Pactbound is a dark fantasy RPG about bargaining, not catching. Every creature you meet can be talked with, and if it agrees to deal, the terms are real: you name what you're offering, it names what it wants back, and the bargain resolves the same way every time given the same numbers. No dice hidden behind the curtain.
Every pact costs something permanent. Memory. Years off your life. A bond with someone you care about. A point off one of your own stats. Health that doesn't come back with rest. A favor that gets called in later, on someone else's schedule. What you spend, you keep spent. The game will not let you take it back.
Your choices are tracked two ways: five hidden axes that shape who creatures think you are underneath everything, and a visible Grace and Malice meter that shows the world's running account of what you've actually done. Neither is a morality score with a good or bad label on it.
Bond with a creature and you can wear its strength quietly or call it up to full power mid-fight. Recruit companions, each with their own arc and their own reasons for being stuck where you find them.
Pactbound is a solo dev project, built with AI-assisted tools alongside every human decision on design and prose. It is currently in beta: two regions are playable today, with more of the world still being built.