Thousand Hells: The Underworld Heists

Playing on Steam deck. Perfect when you feel like gaming but also like reading a book. The sessions work well during commute for instance. On my third heist (takes 1-2h per), still getting varied experiences. Yes you don't see the numbers behind the game, but losing still moves the plot forward. I'm here for the ride, not to min max my choices so that's alright by me.

Quite enjoying this so far! There's enough quest branching within each story to keep you coming back for more, and the writing and art--as well as world building--is quite good. Fans of KODP and Six Ages may miss a bit of the strategic element of long-term clan management, but to me this scratches a great itch in the interactive story genre. If you enjoy that genre, and are okay with losing from time to time based on chance (you can always try again!), you should buy with confidence.

At first I was sceptical and felt the game was too random and cryptic, even though I immensely enjoyed the concept and lore behind it. It's a major departure from the dev team's earlier games (King of Dragon Pass, Six Ages), though it resembles the Hero Quest / Ritual portions of those games, but without any of the other strategy/management layers (in effect, it is a choose-your-own adventure game with roguelike elements). However, despite my initial doubts, I persevered and, over some 10 hours of play, I slowly learned the ropes and came to appreciate it far more. Yes, the game is difficult and you can always fail due to random rolls, but there are ways to stack the odds in your favour. In the beginning I failed virtually all my attempts; now I have a better-than-even chance of winning each run. And as each run isn't long (maybe an hour to an hour-and-a-half, presuming you read all the text). The writing is very good, and the artwork and music are top-notch. The scenarios are interesting, and each of the four hells you can visit have their own feel and events. What's great is that each of the main quests can take place in any of the four hells, allowing for a large number …

Good length, good loop, good writing. Probably not a game for "maximizers" unless you're trying to break out of that affliction and stretch the kind of stories you accept. Also, always nice to get a game like this on Mac.

I’m loving this game – it’s very much one for people who love imaginative writing and wild, unexpected, diabolical consequences. Things I have done in only a couple of quests in this game: - helped a horrifying death-goddess reassemble her world-destroying son from his component parts after he was torn apart and his pieces scattered across the underworld - found a talking book. Met some ghosts. Made the talking book negotiate with the ghosts on my behalf. - crossed a bridge made of fingernails - shouted at a sea god (he didn’t like it) - realised I had inadvertently recruited an entire party of alcoholics when three of them all enthusiastically volunteered to take part in a drinking contest with dead, despite the fact it might cost them their souls The Hells you fare through are evocative and ingenious. The quests are imaginative and unexpected. There’s lovely touches of clever narrative design everywhere (like your potential recruits having opinions, rivalries and phobias that constrain the team you can put together, and your party members often having hidden virtues and flaws that you learn more about as you adventure with them). A single expedition probably takes a …

A wonderfully imaginative and responsive piece of interactive fiction.