Indie cult simulator Cult of the Lamb appeared at PAX Australia on October 11 - October 13. But, rather than having a booth that allows anyone passing by to play for a while and get a taste of what it's like to be a cult leader, the teams at Devolver Digital and Massive Monster decided to do things a little differently. Instead, an 8-meter replica of the in-game temple where the lamb delivers daily sermons and performs rituals was built, and two couples were officially married there on Sunday.
The official Cult of the Lamb X account tweeted in April asking if any of their followers would be willing to get married at the event, and the response to that single tweet was overwhelming. According to the Cult of the Lamb account, the tweet received hundreds of applications from couples willing to tie the knot at the temple, but only two couples were chosen. The thought of applying definitely crossed my mind when I first saw the tweet, but after seeing the price of flights to Australia alone, it quickly dawned on me that it would probably be cheaper to build a temple and start my own cult.
A genuine celebrant was hired to officiate the weddings, and wedding photographers were hired to capture every moment of both ceremonies. The ceremonies were confined to one day, rather than spanning the whole weekend. So any attendee had ample opportunity to visit the temple without a wedding going on as well. But the weddings taking place were also open to the public so anyone could swing by to see the couples unite in holy baa-trimony.
On Friday and Saturday, the temple was opened to attendees so they could 'praise the lamb'. However, on Sunday, the temple transformed into a wedding chapel with pews, an aisle, and an altar, where two couples proceeded with genuine, legally binding marriage ceremonies. In front of the entire event, as well. So thousands of people. Just let that sink in. The first pair, Jasper and Tanner, even took their ceremony one step further, by wearing fursuits to make it more personal. The second couple, on the other hand, went for a more traditional dress judging the photos shared on X. A special appearance from the lamb even took place during the ceremonies, with a mascot adorned with a flower crown coming out to take photos with the newly wedded couple.
According to tweets being shared, even though the ceremonies felt quite humorous (it's not every day you see full-blown weddings at a literal temple filled with cult members) the reception from attendees was also quite emotional. The Cult of the Lamb X account shared a thread of photos taken by the official wedding photographers with the caption "Crying all day yesterday" and multiple people sharing that there 'wasn't a dry eye in the house' in the audience.
PC Gamer's Hope Corrigan had the honour of attending one of the ceremonies: ''As a suddenly-recruited cloaked audience participant, this was easily the most bizarre yet beautiful experience I've had at a convention. I didn't expect to go from checking out PCs on the PAX Aus show floor to being a pew-filler in an honest-to-Lamb real-life, actually very sweet and genuine wedding.
"Aside from a few, actually fun Cult of the Lamb moments just before the wedding, the rest of the ceremony was all about the couple. The whole speech by the celebrant was completely customised to the couple with heartfelt anecdotes and jokes. Nothing felt rushed, or unwanted. The couple gave their own written vows -- through tears of genuinely heart-bursting joy -- which included their love of video games, but only the normal amount from anyone I'd expect to want to get married at this event.
"During the vows, the hole where my heart should be itched, or something. I turned to Devolver boss Graeme Struthers beside me who was visibly tearing up along with most of the audience."
Aside from the wedding ceremonies, the temple also housed a rave in celebration. River Boy, the composer of the Cult of the Lamb soundtrack, DJed the event and remixed the soundtrack with hypnotic visuals and flashing words like "Praise" and "Lamb" on large screens to really hone in on that subliminal cult message. If you weren't familiar with the game and stumbled across this at PAX Aus I can definitely see this causing some serious confusion -- especially among parents, who probably had to answer quite a few questions on the ride home. But if there's one thing I love about Cult of the Lamb, it's that the team behind it knows how to commit to a bit.
From hilarious social media campaigns and collaborations to cult gatherings at other raves and parties, Cult of the Lamb has been building a cult of its own ever since the game launched in 2022. So even though I'm a bit jealous that I won't be getting married at the Lamb's temple having devoted an embarrassing amount of time to my cult, I am elated for the two couples that did get to live out my dream and I can't wait to see what crazy stunt is pulled next.