Colosseum Infernum

The High Ruler of Hell has disappeared! In their absence the archfiends of hell vie to claim the throne, settling their disputes, as is tradition, in the arena. Earn the most prestige to be elected the new lord of hell or, when it is your turn to be regent, eliminate all your opponents by seizing their domains!

I've enjoyed isolating out what I feel to be the core of Solium Infernum in board game form: the demand-refuse-vendetta loop. I always found it interesting that the archfiend declaring a vendetta could challenge their opponent's champion to single combat... regardless of whether said opponent even had one yet! The opponent would often have to scramble to hire a champion at a moment's notice. The thought, then, was "what if there were even more types of different contests you could be challenged to, aside from duels and pitched battles?" With more types of contest there's more potential for scrambling (to get the type of champion you need to represent you), and more potential for bluffing (about whether you have one already or not)! 

I've also always felt that supporting betting when you have duels was a missed opportunity: betting means the other players care more about the results. I've also always imagined the archfiends sitting at the arena watching the fight and doing politics, Blood and Sand style. 

This game was also an opportunity to play around with Nandeck, which I would recommend. Anyway I hope you enjoy it!

• Design by William Dyce.
  • Inspiration was drawn from Vic Davies’ game Solium Infernum.
• AI artwork generated using Midjourney.
  • Champion portraits based on work by Jeff Preston
  • Some sampling of Pieter van der Heyden and Wayne Barlowe
• Other artwork is Creative Commons, found on Game-Icons:
  • Champion portraits by Jeff Preston.
  • Regent and Gluttony icon by Thomas Tamblyn.
  • Rage icon by Delapouite.
  • Vanity icon by Skoll.
  • Deceit icon by GeneralAce135.
  • Challenger icon by DarkZaitzev.
• Quintessential font by Astigmatic.
• Proza Libre font by Jasper de Waard.
• Card layouts were generated using Nandeck.