David Dunham, the creator of the cult classic RPG King of Dragon Pass, has released a new game titled Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists. The game offers a more focused experience than its predecessor, centering on individual or small crew adventures rather than kingdom management.
In Thousand Hells, players are tasked with navigating the underworld, a constantly shifting realm inspired by early civilizational beliefs. Each campaign begins with the player selecting their character's traits and three additional crew members. These companions, ranging from scholars to rogues, each bring their own set of 'tiles' representing actions and ideas that can be employed to overcome challenges. Players assign one character to lead each encounter, but can utilize abilities from other crew members. The game emphasizes the power of choice and consequence, with no option to undo decisions once made.
Campaigns typically last between 40 minutes to an hour, presenting players with unpredictable journeys. The challenges can range from mercenary encounters and mythological beasts to intricate social and environmental puzzles. Players may need to appease gods, interrogate shades, blend in with armies, or outwit ghouls. Managing the crew's temperament is also crucial, as the surreal environment can easily affect their morale.
Unlike King of Dragon Pass, which used narrative prompts to shape a kingdom, Thousand Hells leverages the power of language in a more direct way. The undefined nature of the underworld allows for semiotics and irony to take precedence over conventional physics, where the meaning of words can literally alter the environment. Whether players are striving to reshape power dynamics or simply retrieve a lost treasure, their narrative choices can lead to unexpected and often perilous outcomes.
Despite its initial setup, with one player's crew emerging unscathed from their first underworld descent with only one prince in tow, subsequent campaigns proved far more turbulent. In one instance, a player managed to anger the god of the ocean within the third encounter of their second descent. This highlights the game's inherent unpredictability and the potential for even seemingly minor choices to have significant repercussions.