Planned Release Date: October 2026

About This Game

The empress of Hell is gone and the contract that once bound you is broken - which means that Hell’s throne is empty, and you are free to seize it if you choose. Command your fellow demons, uncover conspiracies, forge dark bargains, and shape the future of the afterlife - or watch it burn as chaos alone reigns.

To Reign In Hell is an interactive dark fantasy novel by Stuart Martyn. It’s entirely text-based,  580,000 words and hundreds of choices, without graphics or sound effects, and fueled by the

vast, unstoppable power of your imagination.

For as long as anyone can remember, Hell has been under the thumb of its immortal empress: a brutal but stable system, enforced by unbreakable contracts and the empress’s tyrannical power. You were one of countless demons trapped within that system.

Then, the empress vanished.

With her disappearance, the contracts binding demons shattered, leaving you free for the first time in your existence. As hell descends into chaos, factions scramble to claim power. Archdemons gather armies and forge alliances in preparation for war. Revolutionaries seek to destroy the throne and take their revenge on hell’s aristocrats. A hidden conspiracy moves behind the scenes, manipulating events for their own purposes.

At the heart of the chaos lies the mystery of the missing empress. Was she slain? Did she abandon hell? Or did she somehow discover a way to escape it entirely? Meanwhile heavenly agents infiltrate the underworld, ancient horrors stir in forgotten places and old bargains begin to unravel. 

How will you use your new freedom? Will you take your place among Hell’s aristocracy, try to overthrow the system, or chart your own course? With the power to forge bargains of your own, whom will you bind: angels, demons, or stranger beings? Will you fight for a better Hell, or show everyone just how cruel and monstrous a demon can be?

In hell, power is never freely given. 

• Play as male, female, or nonbinary. Befriend or romance demons of all genders.

• Become a fearsome tyrant, an unlikely savior or anything in between.

• Argue before infernal courts, attend decadent soirées and break into hidden places.

• Lead armies into battle. Talk your enemies down. Assassinate from the shadows.

• Solve a murder. Commit your own.

• Make peace, reignite war or sustain the stalemate with heaven.

• Take the throne of hell for yourself, grant it to another, smash everything or die trying.

The fate of hell rests in your claws.