If the words “King of Dragon Pass” don’t mean anything to you, you owe it to yourself to correct that. Originally released in 1999, it and its Six Ages successors are some of the finest fantasy in videogames, with systems-driven storytelling involving everything from settling multigenerational cattle disputes to undertaking mythic quests in the realm of the gods.
Last week, its designers at developer A Sharp revealed their newest project, Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists—a tactical narrative game with a premise that has me cackling at the proverbial sicko window.
On its Steam page, Thousand Hells calls itself “a surreal journey into the afterlife,” which is exactly the sort of journey into the afterlife I prefer. In each run, you’ll risk the physical and metaphysical wellbeing of four probably-doomed adventurers as you’ll embark on expeditions from the Eternal City, a “Byzantine-flavored fantasy world” perched atop a twisting, shifting hellscape.
Your goal will be to fulfill your contract with the uncanny Ambassador. I don’t know what the Ambassador’s deal is—your contract might entail the Eternal City’s salvation, or it could serve more unfathomable ends—but at the very least, the capital A tells me they’re my kind of weirdo.
“The evil below has many weaknesses, your choices will affect your chances at surviving. Use the strengths of your party in over 200 unique dynamic narrative encounters. Skills will change depending on your team’s successes and failures,” the Steam description says. “Avoid combat by sending your bard to calm the nerves of bandits. Hire a demonologist to communicate with a possessed book. Take the risk and reap the rewards, otherwise you’ll end up with a broken arm, or worse.”
Screenshots show glimpses of what kind of warped encounters we can expect while venturing through one of the Thousand Hells, like towering walking citadels with steeple feet, battles with ears covered in knives, and petitioning the court of Queen Death to release the children of a grieving mother. Given that finding a basket of mystery eggs in King of Dragon Pass could lead to fielding a unit of triceratops cavalry, I’m eager to see how the assembled bits of Thousand Hells storytelling unfold.
If you need more reasons to be excited: Like with Six Ages, Thousand Hells is being published by Kitfox Games, which—after its involvement in the Dwarf Fortress Steam launch and Caves of Qud’s 1.0 release—I’ve come to think of as a mark of systems-driven storytelling quality.
Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists doesn’t have a release date yet, but you can wishlist it on Steam now.
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