Nestled on top of Montpelier Hill in the Dublin mountains, lies the ruins of the Hellfire Club. This infamous gentleman's club has always been a place of secrecy and speculation, with urban legends and folklore throughout the years attempting to explain what really happened there.
A brand-new Irish video game, Eyes of Hellfire, aims to capture all the mystery, superstition, and intrigue of the iconic gentlemen’s club for a modern audience - in a way only a video game can.
Players, prepare to be transported into the eerie, atmospheric world of this unique Georgian lodge, where you and a band of friends try desperately to explore (and escape) its dark secrets. All the while, the Gothic building is brought back to life through an unnerving environment and a theatrical performance from the Host, played by Liam Cunningham.
Developed by Dublin-based indie studio Gambrinous, the team spoke to RTÉ Culture about how they came up with the game’s setting and art style, and what players can expect from the game’s distinct social deduction gameplay.
The inspiration behind Eyes of Hellfire
Video games can give studios untold freedom to make a game about any time, place or person. For Gambrinous, how did they settle on a Gothic horror game with strong co-operative gameplay? And out of all the locations in the world, how did they decide on Dublin’s mysterious Hellfire Club?
"The game actually originally came from a combination of our love of tabletop games, horror and social deduction games," says lead writer and narrative designer, Len Cunningham.
"Around Halloween a few years ago we were looking for a game to play with friends that was eerie but not grotesque and more turn based and less of an action game. We realised that a game like this just didn’t exist.
"Once we knew how the game would play we were looking for some inspiration and we had already been discussing the Hellfire Club; both the group and the location," they add.
So, what was it about the Hellfire Club that drew the team in?
"As you likely already know, there are some pretty foreboding looking ruins of an old hunting lodge in the Dublin mountains. It was once the haunt of the infamous Dublin Hellfire club," Len explains.
"The Hellfire Club was a mysterious and private gentlemen's club established in the Georgian era. It had all the stories you would expect to hear about a secret society of the era - debauchery, hedonism and crime - but it was also rumoured to be a hotbed of devil worship, demonic summonings and ritual sacrifice."
With a location steeped in mystery and legend, it seems like any writer could easily let their imagination run wild on speculation, on what did and didn’t happen at a place like the Hellfire Club. So, just how did the team ground the story?
"We did a fair bit of research into the club and, while the resources aren't numerous, we did find good accounts about the original members and their activities in Dublin city at the time," Len says.
"There are a lot of absolutely true, and completely bonkers, stories about the original members that include them engaging in public duels, public outbursts of blasphemy so shocking that arrests were made, dressing up as priests to carry out high stakes con-jobs and setting servants on fire.
"One real event that actually occurred involved the original leader of the club, on his death bed, receiving a letter from a local priest begging him to recount his life of sin, evil and debauchery.
"As the letter was addressed simply to "My Lord" the member forwarded it to the devout Earl of Kildare and instructed the deliverer to say it had come from the priest. The Earl and the priest barely managed to avoid a duel to the death and by the time the prank was discovered the member had died."
That said, Len explains that the story presented in the game is a fictionalised version of the tale of the Hellfire Club, inspired by urban legends and rumours the team heard throughout their lives.
"Many people in Dublin, and around the country, hear a variety of tales about the Hellfire Club, from a tale of a night gambling with a mysterious stranger, to a rumor of walking backwards around the club bringing you visions, to a giant fiery cat that haunts the mountain" Len says.
"Many adults still keep a healthy distance although we recommend a trip up there as the view of Dublin city is spectacular," they add.
From Gustave Doré to Francisco Goya - the look of Eyes of Hellfire
Horror games can come in all shapes, sizes and styles. From the outset, however, Eyes of Hellfire has a distinct, spooky, Gothic atmosphere, paired with unnerving music that amplifies the tension to the next level.
The art style in particular is impactful, with intense, dark colours, but with just enough splashes of blood-red to remind you of the dangers you and your friends are currently facing. So how did the studio come to create the look and feel of the game?
"Our main focus in finding a look for a game is always to try something that will help us stand out a little (or a lot) amongst other games," says art director Fred Mangan.
"Once we had decided on the Gothic theme we started delving first into literary sources for the narrative. There we also found a wealth of beautiful, dark, sorrowful etchings that accompany these, especially the work of Gustave Doré. They do an amazing job of capturing the strange wonder and lurking terror that we were aiming for. This was the main push and led us to define the limited palette that we use for the game," he says.
(Pic: Wikipedia Creative Commons)
"Additionally when looking beyond games for our inspirations we turned to the Dark Romanticism of the early 1800’s for brooding, evocative art, especially the work of artists such as Goya and Blake.
"Francisco de Goya’s series of Black Paintings were a particularly strong inspiration, there’s definitely a bit of their sinister undertones in Eyes of Hellfire. He also produced a wonderful etching, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters which we love. Similarly we borrowed from William Blake’s otherworldly watercolours to evoke a mix of beauty and unease, important when building a Gothic world to explore."
