Thanks to Bilibili's "Youxiankan" for the invitation, allowing us to play "Baiye Difu," produced by Pixel Bay Game Studio, at the earliest opportunity. This is a simulation management game that hits the "sweet spot" for many domestic players. However, although the domestic single-player market is crowded with "farm-building games," the concept of "Baiye Difu" is quite unique among them because its followed game mode comes from a very special simulation management game series—the "Two Point" series.
All simulation management games struggle to escape the gameplay loop of facility construction, employee management, and completing tasks. However, the special thing about the "Two Point" series lies in the fluidity of this gameplay loop and the experiential difference brought by their unique sense of humor.
So, when building the Judgment Platform for the first time during the demo, welcoming a batch of souls, and watching the Judge jump onto the table and scold a soul for having too much bad karma, "Baiye Difu" gives you a feeling of "getting it right."
Actually, this demo was strictly speaking incomplete. Pixel Bay Games provided us with only a very early gameplay slice. As a result of eight people working for five months, this slice is no small feat, but due to time constraints, we can only guess the complete picture of the work by combining it with the developers' shares.
The management loop presented in "Baiye Difu" is simple and largely aligns with our naive impression of how the "Underworld" operates—souls are ushered in through the Ghost Gate, judged at the Judgment Platform, punished if guilty, drink Meng Po Soup after serving their sentence, and then reincarnate.
During this process, punishments generate Hell Money—a literal "hell of a joke"—while soul reincarnation generates Incense. Hell Money is used to hire underworld officers of various functions and build facilities, while Incense is used to purchase new plots and expand territory.
In terms of characteristics, the gameplay mode and unique experience of this work both bear the shadow of the "Two Point" series.
In the game, if you want to improve building operational efficiency, you basically need to place a circle of decorations around the building. Also, a few atmosphere lights should be placed along the souls' paths to suppress resentment; otherwise, souls turning into vengeful spirits will destroy facilities and affect Underworld operations.
The employee training aspect of this game also clearly features diverse branches. Each underworld officer has their own skills, expected salary, and likes/dislikes. Skill levels greatly impact work efficiency; for example, Meng Po needs soup-brewing skills. If her brewing level is too low, she might fall off the ladder next to the cauldron while cooking, leaving subsequent souls without soup.
Of course, for works of this type, the most indispensable element is the sense of humor permeating every detail, which is also what impressed me most about this game.
Initially, only one punishment is available: the Copper Pillar Punishment, which involves pressing souls onto high-temperature copper pillars for an "iron plate grill." Usually, such scenes emphasize the cruelty of the punishment, but in "Baiye Difu," it highlights black humor—besides pressing ghosts onto the copper pillar, several ghost hands appear around it, slapping the ghost a few times before tickling them.
Additionally, there's the method of supplying Meng Po Soup. Honestly, this classic Underworld symbol has been interpreted in many ways in various artistic works, such as "You never know if Meng Po added salt to the soup." But "Baiye Difu"'s approach is still eye-catching: they installed a row of faucets under Meng Po's cauldron. Queuing ghosts are force-fed Meng Po Soup like ducks on a farm when they reach the cauldron. This efficiency-focused approach explains why lower-level Meng Pos can't keep up.
Unfortunately, the content I experienced in the demo basically only included this gameplay loop—the rest of the content requires extended analysis based on the developers' shares.
According to the developers, what is currently shown is the basic loop of the future full release. However, as more souls who don't need punishment enter the Underworld, player management will enter a new stage: building Fengdu City, where more different facilities will need to be incorporated into planning.
Meanwhile, the terrain editing feature in this demo hasn't fully unleashed its potential, which is the most differentiated part of the game's design. The base terrain consists of floating islands, between which various transportation facilities can be built to connect them. When players save enough incense to build new floating islands, they will find that besides adjusting positions, these islands can also have their heights adjusted—
This means one important thing: base construction in "Baiye Difu" will be a very three-dimensional process, distinguishing it from many other simulation management games. Generally, gameplay involving functional linkage between facilities and adjusting NPC paths between different facilities elevates the game content to a very complex level, so these elements are often presented in a simple, easy-to-understand planar expansion manner.
When vertical relationships are introduced into island planning, the considerations involved enter a new dimension—because this inevitably leads to some facility functions utilizing height relationships. How to arrange the positions of facilities becomes a more significant consideration. In the producer's share, many corresponding designs indeed appear in later game flows, such as the "Steamer Hell" generating large amounts of rising hot air. If copper pillars are built on the plot above the "Steamer Hell," the pillars will be heated red by the hot air, further increasing efficiency.
Therefore, although it's just a slice, "Baiye Difu" still showcases promising aspects. The unique humor of this genre, set against a highly localized theme, can clearly brew many jokes that domestic players will better appreciate. In terms of management simulation, the addition of height relationships allows for more complex base architecture designs, leading to more imaginative player strategies.
However, despite considerable room for imagination, "Baiye Difu" remains a work far from completion so far. We hope to see a more complete version of this work next time, allowing us to further judge the feasibility and fun factor of the content envisioned by the development team.