Quick Links

  • Cultist Basics
  • Is A Cultist A Keeper?
  • Managing Your Cultists

If you’re looking for an unorthodox tycoon-style management sim, Honey, I Joined A Cult is likely to be right up your street. It has all the trappings of the genre: you start your cult small and expand through tech trees and worker advancement as you fend off threats from the police and media.

Related: Honey, I Joined A Cult: Beginner's Guide

But what really sells Honey, I Joined A Cult is the theme. You start with just a few cultists and your glorious leader, assigning them tasks while you attempt to keep on top of their individual issues and desires. Here we’ll discuss how to make that work while keeping all your other cult’s plates spinning.

Cultist Basics

Whether it’s at the start or during the game, there are certain rules you need to follow with every new cultist. It’s worth noting that you can click the pen icon by their name on their Bio tab and rename them anytime. But unless you’re doing this for spreadsheet-like practical reasons, we wouldn’t advise getting into this too much. The chances are you’ll be rotating them quite often.

The big exception is Amy Leaf, who always starts in your cult and is by far the best cultist you’ll see for a long time. Keep her happy, as she is an average-quality cultist (see below), the likes of which you’re unlikely to see again for many hours of play.

Who Are They, Really? Traits And Quirks

While we’re on the Bio tab, remember every cultist needs a bed to sleep in, and we can assign one here. But to find out if they have a bed preference, we move down to the Stats tab. Here you’ll find a list of all a cultist’s Moods, Traits, Quirks, and Effects. This is the engine room of every cultist and something you’ll be revisiting regularly throughout the game.

  • Personal issues: You need to note a lot of basics here that you can forget afterward. Do they need an assigned bed, and are they happy sleeping in a public area? Do they want a shower or toilet cubicle? If this cultist is a keeper, you must ensure their mood won’t immediately drop. So, you may need to build extra toilets, partition showers, place a few rugs or plants around the place, etc.
  • Job issues: Are there any places they don’t want to work or skills they’re either good or terrible at? For example, you don’t want a Decrepit maintenance worker, as they rely on speed. Go down to the Level tab if any Skills are negative. Find the areas associated with each negative skill and click the Priorities tab. Click the box next to any room using those skills until there is an X in the box; the cultist will ignore those rooms.
  • Positive Traits and Quirks: If you’re lucky enough to have some positive (green) traits and quirks, equally use these to your advantage. Do they have skill bonuses? Assign them to the appropriate rooms under the Priorities tab (with a tick in the box).

Assigning Rooms To Cultists

Some cultists will naturally fall into a particular role. But once these positions are assigned, you need to accommodate the rest. Your cult will only run smoothly if the basic jobs are covered, which sometimes means putting a round peg in a square hole until someone better comes long.

At first, you’ll only have four cultists and four key positions to fill: The Lobby, Research Office (after your first quest), the Temple, and the Meditation studio. All are crucial in the early game, so cover them the best you can. As you get more cultists, have a couple who will cover all jobs while staggering the hours they cover under the Schedule tab to keep the resources rolling in. Note that a few jobs, such as Research and Maintenance, can also be done at night, so consider having one nighttime worker. A constant flow of Research is super nice to have if you have the Influence to fund it, while they can also fix anything overnight, saving you having to tie someone to the Maintenance role.

Is A Cultist A Keeper?

Early in the game, you may as well keep every new cultist until you hit your initial cap of nine. The exception will be a new cultist with a particularly bad negative skill trait, such as minus one to all skills or minus two to one you need them to have to fit the one role you need them to do. Thankfully, once you’re about a week in, you’ll have a steady flow of new followers ready to become cultists.

On the flip side, look out for any cultists with strong positive traits that instead give initial bonuses to skills. It’s likely to be two weeks or probably more until you start to see poor followers rather than the very poor ones you start with. And even these can only go up a few more levels and skill points than very poor ones while costing more Faith when they do so. So, a very poor cultist with a positive skill trait is a better value than a poor one without. Generally, only trade out a cultist with positive skills for one at least two grades higher than the other.

The cultist grades are as follows:

very poor < poor < average < good < very good < incredible

Managing Your Cultists

Congratulations, your real problems are about to begin. No matter how hard you try, you must accept that the cultists will get bored. Even if you do everything right, they’re likely to want out in the end. So don’t get attached and learn when to cut your losses.

  • Improvements: Regularly use the Cultists button on your lower icon bar for the Cultist Overview. It’s great for spotting trends, such as Grimy (improve your sinks) or Horrific Food (time to put burgers on the menu). If several cultists have the same issue, it’s a no-brainer to get on top of it.
  • Missions: Missions are great, giving you all kinds of goodies. But only attempt them if you’re getting a 100 percent pass rate. A cultist that fails a mission gets a temporary negative effect on their mood, which can swing them over the edge into a break.
  • Fun: This is the old age equivalent in Honey, I Joined A Cult. It’s inevitable, so why fight it? When a cultist is bored, they get a massive negative buff which can be hard or pointless to fight against. All the board games and vinyl in the world won’t be enough.
  • Prestige: As your cultists level up, they expect a level of Prestige from the rooms they occupy. They get a boost from ones a little higher but lose mood points if a room is too far below their expectations. Keep a close eye on all your rooms, including ones it’s easy to overlook, such as the bedroom. Raising Prestige regularly is simple via Decor items, as long as you have a steady flow of cash income.
  • Mood breaks: These can be a nightmare, especially if a cultist goes on a spree and breaks a bunch of items. They desert their post and become uncontrollable until they leave or you calm them down. Mood Boostresearch can help here, but 40 Influence is a high price to keep a cultist onside, especially early on. You might well be better off letting them go.

Let Your People Go

Unless a cultist is average or better, the chances are a better or equally good one is just around the corner. Very poor cultists can only obtain level three, which they’ll make in a couple of days. And even poor cultists can only reach level five. So, unless they have some great positive traits, they’re basically expendable. It sounds harsh, we know, but it fits the theme. The important thing is that you have your job bases covered, and the cultists you do have aren't causing you any resource losses. Never be scared to cut your losses and move on to the next sucker because there’s one born every minute.

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