Fred adds that during development, the team also came across an Italian artist called Serafino Macchiati, whose dark works around experiences with spiritualism also went into "the mixing pot" of influences. And while Eyes of Hellfire may have differed in theme to the studio’s previous games, they had experience working with this kind of colour palette.
"We had worked in black and white previously on our game Guild of Dungeoneering, so had a good understanding of where the limitations of that decision would feature" he says. "While that game was far more cheeky and playful it’s been fantastic fun to go dark and grim with Eyes of Hellfire."
Uncertainty: the gameplay of Eyes of Hellfire
People need only look at the success of games like Among Us, to TV series like The Traitors to see that social deduction games have exploded in popularity in recent years.
In these scenarios, players are balancing teamwork with self-interest. Sure, you're with friends, but there’s always that sense of paranoia that hangs in the background; what are they really up to? Depending on the game, you might also have to push your own agenda in secret, too.
Eyes of Hellfire blends that sense of almost combative co-op gameplay in a way only a video game can pull off. The game features proximity chat, meaning you can only communicate with people you’re close to. Pair this with limited visibility, and you’re never quite sure what everyone’s doing or where they are.
"Quite early on we decided one of the core tenets of Eyes of Hellfire was 'uncertainty’, which matches really well with the gothic horror setting we were creating," explains game director, Colm Larkin.
"This is reflected in a game world that is shifting and not always what it seems. We often show one player something that isn’t there for others - what we call a ‘fakeout’. So we also brought that uncertainty over to the co-op team play with the curses."
As if the eerie setting wasn’t enough, the game has a unique curse mechanic that adds another layer to each and every session. Curses motivate players to concentrate on their own objectives, while also being part of a team.
But they can’t go about their mission haphazardly - as one player is actively watching for any kind of clues as to a player’s specific curse…with interesting results if they guess correctly.
"When you start a scenario with your group you are each given a curse, a private agenda that you need to achieve at some point during the game. These can be fairly straightforward like ‘Revive another player 4 times’, or a bit more sneaky like ‘Steal from another player 3 times’," Colm explains.
"Where they get really interesting is with our Eyes of Hellfire curse - one player always gets this one and they are tasked with watching everyone else. At the end of the game the Eyes player is revealed to the group and they must pick another player and try and guess that player’s curse. If they get it right they steal their win!
"To me this moment is what makes the social side of the game click - everyone can be shouting and laughing at this big reveal. At the same time we wanted the game to be cooperative, so there’s no full on traitor - it’s something a little more subtle I’ve been calling ‘friction co-op’."
Introducing Liam Cunningham as The Host
A unique aspect of Eyes of Hellfire is The Host, this enigmatic entity that brings the theatre and drama to proceedings. Played by Game Of Thrones star Liam Cunningham, The Host gives struggling players a second chance to win, all the while introducing more paranoia to proceedings.
For the studio, what kind of approach was taken in writing this omnipotent role? And what kind of direction was Liam given to deliver this equal parts fun and foreboding role?
"When we originally conceived of the game we had intended for the lodge itself to be the primary obstacle but as the lead writer I couldn't resist writing my own villain," says Len.
"Villains are just too fun to write! So I came up with this idea of a sort of mix of game master, narrator and antagonist. Liam’s character presents himself as the kindly host to the other players, who he refers to as his "guests".
"Once we thought of Liam for the role we couldn't imagine anyone else bringing The Host to life and thankfully he was really into playing the part and had a blast doing it. Liam had a play around and had almost immediately nailed the volatile, playful, theatrical and unnerving tone to our villain."
On casting him in the role, Colm adds, "I remember us discussing Liam as a potential Host early on. I had a vision for the character that was a bit unusual and ‘off’ - like someone who doesn’t have any particular fault in words or actions but yet still makes you feel uncomfortable."
"At first I thought Liam would be too stoic, deliberate and put-together, thinking especially of his roles in Game of Thrones and 3 Body Problem. Len convinced me that we should give Liam the space to find the ‘off’ in his delivery for the Host. I am so glad as the resulting character we have in Eyes of Hellfire is absolutely phenomenal and elevates the game!"
From early access to full release – what players can expect
Eyes of Hellfire is currently in early access, meaning that you can venture forth into the Hellfire Club with your friends right now, play the game, and provide vital feedback for the studio as they continue the development process.
"We see our Early Access launch on Steam as a first step towards the full release of the game," Colm Larkin says.
"We are eagerly absorbing feedback and suggestions from the community, pulling that into our plans, and have the full team working away on more Eyes of Hellfire content right now."
"In the short term we have a new playable character in the works, as well as a remixed variation of the first scenario", he says. "Medium term we’re looking at a second playable scenario. Beyond that - we have ideas, but I want to see what the community thinks of these first few content drops before we decide where to target next."
Eyes of Hellfire is available to play now on PC. You can check out the game by visiting its Steam page here.
