Steve Donohue
United States
Allen Park
Michigan
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Dante’s Inferno often gets a bad rap as Settlers in Hell, but truthfully, apart from the resource generation they don’t have much in common. You don’t fight many demons in Settlers.
Components
81 game tiles, 6 resource tracking cards, 24 tracking card counters,
36 player figures (6 each of 6 different colors), 20 demon figures, 1 Lucifer figure, 1 “good” token,1 “bad” token, 2 dice, and instructions.
Setting/Theme
The basic idea of the game is that the players must venture through the various levels of Hell until they reach the center and are able to defeat Lucifer himself. Players do this by rescuing those who have committed various sins along the way – the rescued sinners become resources which the players than use to take various actions to help them prepare for their ultimate battle.
Rules
Players begin by laying out the first circle of hell, then take turns placing 3 of their player tokens on the board. Once all the player have done so, the game begins.
Each turn is fairly simple.
The player must first fight any demon on his square. If he succeeds the demon is removed and his turn continues. If he fails, he is moved back to the corner of the previous circle. If the fight is on the first circle, he goes to a corner of that circle.
Players roll for resources which are then collected based on where your player tokens are located. Each tile has a color and a production number. If a player rolls doubles, he gets one resource of his choice, a 7 means he puts a demon on the board, and a 2 or 12 lets him place the good or bad marker on a tile. The good marker doubles production for a tile while the bad marker removes it. Any player rolling 2 or 12 can move the marker.
Once resources are collected, players are free to trade with other players and to begin taking actions. There are 6 actions, each of which has a different resource cost. The costs are printed on the resource tracking cards and make a nice player aid.
Players can buy new tiles, flip tiles, move themselves, move other players, buy a new token, or move down to the next circle.
Resources may also be used to reroll a die.
The first player to make it all the way to the bottom and defeat Lucifer is the winner.
Production
The game is well-produced. The demon sculpts in particular are very nice, and there are considerably more of them than you will ever need. The player token sculpts are also good. The tiles are nice and feel durable. The biggest knock on the game is with the resource board where the cardboard counters provided are easily knocked off the track. Replacing them with gaming stones is an easy fix.
Recommendation
I really enjoy Dante’s Inferno, but it was a hard sell. At first I didn’t really get it but after a few plays, I’ve become a fan. I’ve probably played it about 20 times all told. It definitely has a lot of decisions and there are multiple paths/strategies which can lead to victory, something I always think makes for a great game.
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John Farrell
Australia
Aspley
Queensland
Averagely Inadequate
Buster Keaton from 'Go West'
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We played once with 2 players and found it stunningly dull. It seemed to take forever to gather enough resources to achieve anything. What do you see in it that I don't? I love the miniatures - without them I would have traded the game long ago.
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Beau Bailey
United States
Missoula
Montana
Why don't you believe me?
Seriously, I'm a weasel.
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I entirely agree with John's opinion. I played the game once with three players and though initially intrigued, I found it incredibly boring.
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Lowell Kempf
United States
Chicago
Illinois
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I played it with four players and had a similar experience. An interesting idea but the game simply took too long and we got quite bored.
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Darrell Hanning
United States
Jacksonville
Florida
Love women in action movies and shows. It all started with Diana Rigg, in the Avengers.
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After playing it once solitaire, and once with my group, gameplay struck me as being patterned, predictable, and overly long for what little is going on.
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Steve Donohue
United States
Allen Park
Michigan
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I don't think it would work very well for two. Like most games that rely on trading, two player versions are flawed. Not only is there little incentive to trade, but there are fewer resources to go around so the trading aspect is greatly reduced overall.
I find it best to play with 5, although 4 will do in a pinch.
It's hard to say why so many people have trouble with it. I have noticed that a lot of people play it very conservatively compared to the way I do. It's a game where sometimes people seem to get stuck on personal goals (like completing a level or cornering a resource or attacking opponents) and forget that the way to win is to charge down to the center and take your chances with Lucifer.
My basic tactic is to put out extra player tokens quickly then begin building down. I rarely build more than 1 or 2 tiles for each additional circle. I've tried other strategies but they don't seem to work as well.
One thing I've noticed with Twilight Creations (both in play and in talking with the creators) is that their games aren't usually meant to be won by players who sit back and wait. In a game with die rolls every turn producing several different effects, random tile draws, and combat by die roll, I think aggressive play is key. Work forward, get to the bottom, and go for it.
My early games were similar - way too much time turtling and building to be sure that if I ever reached Lucifer I'd have the maximum chance to win. Now I just go for it.
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