Hi there, I’m Ty Carey, Co-founder & Creative Director here at League of Geeks, and Game Director on Solium Infernum.
Back in the before times - we’re talking a long time ago, like, a decade or more - an AAR (After Action Report), was posted to Rock Paper Shotgun called Gameboys from Hell. The culprits responsible were Kieron Gillen and 'Quinns' Smith, both games journalists, and their two colleagues, who were reporting turn-by-turn on a strange demonic wrestling match set in hell. This game was called Solium Infernum, an obscure and intensely hex-based game of political machinations and archfiends vying for the Throne of Hell, by the legendary solo dev behind Cryptic Comet, Vic Davis.
The article was compelling, laced with Machiavellian shenanigans and terrifying decision spaces, so I grabbed a copy of the game from Vic’s own website (Steam existed at that time, but it wasn’t to be found there; a very quixotic move, even for 2012). I came for the intense strategy mechanics, but the infernal world-building actually grabbed and held me. The pure gumption of the copy-writing, being so unapologetically esoteric. The squintable artwork, the darkly bizarre world presented through miniature windows. And an austere, repeating map that truly meant that Hell was eternal. I’d always loved the mythology of Angels, especially the far cooler fallen types. I still have a copy of Gustav Davidson’s A Dictionary of Angels on my shelf, purchased back in 1994, and I loved Barlowe’s Inferno, plus anything horror-related (Constantine, Hellboy, Hellraiser, etc).
The Underworld was where it was at.
Solium Infernum Classic - back when using your imagination was mandatory
There’s a lot to say about your first encounter with the classic Solium Infernum. Most rational folks bounce off it fast, clutching at their own sanity. An impenetrable modal interface, rough-as-guts user experience, the general old-school clunky-ness. Written by Vic in Lingo, the Macromedia Director language that powered the interactive CD boom of the 90’s, and which by the late 2000’s was very deceased - Even the underlying heart of the game seemed necromantic. Lingo was written by John Henry Thompson, a fascinating story regarding the fusion of art and code, in itself.
But there was something there, underneath. A Charm. Perhaps the allure of something forbidden. The game offered a dark promise - an unlikely strategic and political experience, something rarely delivered in mainstream games, especially in the nascent digital board game space. Inaccessibility and complexity were a siren’s call to those with more … eclectic tastes. As my fellow co-founder Blake later coined, it was a diamond in the dark.
Way back then I was toying with ideas for Armello, before League of Geeks had properly formed. Each week the co-founders of LoG - that is Trent, Blake, and myself - would meet up on Fridays, eat pizza, and set up a paper prototype (each of us would take turns constructing and printing out a new iteration over the previous week). Armello had a rough shape and was a bit of a classic wargame between animal clans, but even at that stage, we were aware it lacked a personal story and focus.
Armello - beers and prototypes, the perfect way to end a week
There was an overlap with Solium Infernum that excited me, and opportunities to learn from it. Both Armello and Solium Infernum were digital board games of heroes (of sorts) trying to claim the throne. In Solium Infernum, the ‘central’ place of control is the capital of hell, Pandaemonium. Capturing it by force is a good option if you couldn’t win by prestige. I’m sure - although my memory is legendarily sieve-like - that Armello’s central castle, home of the King, likely originated from this idea.
There was probably more.
Having some spare time again after Armello launched in 2015, I conjured up all sorts of strange ideas for Solium Infernum, because I couldn’t let it go. I made prototypes of a card game (I’m not even the only team member who’s done this for Solium!), and even a role-playing game. They weren’t great, but my heart was in the right place. I noticed on Vic’s blog that he’d left game development for board game design (something he didn’t take to and quickly abandoned for writing fiction, and publishing his own books), so I decided to send what might be the only fan email I’ve ever written, and generously, as is Vic’s way, he wrote back.
Gaps between our emails could last years, but there was a long-term rhythm. I casually snooped around Solium Infernum’s license (at one point it was with a board game company, but sadly didn’t get made), my plan was to slowly and very carefully position myself to one day pop the big question; ‘I love your game - can I remake it?' That doesn’t sound like a hard subject to breach, but I’m classically polite and didn’t want Vic to think there was anything wrong with his own baby. Which was perhaps a needless concern.
As it turns out, in 2020-2021 League of Geeks was looking for our next project, so I boldly offered the question and discovered Vic was totally on-board, with no hesitation. I presented the idea to my co-founders at our annual retreat where we used rituals and scrying pools to divine the future, and as far as I could tell, the pitch seemed to land. I set Blake up on a single-player game and watched as the inevitable process of clawing through Solium’s difficult UX commenced. His grumbles eventually made way for evil overlord laughing which only ended around 3am.
There were a number of factors that helped; an existing design that meant we wouldn’t start from scratch, obvious areas of improvements we knew we could make, a scale appropriate for the team, a fascinating back story regarding Solium’s development and history, a small but loyal fan-base, and the opportunity to create a strategy title in an underutilised setting; Hell itself.
Early concept art for pitching Solium Infernum to partners, by Adam Duncan
The nuts and bolts of getting a game made are pitching, contracts, funding, and licenses. Although it’s a journey of exciting ups and downs, it’s generally not too much of a fascinating story for a blog. Needless, we created a pitch with help from our Art Director, Adam Duncan, and sold the idea to our friends at Kowloon Nights, who agreed to co-finance the project with us (not as the publisher - we prefer to do that ourselves). We negotiated the sale of the Solium Infernum IP with Vic, who then gave us his full unholy blessing. Trent even had the chance to visit Ohio to talk and record Vic’s story, something that we’ll likely share in some form in the future.
It’s been a good decade since Solium Infernum manifested. It never really left, in many ways, inhabiting the shadowed corners of my imagination. I’m immensely excited to have the opportunity to bring it to a wider audience; swelling the forlorn, ashen plains of the abyss with screaming souls, once again.
See you in Hell,
Ty.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you've made it this far, thanks for following along. I intend to share more posts like this, detailing the development process as it unfolds and exploring the unique challenges the privilege of re-imagining a cult classic like Solium Infernum for new (and old!) audiences holds.
For now, you can join the League of Geeks Discord community for all the infernal news and discussion.
For those who have undying questions about the future of Solium Infernum, we'll be hosting an AMA on the League of Geeks Discord on Thursday 24th of November at 10pm GMT, 2pm PST and 9am (Fri) AEDT.
P.S. You can support us and our re-imagining of Vic's "diamond in the dark" by Wishlisting Solium Infernum on Steam, if you haven't already. Wishlisting tells the all-great Steam algorithm that people like what they’re seeing and gets us in front of more eyes.