Sintopia launches on Steam on 16 April, handing players the dubious honour of becoming Hell’s newest middle manager.
Published by Team17 Digital and developed by Piraknights Games, Sintopia is a god-sim management game with a healthy dose of chaos, bureaucracy and dark humour. Your job is to keep the infernal machine running smoothly while deciding how much, or how little, you want to help the chickpea-like Humus folk up in the Overworld. So yes, it is one of those weeks where your to-do list includes both soul cleansing and workplace efficiency.
At its core, Sintopia blends builder and god game ideas into an asymmetrical loop. Players take charge of Hell Incorporated as its freshly promoted administrator, overseeing punishments, production lines and the general day-to-day nonsense that comes with running the underworld.
Manage Hell, meddle upstairs, and keep the sinners moving
The main hook in Sintopia is juggling two very different jobs at once. Down below, you are building up hell itself with roads, factories and punishment systems designed to match each sinner’s crimes. Up above, you can influence the Overworld by choosing whether to help the self-sufficient Humus population or leave them to deal with the fallout on their own.
Players will have 10 spells to throw around, including Force Push, Healing Rain and the wonderfully subtle Extinction Event. The Humus will carry on farming, building and exploring the land, while your actions shape what happens next.
That balance between management sim and divine meddling seems to be where Sintopia is aiming to make its mark. It is part cosy overseer, part infernal office drama, which is honestly quite a combo.
Campaign, sandbox mode, and the seven deadly sins
The game includes a fully voiced campaign in English and French, along with four difficulty settings: Easy, Normal, Hard and Masochist. That last one sounds like the sort of setting you pick after confidently saying, “How bad can it be?” right before everything catches fire.
There is also a sandbox mode, letting players tweak a wide range of settings to shape the experience however they like. Whether that means a calmer management sim or a more punishing run, the option is there.
On top of that, players will come face to face with the seven deadly sins, each with their own look and special powers as they try to take over your settlement. You will also be able to hire workers, hand out raises and praise, and keep your underworld operation hitting its quotas like the world’s worst performance review.
Sintopia launches on Steam on 16 April.