParasite: [[ImpliedTrope It's implied]] that the Menticide Mushrooms may be a ''Cordyceps'' type brain-controlling fungus. Sozu [[BodyHorror has a mushroom literally growing out of his head]], for one, and appears to have a SplitPersonality, alternating between friendly (if still totally insane) and raving in AllCaps -- he also notably makes his home inside the skull of a gigantic creature with a mushroom growing out of ''its'' head, [[spoiler:and eventually dies from consuming too many mushrooms, suggesting that the Menticide Mushrooms addle the brains of their hosts and compel them to gorge on the fungus until they die, allowing it to spread]].

** One of the Crown Abilities you can unlock allows the Lamb to bug out of a dungeon if they're low on health and unlikely to progress much further without getting killed, which allows you to hang onto all gathered resources ''and'' not lose any Faith.

The player takes control of a lamb saved from being sacrificed by a mysterious entity, known as "The One Who Waits". The One Who Waits blesses the lamb with powers, and gives him [[MissionFromGod a holy mission]]; go forth and make disciples of all animals and forge the One True Cult in their name. After you use your newfound powers to defeat your captors and free the other animals, they begin to worship you in gratitude and become the first followers of your new religion. Recruit other animals to worship you, build your following, and defeat other religious groups to spread your Word and become the one true cult.

* AscendedToCarnivorism: All of the creatures are omnivores regardless of species, including the Lamb if you gain the Heart Upgrade that allows him to eat a meal to gain an extra heart[[note]]Eating the grass meal will actually make the Lamb sick and cause him to lose half a heart[[/note]]. You can go one step further by having your cult embrace cannibalism.

**

** [[spoiler:The One Who Waits pulls this on the Lamb once freed, demanding the return of the crown, the surrender of the cult, and the sacrifice of the Lamb himself. Accepting nets a DownerEnding and ends the game, whereas refusing unlocks the TrueFinalBoss and allows the game to continue indefinitely.]]