Inferno is one of those games that’s difficult to describe. The setting is “hell” or the Divine Comedy version of it. But it’s not really a game that has much to do with anything biblically inflected. If anything, the game is about going to Hell University to get your PhD in moving different colored pieces around. It’s bureaucratic, aesthetically garish, and completely delightful.
Here goes: in the game, you’re a family in Renaissance Florence, and you’re trying to get a primo spot in the hell hierarchy by shepherding souls through a plinko board into the appropriate layer of hell. Each of the circles of hell (excluding the topmost, Limbo) has a track associated with it. At the end of the game, each track can score between 4 and 20 points depending on how populated the circle is. If there aren’t enough souls in the circle, the track is worth fewer points. Additionally, to score, you have to have position on the track(s) and a diploma piece for that track. So, you need to acquire diplomas, move up on the tracks you want to score, and make sure there’s soul pieces in the corresponding circle.
If it sounds bizarre, it’s because it is. It’s not really thematically coherent–but it is compelling because of the game’s action system.
Hell phase (yes, there is a phase called that)
Before the meat of each player’s turn, there’s the memorably titled “Hell Phase.” Before you get to take an action, you have to move one of the soul pieces down the Plinko pyramid. There are two restrictions: a soul piece cannot share a space with any other piece, and it has to stop and lay down when it gets to its destination (the circle of hell that matches its color). If a soul would enter a space with another piece, it skips that spot and continues farther down.
Now, why does this matter? Because, the space you choose determines where you get to take your action in the main part of your turn. At the top of the board, there are four “regions” each with two associated actions. When you move a soul piece into the carousel spot, for instance, you get to take actions from the carousel area at the top of the board. Those actions are standard worker placement stuff, where you place a worker and get stuff and do things or recall all your workers. The recall action is the meat of the game, as it brings new soul pieces into the game and it advances the game clock.
Those diplomas I mentioned earlier? They’re tough to get. You either have to get half-diploma pieces which can be combined into diplomas of your choice at the end, or you have to be leading or tied for the lead on a track when somebody does the recall action, and “Dante” (AKA the game timer piece) lands on the space corresponding to the circle of hell whose track you’re leading on.
It’s difficult to give a gameplay picture of Inferno, because it feels more like a chin-scratchy abstract than it does a symbol-laden eurogame. The shared action selection creates interesting incentives for players to cooperate or compete, and you’re always considering how the final scoring will be affected by each move. It reminds me of Tawantinsuyu’s action selection system, where you get this dynamically growing array of options, without much of that game’s overwrought complexity and jank when it comes to simply placing a worker to take an action (no shade on Tawantinsuyu, but you have to remember like 10 rules to place a worker).
Overall, I found the game itself to be an excellent time, but I want to make a little note about the art. Now, I am unsure if the game’s art is AI-generated, but it sure looks like it to me, at least the characters do. The board itself looks like personality-less mud, evoking an image of hell that manages to be completely unmemorable. Much of it looks like individually generated assets that are copy/pasted around to look unique, but the reality is that for a game about descending the levels of hell, the whole thing looks very soulless. It seems AI-generated to me, but I might be a bit trigger-happy about these designations. It was odd to find myself pining for what a Dennis Lohausen take on the art would be.
Beyond that, though, Inferno is a breath of fresh air. One of the more unique games I’ve played this year-–and I’m a proud BA in Torture Studies now.
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