Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven is Massive Monster’s latest — and first paid — DLC for its massively successful ovine cult-sim. Picking up right after the main game, Woolhaven bundles in all features from previous free updates, then piles even more on top. I’m not usually one to get into DLCs, but this one is a welcome return to one of the few roguelikes I’ll actually play.
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Woolhaven centres on a new seasonal winter mechanic, ushered in by Yngya, the forgotten God of the lambs. She tasks you with restoring her lost flock of lamb souls, but in doing so, you also awaken the Rot, a creeping corruption spreading across the land. Between raising yaks, knitting jumpers, and adventuring up a frozen mountain, Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven kept me busy — and glued to my Steam Deck — from start to finish.
A Little Recap
If you’re anything like me and haven’t touched Cult of the Lamb since rolling credits, a lot has changed. Since launch, there’ve been four major updates adding:
- Blood Moon Ritual and new Doctrines (including a naughty naked dance)
- Relics of the Old Faith, a post-game storyline where you re-fight the Bishops
- Sin for followers — another levelling system alongside Loyalty, with new buildings and mechanics like a Confession Booth (10 Hail Marys, please)
- A follower breeding system (bow chicka wow wow)
- The Blunderbuss (basically a gun with unlimited ammo)
- Two-player local co-op with The Goat
On top of that, there’s been a mountain (haha) of cosmetics, follower forms, outfits, and decorations added over time. There’s plenty to chew through before even touching Woolhaven — if you’re so inclined.
Lots To Unpack
Now baaack to Woolhaven. To access it, you’ll need to have defeated all the Bishops. Once done, a new Yngya statue appears north of your base, with a short quest that opens the path forward.
Woolhaven itself is a brand-new point of interest, packed with buildings to restore. The key structure is the Yngya statue at the base of Ewefall Mountain, which guides you in reclaiming her icy power by shepherding lost lamb souls home. Winter becomes a new season you must actively protect your followers from — and it only grows harsher as Yngya’s strength increases.
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At the same time, awakening Yngya also stirs the Rot, which spreads through Ewefall. You’ll need Rotburn — gathered by exploring caverns, battling corrupted enemies, and mining — to learn more about surviving winter. You’ll also clash with the Free Pack of wolves, led by big bad Marchosias, who’s intent on warring with covetous Gods. I think that’s everything? That’s… a lot of lore.
Baa, Ram, Ewe
Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven introduces new weapons, curses, and Relics, but the core roguelike combat remains familiar. That said, there’s no shortage of fresh enemies to flatten as you climb and weave through the mountain. This DLC adds over 50 new enemies, alongside new boss fights, of course.
READ MORE: Interview | Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven: ‘New Enemies and Bosses’
I initially thought the DLC had seriously ramped up the dungeon difficulty — only to realise my game was bumped up to hard mode. While the early parts were manageable, the later sections of Ewefall definitely pushed back harder, so expect a similar challenge spike even on medium difficulty.
There’s also just so much to do now. In fact, it was almost overwhelming to keep up with everything required to maintain your cult, particularly during winter. Woolhaven adds new side quests, a strategy-style minigame called Flockade, and the entirely new Woolhaven area to rebuild.
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Your base can also expand to fit all the winter-themed buildings and decorations, if you’re the decorating type. In addition to a new fiery furnace to keep your followers warm, there’s also a Work Tent that allows your followers to move resources to select structures, a Medic Station, and more. Chillis have also been added, letting you craft warming concoctions — whether that’s Sin-boosting drinks at the Drinkhouse or hearty cooked meals.
To Your Breed, Your Fleece, Your Clan Be True
Returning your first lost souls unlocks the ranch — a feature I was very excited for after spotting the giant yak in the trailer. You can purchase animals to raise at your base, shearing yaks and llamas for wool to knit winter clothes (once you unlock the Tailor). Wool also acts as Woolhaven’s main currency, so you’ll want to keep some spare for trading with the ectoplasmic locals floating around. There are cows, turtles, and more that I’ll leave for you to discover.
I was fully on board with ranching… until I unlocked the Butcher’s Block and was presented with the option to butcher my animals for meat ahead of winter. I’m not a vegetarian, but I was deeply opposed to this. I also immediately regretted naming the animals after my dog — and my future dogs.
Animals do die of natural causes (so you get the meat anyway), and you can also Ascend them once they hit a certain level, just like followers. They have short lifespans, need feeding and cleaning. Thankfully you can eventually assign a follower to manage the ranch while you’re off crusading. Wolves will also periodically attack, but traps — and a little violence — keep them in check.
Placing the ranch poles was a bit fiddly thanks to the grid layout. I eventually landed on something functional, but anyone who loves endlessly rearranging their base might find this mildly frustrating.
Sheep Be True
Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven layers in a solid amount of side content and cult management. Survival matters more than ever, with crops freezing over in winter — making those ranch animals crucial. Resource collection also ramps up, so it was back to smashing everything in every room for me.
The DLC really leans into balancing cult care and adventuring, especially during winter. When you recover lost lamb souls, you’ll also find their fleeces, which can be buried at Woolhaven with their respective totems. There are also several puzzle rooms scattered throughout Ewefall, which I genuinely enjoyed. They offer a nice change of pace from constant combat.
A Soundtrack That Carries On
It was genuinely sombre to learn of audio director River Boy’s passing ahead of Woolhaven’s release. Known professionally as Narayana Johnson, River Boy had been behind Cult of the Lamb’s iconic soundtrack since the very beginning and was deeply involved in the game’s overall production.
Last week, Massive Monster released a statement detailing River Boy’s work on Woolhaven and how his audio design will continue forward. Thankfully, that includes a generous amount of new music featured throughout the update.
Several standout tracks in Woolhaven were completed by River Boy before his passing, including one of the new boss themes, the miniboss tracks, Woolhaven’s town theme, and the winter music that plays back at your cult base. The update also features new character voice work he helped bring to life.
The remainder of the game’s audio production was completed by River Boy’s project partner Ray Vavasis, also known as Arrowbird, who carries that same tonal DNA forward.
The soundtrack absolutely slaps — and more importantly, it stands as a fitting and heartfelt tribute to River Boy’s legacy.
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Should I play Cult of the Lamb’s Woolhaven DLC?
If you haven’t played since finishing the base game, Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven is absolutely worth your time.
Even if you’ve kept up with every update, the additional ~20 hours of content feels substantial, meaningful, and very on-brand. For me, it was more than worth the investment.
Quest Daily scores Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven:
8/10
Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven is out now on PC via Steam for $24.99, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 & 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and iOS/Apple Arcade.
A copy of Cult of the Lamb: Woolhaven was supplied to Quest Daily for this review.
