The Ruler of Hell is gone, and now it is up to the Archfiends to make their way to Pandaemonium and fill the void. Solium Infernum is a League of Geeks remake of the 2009 game of the same name, originally made by Cryptic Comet/Vic Davis. This is League of Geeks’ first release since laying off nearly half of their staff and putting their previous game Jumplight Odyssey on indefinite pause.

Each game starts with players picking one of eight Archfiends, each with their own abilities (called Dark Arts) and bonuses. One of the Archfiends, Lilith, is better at sorcery with greater control over schemes and events, while Beelzebub has a more destructive focus and can convert legions fallen by her might into tribute tokens. Each Archfiend can choose up to 3 relics which give them bonuses allowing you to tweak each one of them to your desires.

On the surface, Solium Infernum appears simple enough. Each turn is made up of actions starting with two but can be upgraded up to 6, where you can move your legions, send your loyalists out to get tribute, have diplomatic talks with your rivals, and more. But looking deeper, there’s more to it. Spending an action on sending your loyalists out to gather earlier in the turn gives you more to choose from. The turn order changes every turn, with a regent being picked at the start allowing them to go first and rotating between the players each turn.

I like the varied turn order; it gives the game another layer of strategy that sets it apart from other games, knowing not just when your turn is but when someone else’s is that you are going to make a move against can be the difference.

The various ways you can press advantages in the game allow for some differing gameplay. This can be through the sheer might of your legions, buffed by their praetor champions and stratagems, or through rituals that can be destructive but can also deceive others or give you an upper hand on voting on the next edict, where Archfiends periodically come together to vote on resolutions.

Winning is easy, capturing Points of Power on the map will give you ticking renown, having the most renown at the end of the turn limit elects you as the new ruler of hell. Some artefacts, rituals, and winning combats will also give you renown.

If elections are not your style, eliminating other Archfiends is also an option. Be careful with this path, as finding yourself excommunicated means you will not automatically win by being the last Archfiend standing. You will additionally have to capture a crumbling Pandaemonium. While I find being the last man standing a tempting proposition in turn-based strategy games, having an extra step, one that is timed, adds more to the game than just beating your opponent.

The multiplayer is where this game is going to excel. Here you have the ability to either play live or asynchronous with friends who do not have a lot of time to play 4X games like Civilization VI or Humankind. This means you can play over multiple days or even weeks with an option to allow Steam to give notifications for when it’s your turn and it’s a great feature.

Solium Infernum is unlikely to take the world by storm but it is going to fill that multiplayer niche that games you have to play live just cannot do. The ability to just drop in and drop out to play a game is incredible.