At PAX Aus 2025, it was Cult of the Lamb, as far as the eye could see. The centrepiece of the entire show floor was an enormous Cult of the Lamb temple (which had a former life as a wedding chapel), and each day, it was one of the most popular spaces around. It wasn’t only in the official spaces where Cult of the Lamb lived.
No matter where you looked, there was a Lamb or Goat wandering the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Cosplayers turned up in droves to celebrate the iconic Aussie-made game. There were lore-accurate Lambs. ‘Sexy’ Lambs. And both Lambs and Goats rocking their own unique, fan-designed outfits.
Years on from release, Cult of the Lamb is more popular than ever, with a passionate audience that continues to support each new add-on and expansion.
Cult of the Lamb: JoJo Zhou interview – quick links
Why Cult of the Lamb endures
‘As a game, seemingly, on the surface, it’s such an easy thing to comprehend, right?’ JoJo Zhou, head of narrative at Massive Monster told ScreenHub of the game’s passionate fandom. ‘You’re a little Lamb, you start a cult, you have your little woodland critter followers, then as you keep engaging with it, with the mechanics, and the systems, and the story, and the art … there’s this incredible depth of everything you can do.’
‘There’s so many ways you can create, and engage, and personalise your cult. There’s so many different things to discover in the game, as well. I think maybe, it’s that combination of self-expression, and also the personality of the game, that really draws people to it.’
As Zhou described, Cult of the Lamb remains popular due to a sense of agency, that it allows players to build their world at their own discretion, with a sense of freedom in how they build their cult, and what their Lamb will become.
Narrative serves to provide a rich backdrop, and a world that’s consistently compelling, and layered. Balance creates intrigue here. While the plot reveals much about the nature of the Lamb and the eldritch gods that guide their path, lore delivery is subtle enough that players are left wanting, imagining, and creating.
Refining the lore and narrative of Cult of the Lamb
Part of Zhou’s role at Massive Monster is to create and deliver a rich narrative worth poring over, to create new worlds that compel players, and build on established franchise lore, to enrich an overarching story.
She first joined Massive Monster well into development on Cult of the Lamb, around ten months before its release. The challenges that needed to be solved were of the narrative sort – the game was brimming with cool, novel ideas, but lacked the structure and layered writing tidbits to have a clear hook.
‘I found the world so compelling, and the characters so interesting,’ Zhou said. ‘This beautiful story was being created that just needed this little bit of tightening up, and connecting the dots, which I was lucky enough to be able to do.’
As Zhou described, she found a lot of inspiration in the style and art of the game, and how it ‘runs the gamut of being adorable, and cute and sweet’ while also being ‘eldritch and horrific and scary.’
‘I find a lot of joy in how those two things mesh together in the writing and narrative,’ Zhou said. ‘But I think honestly, the community response to the characters and the story … has really propelled me onwards, because it makes me really excited to show people more of these characters, because everybody has this big backstory.’
Since those early days working on the game, Zhou has worked extensively within Massive Monster to build out the lore of Cult of the Lamb, across multiple free updates, as well as major DLC, like the upcoming Woolhaven. While she expected to work alongside Massive Monster in future, as she told ScreenHub, the success of the game has far exceeded her expectations, and she feels incredibly ‘chuffed’ to still be around, to push the game’s narrative elements forward.
A background in theatre informed Zhou’s work on Cult of the Lamb
Notably, Zhou has written for an array of mediums in her career, sharing her works and passion for deep narrative across theatre, as well as the world of video games.
‘Theatre, I’ve found, actually has quite a large crossover with video games,’ Zhou said. ‘You have your basic things, like character and dialogue, and all that stuff. But there’s also a pretty strong interactivity and reciprocity in theatre, that you do need to account for in games, because you don’t have full control over what your audience or your player will do. It encourages you to be really flexible.’
In her creative practice, Zhou applied principles of theatre to her writing, elevating the drama of Cult of the Lamb, while also providing space for that all-important player expression, which she believes has elevated the game and its appeal.
‘I was able to take a lot of those [theatre] skills and communication skills, creative workshopping, all that kind of stuff over with me to games, which is really exciting.’
Working with Massive Monster has also allowed Zhou to transfer her skills back to the world of theatre, with this year’s PAX Aus 2025 featuring an adjacent puppet show starring the characters of Cult of the Lamb, as interpreted by performance art group, Golden Scissor Puppets. Zhou was able to coordinate this show, fleshing out how it adapted the world of Cult of the Lamb, and ensuring it delved deeply into the lore that’s so inspired fans over the last few years.
‘We did a lot of workshopping, throwing around ideas,’ Zhou said.
It was just another way for Massive Monster to connect with its audience, and reward that fan dedication to poring over each new layer of lore and history.
Woolhaven is the next port for Cult of the Lamb‘s epic journey
To further expand the world of the game, Massive Monster is set to release Cult of the Lamb‘s major Woolhaven DLC in 2026. For Zhou, it’s a chance to tell more stories within this ever-growing universe, to reward players for their loyalty and passion.
‘When I started writing for this game, [I started] thinking about things like, “What did [this character] do before they were here? Why are they doing this? What’s their motivation? What do they care about?” Every single NPC has this story behind them that I haven’t been able to tell yet. So I’m excited for every opportunity we get to build out this world, and we get to share that with the players in the community.’
As previously announced, Woolhaven will be a significant new chapter in the book of Cult of the Lamb. Here, players will ‘return the lost souls of Woolhaven to their spiritual home and learn the long-forgotten history of Lambkind’ while also working to ‘rebuild the fallen town to its former glory and reclaim the mountain to restore the depleted power of Yngya, the forgotten God of the Lambs.’
This go around, players will need to deal with colder weather patterns which can decimate their flock, and also conquer hell-inspired dungeons where new and more powerful monsters wait.
‘It’s a lot of the action-packed Cult of the Lamb that we love,’ Zhou said. ‘We have the introduction of winter, which means you need to keep your cult warm and fed. And then, there’s a deep mystery bubbling underneath … There’s lots of little extra bits to do. It’s a lot of planting seeds for things that will hopefully grow in the future.’
From our preview: ‘Woolhaven is as far into the world of horror that Cult of the Lamb has gone, to date, with these new dungeons intricate and beautiful, but equally, horrific. Paired with new, vicious monsters, the expansion is shaping up to be a real hell of a time.’
Loyal fans of Cult of the Lamb will discover plenty more about this world and its many characters when Woolhaven launches, guiding by a story ideated by Zhou, in collaboration with the entire Massive Monster team.
‘Everything that we do in Cult is a huge collaborative and team effort,’ Zhou said. ‘There’s a lot of moving parts. The narrative develops alongside the game as well, because really, [it’s] so gameplay driven, the narrative is something that really needs to contextualise and support that.’
With inspiration from Greek mythology, and a narrative that explores concepts of atheism, anti-religion, and nihilism, layered over an epic journey to new peaks, Woolhaven aims to enrich Cult of the Lamb, providing new and more ambitious stories for players to absorb. In the months ahead, Massive Monster will continue to develop and refine this upcoming DLC, preparing to kick off a new chapter for the beloved, enduring Cult of the Lamb.
