January 8, 2026 - Hooded Horse is excited to reveal a new game joining its portfolio of world-class strategic and tactical games. Dead Money LLC’s debut title, Architect of Ruin, is a hand-drawn sword and sorcery colony simulation that tasks players with rebuilding an ancient temple under the gaze of a vengeful god.
With the old temple in ruins and its power dormant, the faithful have scattered. As the new master of these broken halls, guide a growing cult against adversity and meddling heroes. Balance resource management, construction, and survival, all for the glory of forgotten dark gods. Untomb forbidden knowledge, perform sinister rituals, and rebuild this evil sanctuary one blood-soaked stone at a time.
"I love being the bad guy,” says Hooded Horse CEO Tim Bender. “I mean, I'm a CEO, it comes naturally. And with Architect of Ruin I get to do stuff they won't let me do at Hooded Horse, like raise undead hordes and sacrifice people in dark rituals."
"We weren't going to pass on an opportunity to work with Tim and the team at Hooded Horse," says studio co-owner Brandon Reinhart. "Their catalog is full of games players love, the games we stay up late playing. They take the time to get things right."
Dead Money LLC is founded by industry veterans with experience working at Epic and at Valve, contributing to games such as Team Fortress 2, Dota 2, and the digital adaptation of The Lord of the Rings - Living Card Game.
The game will be localized from English into German, French, Spanish, Italian, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Ukrainian, Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese.
Architect of Ruin will be releasing on PC via Steam Early Access.
A press kit is available.
Press inquiries: press@hoodedhorse.com
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About Hooded Horse™
Hooded Horse is a publisher of deep strategic and tactical games, including Manor Lords, Against the Storm, ENDLESS™ Legend 2, Old World, Norland, Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, and 9 Kings. With people and partners around the world, our goal is to empower and support developers in doing what they do best: creating world-class experiences for their audiences.
You can find out more about us on our Steam publisher page or website, as well as our social channels: Twitter, Bluesky, Facebook, YouTube, and Discord.
About Dead Money LLC
Dead Money LLC is an American studio based in Las Vegas that combines meticulous polish with hand-drawn artistry. Founded by brothers Brandon and Blake Reinhart, along with artist Ulrick Wery, the team draws upon decades of experience at Valve and Epic to build games that will ruin your sleep.
You can find out more via the official website, as well as social spaces including Twitter, Bluesky, Instagram, and TikTok. You can also check out their YouTube channel.