Abandon All Hope (Ye Who Enter Customer Service)
This is a comedy point-and-click adventure game through the nine circles of Dante's Inferno, in the style of the old LucasArts and Sierra games. I built it with Claude Code, inspired by the idea behind Niven and Pournelle's novel Inferno. The story follows Dante's public-domain poem, but all the characters and jokes are new.
Dez Pike, a growth-hacking "VP of Engagement" who choked on a kombucha skoby in the middle of a keynote, is sure Hell is a prank and that there's always an exit. His guide, Mortimer Bleak, a 1920s insurance claims adjuster on intake duty, is sure there isn't. Each circle has its own puzzles, and the punishments are a little too familiar. This is a first draft proof of concept and will be updated as it is developed more.
How to play
It's made to be family friendly. My 9-year-old daughter is the target audience.
It works on phones, tablets and computers. On a phone, turn it sideways. On an iPhone or iPad you can tap Share → "Add to Home Screen" so it opens full screen like an app. The first load downloads about 10 MB, so use Wi-Fi. Your progress is saved in the browser on that device.
Controls
- Tap or click to walk, talk to people and use things.
- Press and hold (or right-click) to look at something.
- Tap an item in the bar at the bottom, then tap what you want to use it on. You can also use one item on another.
- Hold the ? button (or the space bar) to show everything you can interact with.
The game saves automatically, and once you reach a circle you can jump back to it from the Chapters menu on the title screen.
I hope you enjoy your trip through Hell!