Diablo Franchise

Expansion July 9, 2026

Hell Clock, the indie roguelike action RPG developed by Rogue Snail, has released its Cursed War expansion adding a fourth act that explores the origin story of protagonist Pajeu. The $10 expansion was delayed to allow Path of Exile 2's season cycle to breathe before launch, according to PC Gamer's review, demonstrating developer awareness of how action RPG players cycle through games seasonally.

The base game presents a run-based roguelike with an accessible loot system that doesn't require deep theorycrafting to enjoy. Players stack damage modifiers room-by-room and watch enemies explode while enjoying smoother movement options including full WASD support or traditional click-to-move controls. Major updates since the game's initial release have made bosses more challenging, and Rogue Snail implemented a crafting item set borrowing concepts from Path of Exile's system.

What's New

The Cursed War expansion centers on Pajeu's backstory during his recruitment into the Brazilian army during the Paraguayan War as a slave—a period that explains the fury driving him in the base game's three-act campaign. The narrative draws from the real-life War of Canudos massacre where First Brazilian Republic soldiers slaughtered an entire town, later revisited by Pajeu in hellish form to face undead soldiers. Key additions include:

New fourth act telling Pajeu's origin story in the Paraguayan War setting

New skill Tupã's Wrath, a lightning-based ability unleashing multiple lightning bolts in all directions

Relic synergies that empower skeletal minions with lightning damage scaling

Two additional harder difficulty modes beyond normal for players seeking greater challenge

Monster elemental resistances and threatening bonuses in higher difficulties

What This Means for Players

For action RPG enthusiasts who have exhausted Diablo 4's seasonal content or are waiting between Path of Exile 2 season resets, Hell Clock provides an accessible alternative. The game's crafting system borrows from PoE but remains approachable—players can create defensive items to survive more than one or two hits in challenging encounters without min-maxing.

The new Tupã's Wrath skill mirrors popular AoE lightning abilities from other ARPGs and scales effectively with relics that empower skeletal minions, creating powerful combinations early in runs. Players seeking the game's most powerful items will need to tackle the harder difficulty modes where elemental resistances and monster bonuses add significant challenge beyond normal mode builds.

What's Next

Hell Clock continues receiving updates since its initial launch, with movement improvements and boss rebalancing already implemented. The Cursed War expansion represents a substantial content addition for fans of roguelike progression systems who want to savor runs between other gaming sessions rather than binge content rapidly.