Hundred Nights: DIFU – Hell-Themed Management Sim

Chinese indie developer PixelsCove Games has announced Hundred Nights: DIFU, a city-builder management simulation set in the ancient Eastern underworld. The game has officially entered alpha development, and an early gameplay trailer has been released alongside the announcement, giving curious players their first proper look at what PixelsCove has been building.

The concept is a striking one. DIFU is a Chinese term for the hell of Eastern mythology, and the game puts players in charge of it. Taking on the role of the newly appointed Head of Underworld, you inherit a broken hell and must restore it to full working order, processing souls through judgement, punishment, and eventually rebirth. PixelsCove cites the Two Point series, Prison Architect, and Tiny Glade as inspirations, and the DNA of those titles is visible in the broad strokes of what has been outlined so far. The management loop sounds familiar enough, but the cultural setting gives it a flavour that is difficult to find elsewhere in the genre.

The feature list is ambitious for an early alpha project. Players will be able to terraform vast underworld landscapes, sculpting mountains, floating islands, and the infamous eighteen levels of hell using tools that allow control over terrain size and height. Soul management sits at the core of the gameplay, with players building facilities to keep the rebirth pipeline moving efficiently. Hire soulkeepers to staff your operation, but keep an eye on waiting times. Should the grudge levels of souls rise too high, they transform into Grudges, disruptive entities that will cause chaos across your carefully managed operation. It is a mechanic that sounds like it could provide the sort of spiralling crisis moments that management sim fans tend to enjoy.

Beyond the judgement system, there is also Fengdu City to contend with. Souls, it turns out, have needs. Food, entertainment, sleep, a remedy for homesickness, even basic bathroom facilities all require attention. Keeping Fengdu City running smoothly appears to be a secondary layer of management sitting alongside the main soul-processing workflow. Wrapping all of this together is a 3D cartoon art style that leans into ancient Chinese visual details, with PixelsCove describing the game’s tone as humour-filled, with fun animations and scripted interactions throughout.

Hundred Nights: DIFU is planned for PC and is currently in alpha. PixelsCove Games has announced a closed playtest for the second half of 2026. No wider release date has been confirmed at this stage. Players interested in following development or signing up for future playtests can keep up with the latest news through the game’s official Discord, YouTube, TikTok, and X channels. The announcement trailer is also available to watch now on YouTube.