Hell Maiden: A journey through Dante's hell to recover lost memories

On July 16, 2026, Hell Maiden, an action horde survival game with deck-building mechanics from studio AstralShift, officially launched in Early Access on Steam. Inspired by Dante Alighieri's classic work Divine Comedy, the game takes players back on a journey through Hell from a completely new perspective.

Dante returns to Hell, but this time with no memories

The story of Hell Maiden begins shortly after the ending of the original Divine Comedy. Dante, now portrayed as a female character, unexpectedly returns to Hell despite having previously reached Paradiso. Worse still, she has lost all memories of her first journey. With no recollection of her past, Dante must once again travel through the circles of Hell, searching for a path back to Heaven and confronting higher powers to uncover the truth.

She is accompanied by the Roman poet Virgil and her guardian Beatrice, two familiar figures from the original work. Along the way, players will rescue and befriend the Poets of Limbo, including legendary names from ancient literature such as Homer, Ovid, Horace, and Lucan.

Gameplay: Build your deck and survive endless waves of enemies

In terms of gameplay, Hell Maiden belongs to the action horde survival genre while combining deck-building mechanics. Players will battle against endless waves of demons while creating and optimizing their own deck of unique weapons and abilities.

One of the game's standout features is that after defeating bosses, players can keep and use the opponents' signature abilities to expand their deck. The game also introduces the Spirit Cards system, which provides additional effects, stat bonuses, and special status effects that can be combined in different ways to create powerful builds suited to each playstyle.

The game also features Mod Cards, which allow players to upgrade and customize Weapon Cards, giving them more opportunities to experiment and adjust their strategies throughout the journey.

Nine circles of Hell, countless challenges

Following the structure of Dante's original work, Hell Maiden takes place across the 9 Circles of Hell, offering different stages with unique enemies, objectives, and boss battles. In the current Early Access version, the game features 2 of the 9 circles, along with 4 Poets of Limbo to rescue and more than 40 abilities to collect. According to the development team, the full release will expand all 9 circles of Hell, while adding more weapons, abilities, story content, and an Endless mode for players looking to push their limits.

With its literary-inspired storyline, deep deck-building system, and creative interpretation of Hell, Hell Maiden is a notable title for fans of the roguelike genre and those who appreciate Dante's timeless classic.