Bound Together
EXHIBITION
I'd like to thank the Hand Eye Society, who selected Bound Together as one of many impressive interactive fiction experiences and games to exhibit at WordPlay 2019 Games Showcase in Toronto, Canada. You can read more about the event here: https://www.handeyesociety.com/event/wordplay-games-2019/
Bound Together is a top-down narrative adventure game made in Bitsy about the relationship between a bounty hunter and his captive.
FOR BEST RESULTS: Play in Firefox browser.
In a fantasy world full of swamp hags, dread gods, and wyverns, players control the bounty hunter Corsair who is bound by rope to the thief Dill. Corsair has been tasked with bringing Dill to Black Tower Prison so he can face punishment for his crimes. Yet even as Corsair desires the bounty on Dill's head, the more he learns about Dill, the more doubts he has with his mission.
As the two travel across a dangerous, fantastical land, they grow closer together, and Corsair's looming choice to turn Dill in or set him free becomes more and more difficult.
How to Play the Game:
Arrow Keys - Move/Advance Dialogue
WASD Keys - Move/Advance Dialogue
Bound Together can be played in browser and takes ~10-15 minutes to complete.
Music: Fantasy Loop by Greek555, acquired via FreeSound.org: https://freesound.org/people/Greek555/sounds/447128/
MEDIA
Bound Together was featured on Rock Paper Shotgun's Free Games of the Week (July 21, 2018): https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/07/21/free-games-of-the-week-july-21st-201...
Check out the Bitsy engine here: https://ledoux.itch.io/bitsy
More from this developer: https://johnvanderhoef.itch.io
Comments
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Great use of Bitsy's features (and limitations) to create a unique experience with a sweet story.
Thanks!
oh this game gave me some feels, i really like the developing friendship and the puzzles were great! (gotta admit tho the swamp one stumped me the most.. i felt like i was checking everything and still couldn't figure it out after getting the "solution" lol) the "slaying" was probably my favourite part, really cool sprite art :D
Thanks. I'm not completely satisfied with the swamp puzzle, but I started with the idea of doing a dialogue puzzle and then realized you can't change rooms within dialogue using Bitsy and had to shift gears. Thanks for the feedback. I may tweak that one in an update.
yeah the only way to change rooms with dialogue is to use the exit-from-dialogue hack which if you do want to can be found here https://github.com/seleb/bitsy-hacks or borksy- a tool created so you don't have to directly mess with the html file https://ayolland.itch.io/borksy
are you by any chance in the bitsy discord?
Definitely one of the most interesting Bitsy games I have played recently! I like the dialog of the characters, it works kind of like a book in a way that you use your imagination to picture the characters and the setting. There's surprising amount of content too.
I'd like to invite your game to this year's Game Development World Championship!
Thanks for the feedback! I've already submitted a few other games to GDWC, but I'd be happy to submit this one, too. Cheers!
Oh, that's glad to hear - good luck with this one too, then!
I really liked the part I played, but I gave up at the maze in the dark, I just couldn't get out :(
I worried that people would quit on that part; it's the most "challenging" part of the game. I might consider reworking it to make it less frustrating. Thanks for playing!
I was confused, but I never gave up. I try not to give up.