Developer Wild Factor has announced that its intriguing haunted house management and strategy game MachiaVillain will launch on PC on May 16th.

MachiaVillain casts you as the proprietor of a spooky old house in Villain City - "a luxury community entrenched in the hills of horror". It's your job to expand your empty plot into a truly terrible abode, growing it from a minor neighbourhood nuisance to a mansion of all-consuming evil - by setting traps, luring in unsuspecting locals, then letting your minions gnaw on their remains.

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MachiaVillain's blend of management and strategy, based on its launch trailer at least, looks to play out something like Prison Architect meets Dungeon Keeper meets Evil Genius, topped off with a huge helping of ghoulish silliness. Right up my alley then.

"Assemble a menagerie of monsters, balance their unique traits and needs, and customise the mansion to make them feel at home," explains Wild Factor, "Use leftover body parts from dismembering and other resources [...] to craft new items to keep the manor safe from supernatural creatures and monster hunters out to exorcise your gruesome good time."

The developer also notes that, despite your monstrous streak, you'll still need to follow the rules of classic horror movies if you want to truly thrive. "Target victims when they're alone," it says, "keep the virgin alive until the end, and never, EVER hurt the dog!".

MachiaVillain (which was successfully Kickstarted in early 2016, if you'd like to catch up on some history) will be priced at $19.99 USD when it comes to Steam on May 16th.