JOIN US: Everything We Know

Come March 2027, I’ll be riding a deer to my neighbors who aren’t too pleased by my joining a cult. I won’t just be going to convert them to join my cult, though I suppose it can be a feature added to JOIN US. What is most definitely a feature you’ll enjoy is destroying everything you see on your path.

While that’ll probably give you the idea of a purely violent cult simulation game, there’s so much more that Wolf Haus Games proposes in their upcoming game. Farming, building, and crafting. It all may seem like a lot, but from the trailer, everything just comes together so beautifully. A beautiful mess, I should stress, given the shenanigans the game allows and encourages you to pursue.

So much to expect. Let’s break it all down in my everything we know about JOIN US article below.

What is JOIN US?

JOIN US is an upcoming open-world survival action game. You can play it solo or with up to four players, working together to grow your cult. The game calls it the “doomsday cult” because it’s the end of the world, and the apocalypse will soon befall the world. To survive, you join a cult, recruit followers, build a home, come up with whatever beliefs you’ve always dreamed about enforcing, and fight anyone daring enough to oppose your existence.

It’s a pretty flexible experience. I’d even say a sandbox, where you set your cult’s beliefs, and how your followers enforce them. You have the freedom to customize your cult’s image, including dictating your name, logo, outfits, and all. Violence is very much encouraged whenever anyone doesn’t oblige with your customs. You may even intimidate people to join your cult. Very violently.

To that effect, you can freely roam around the open-world. Just keep in mind that not everyone is on the same page as you, and at any moment, you may be forced to pull out your gun.

Story

There are story missions that you’ll complete across a 14-hour playthrough. This can at least give you some sense of direction in navigating the map. However, you can always take the sandbox route, carving out your own cult habits and path. At the start, though, you’ll customize your character’s appearance and outfits. You then choose your cult name and logo, and from there, you head out to a rural farm to meet your fellow cultists.

The cult leader has one mission for you: recruit more followers in their name. So, you head out, recruiting friend and foe alike. The question is, what makes your cult so special that people would want to join? And here’s where I see players having fun with. Whatever propaganda you’ve always wanted to spread around, here’s your chance to beat it down people’s throats.

But on a lighter note, the violence route doesn’t always have to be your go-to. You can put up posters with messages convincing enough to attract followers. You might recruit followers yourself, heading out into the world and spreading the good word. Any recruit is playable by you, which comes in handy if ever your character is killed. Alternatively, you may assign them to build, farm, or fight for your cult.

One sweet factor is that every recruit is unique. So, you do have to maximize their unique strengths and weaknesses to fortify your cult. Another is that they can become angsty when you don’t fulfil your promise to them. So, yes, it is, indeed, possible to lose followers, voluntarily or during fights, till you’re left all alone.

Gameplay

JOIN US’ gameplay sure does look like a lot of fun. The chaos of it is simply well executed, with bullets flying, smoke rising, and explosions going off all around. During invasions, all hands are on deck in trying to ensure your cult survives. But you can always take the fight to whoever is against you. Some local farmers. Police, and those will bring the full force of the law down on you, even launch helicopters raining hellfire on your camp.

Ah, your camp. It’s not much at the start, but slowly and surely, you’ll build it to become something decently representative of a functioning cult. Farming is also a gameplay activity, as is indoctrination of your followers to your teachings. Expansion remains the key goal, growing your cult in strength and numbers. And that comes with boosting resources, which requires lots of military-grade weapons that you’ll be unlocking over time, and stuff like vehicles.

So many more features will be in the game, like radio stations you can toggle during your drives. Cultists can hijack cars, even your own. Instead of fast-traveling, you can switch bodies to another follower. Trust me, it’ll get all kinds of weird.

Development

Wolf Haus Games is developing and publishing JOIN US. They are based in Montreal, and if you haven’t heard of them, it may be because they are a ten-person indie team only recently formed by industry veterans. Their M.O. is co-op and dark humor, perfectly in line with their new game. Despite their indie status, the trailers are already showing great promise and getting people hyped for launch.

Trailer

The trailer, yes. I enjoyed every second of it. You’ve been assured that the sky is the limit. That the cult you’ll be building is free to make your own. But no matter what, you mustn’t let your followers die because guess what? A leader without followers is, say it with me, a lonely weirdo.

Release Date, Platforms, & Editions

Sometime in March 2027, we’ll be getting our hands on JOIN US. This will be on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC platforms. Some good news, though, for Xbox Game Pass subscribers who can expect the game featured on the catalog from Day One. At the moment, the demo is all we have to predict how worthwhile the final game is. And I can confidently say that yes, Wolf Haus Games is absolutely cooking something special.