Sintopia

Sintopia is strongly reminiscent in style of classic Bullfrog titles like Dungeon Keeper, Theme Hospital and Theme Park, with a dash of God Sim thrown in. The objective is essentially to manage Hell while manipulating the overworld. The game is therefore divided into two realms: the Overworld and the Underworld.

The Overworld is home to a (chickpea) civilisation of people known as the Humus, who accumulate sins throughout their lives. When a member of the Humus dies, they go to Hell. As a newly promoted middle manager at Hell Incorporated, players must “re-educate” sinners and transform damnation into an optimised business machine. After this, the people are sent back to the surface to accumulate sins once more. Players also handle the bureaucratic administration of Hell alongside this. In Hell, Sintopia plays out like a classic management simulation in the style of Theme Park, RollerCoaster Tycoon or the games in the Two Point series. Players lay out roads and construct buildings where the sins of the Humus are 'removed', and in return, they receive Purgadollars to further develop and expand everything.

Different Sin processing facilities are required depending on the type of Sin, and it is also important to manage queues and traffic as efficiently as possible. And, of course, the employees/imployees, or rather the workers who take care of the Humus, must also be managed. While the game has a slight automation vibe, it is primarily a management simulation. The gameplay is more complex than initially expected, but can be too chaotic at times: souls pile up, sin escalates quickly, and management feels more like crisis management. Players must ensure that souls undergo effective 're-education' to prevent a build-up of sins across many lifetimes, as too much corruption in the world will result in a demonic invasion.

Then there’s the Overworld, which is a bit like a god sim. The goal is to let the civilisation flourish while simultaneously tempting people to commit the seven deadly sins and eventually die, all the while building a cult. Players can increase their influence (and infamy) among the Humus population by using magical powers to boost their faith, form a cult and earn offerings. Once a cult reaches a certain size, players can activate activities for their cultists at night, such as making them commit murder, using them as an army or encouraging them to engage in raunchy orgies of debauchery. However, influence in the Overworld is only indirect, usually through administrative spells.

Although the overworld and the underworld are conceptually well integrated, the balance isn't quite right. In the Overworld, players have too little control over the gameplay itself, while in Hell, things can become repetitive. It seems odd that the originally planned Early Access phase was cancelled, since these gameplay balance issues could have been addressed during that period. In March 2025, a Sintopia demo was released, with plans to launch on Early Access a few months later during the Silksong window. However, shortly before the scheduled launch, Team17 Digital and Piraknights Games announced that they would skip Early Access and launch the game as a full version instead, but that they would conduct playtests before launch. Whether skipping Early Access was ultimately a good idea remains to be seen, but two patches have already been released, primarily addressing bug fixes and balance adjustments, particularly regarding the behaviour of the Souls Dispatcher. "Changed the behavior of the Souls Dispatcher as follows: If a Soul is waiting in the Dispatcher because its target building is occupied, and other Souls need to enter the Dispatcher, the Soul will be sent forward to its exit lane, and the spot will be freed. This reduces the number of situations where Souls would clog up in front of the Dispatcher."

Like the original games, this one doesn't take itself too seriously. It uses a colourful '80s aesthetic and satirical exaggeration to portray Hell as a corrupt corporation in a humorous way. While the animations are charming, the humour doesn't always land, despite the reimagining of Heaven and Hell being quite funny in places. Sintopia is fully voiced in English and French and features campaign mode with four difficulty settings, challenge mode and sandbox mode. The extensive campaign is designed to help players learn the game's mechanics while advancing the story.

Sintopia was developed by Piraknights Games, which is a combination of pirates and knights. The company was founded in France in 2022 by five colleagues who are all video game industry professionals with the necessary skills to create a game from scratch — and this first game is Sintopia. The game is published by Team17 Digital, which is part of the everplay group alongside astragon Entertainment and StoryToys. Team17 Digital's portfolio comprises over 140 titles, including Hell Let Loose, Golf With Your Friends, The Escapists, and the Worms franchise, as well as titles from its game label partners, such as Date Everything!, Goblin Cleanup, and the Overcooked! franchise.

Sintopia was released on 16 April 2026 for PC, priced at $34.99 / €34.99 / £29.99. The Deluxe Edition, which features an artbook and OST, is priced at $38.99 / €38.99 / £32.99.

Conclusion

Sintopia is a great concept, and its creative blend of management simulation and god game mechanics just needs a little more refinement. Perhaps a short Early Access phase would have been a better idea after all ...

Features

• Blend of management simulation and god game
• Reminiscent of Bullfrog games, but offering more than just homage
• Well-executed art style