Heartbound (video game)
| Heartbound | |
|---|---|
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| Developer(s) | Pirate Software |
| Publisher(s) | Pirate Software |
| Director(s) | Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 665: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Producer(s) | Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 665: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Designer(s) | Jason Thor Hall |
| Programmer(s) | Jason Thor Hall |
| Artist(s) | Bradie Shaye Rehmel |
| Writer(s) | Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 665: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Composer(s) | Stijn van Wakeren |
| Series | Lua error in Module:WikidataIB at line 665: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Engine | GameMaker Studio 2 |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, Linux |
| Release | Early Access: December 25, 2018 |
| Genre(s) | Role-playing |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
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Heartbound is an upcoming role-playing video game by American indie developer Jason Hall, also known by his studio pseudonym Pirate Software. The game centers around a boy who deals with depression, anxiety, and fear as he embarks on a journey through different locations in search of his dog, Baron.[1][2] The narrative changes with different pathways and endings, depending on how the player interacts with the environment, other characters, and the combat system. Each choice or interaction has the potential to change the game by adding dialogue, encounters, or interactive objects to the world.[3]
Initial greenlighting of the game occurred in 2016. An alpha version of the game was released for Microsoft Windows, OS X and Linux in November 2016 on Steam Greenlight. Support for OS X was dropped in 2020 due to compiling issues.[4]
Gameplay
Heartbound is a role-playing game that borrows many conventions from other gaming genres. Progress is achieved by exploration and player choice, and how the player interacts with the world shapes the storyline and the environment for the rest of the play-through. According to the Pirate Software website:
"Every time you interact with an object, talk to an NPC, forget to turn off a light-switch, take out the trash, or disregard a sparkly bush the game remembers this and will change subtly for all further interactions. The greatest part about this design is that it already works and is in the current builds of the game. Both minor and major differences are going to pop up throughout the game and give the community something to share with one another. Everything you do matters no matter what kind of player you are or choose to be."[5]
Alternate reality game
A series of cryptographic puzzles can be solved outside of Heartbound, available from the game's website. These puzzles provide additional lore and offer an alternative narrative parallel to the game. Completing portions of the alternate reality game (ARG) can foreshadow or unlock additional game content.
Development
Hall lists Secret of Mana, EarthBound (and the Mother series), WarioWare, Secret of Evermore, and 1o57 as sources of inspiration for Heartbound.[1]
Heartbound was initially greenlit on Steam in December 2016.[6] A Kickstarter campaign for the game in early 2017 met its funding goal in less than two days[7] and finished raising $19,272 of its $5,000 goal. Heartbound released into Steam early access in December 2018,[8] featuring the Chapter 1 (titled Homeworld) and Chapter 2 (titled the Tower)[9] of the game's five chapters, and an expansion to the game's companion alternate reality game.[10]
Over the next five years, Heartbound continued development, and some of it was streamed live on the studio's Twitch channel.[11] Heartbound is currently being programmed and designed by Jason Thor Hall. The game's art and animation is done by Bradie Shaye Rehmel, and the music is composed by Stijn van Wakeren.[12]
Reception
Both IGN and Game Skinny have shown interest in the direction the game is headed.[1][3] On October 3, 2018, the game was in second place for top indie release on Game Jolt; on January 1, 2024, the game was in first place.[13] By 2025, the game amassed criticism as an abandoned game, due to its long development time and few recent updates.[14] In 2025, the game received a small update, which was presumably done to spoof Steam's tagging system that detects abandoned games.[15]
Heartbound is an indie RPG with a 'retro' graphical style and unique combat mechanics, which is somewhat similar to games created by Toby Fox: Undertale and Deltarune. These superficial characteristics led to a brief controversy involving popular YouTuber MatPat when a video on the GTLive channel about the game linked to Undertale, Deltarune, and Toby Fox, but not to Heartbound or Pirate Software.[16]
Around June 2025, the game was review bombed on Steam. People's reasons were due to Jason Hall's statements regarding the Stop Killing Games movement,[17] the lack of feature updates, and still being unfinished despite its development since 2016. The game was marked "Abandoned" on Steam after 13 months before a small patch update was released by the developer.[18]
In a response to the game's framework being critiqued by other programmers, Jason Hall stated that the game is optimized enough and claims it can be run on a smart fridge, directing his viewers to a YouTube video of a user who ran the game on a Samsung smart fridge. The claim was later disputed after discovering the video revealed the game was run from a laptop and mirrored to the smart fridge, not using any processing power from the smart fridge.[19]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bonilla, Angelina (February 25, 2017). "Pirate Software Talks about Heartbound's Journey of Emotion". gameskinny.com. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
- ↑ O'Leary, Alexandra (2023-10-03). "8 RPGs That Explore Mental Health Themes". Game Rant. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Jagneaux, David (January 27, 2017). "Heartbound First Hands-On Preview: Could This Be the Next Undertale?". IGN. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
- ↑ "Heartbound - Discontinuing Mac Support - Steam News". store.steampowered.com. 2020-01-18. Retrieved 2025-02-26.
- ↑ "Heartbound Home Page". Pirate Software. November 3, 2017. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
- ↑ "Steam Greenlight :: Heartbound". Steam. Archived from the original on 2017-02-10. Retrieved 2022-07-01. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Paek, Jessica (2019-01-10). "Thor, Pirate Software: Leaving AAA to go Indie". Game Developer. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
- ↑ "Heartbound (App 567380)". SteamDB. 2018-12-25. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
- ↑ "Steam Community :: Heartbound". Steam. Retrieved 2024-01-01.
- ↑ Welhouse, Zach (October 21, 2019). "Heartbound Interview". RPGamer. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
- ↑ Wilde, Thomas (2019-08-20). "Why the developers behind PAX 10 game 'Heartbound' live stream their production process". GeekWire. Retrieved 2022-07-02.
- ↑ "Heartbound FAQ". Retrieved 7 March 2025.
- ↑ "The Best Indie Games on Game Jolt". GameJolt. Archived from the original on October 1, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "PirateSoftware releases tiny Heartbound update to dodge Steam abandonment tag". Spilled. 2025-03-27. Retrieved 2025-06-05.
- ↑ Fox, Riley (2025-03-27). "PirateSoftware releases tiny Heartbound update to dodge Steam abandonment tag". Spilled. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ↑ Contaldi, Lou (2019-01-05). "Undertale Creator and Game Theory's MatPat Clash on Twitter Over Misleading Heartbound Stream". DualShockers. Retrieved 2022-07-01.
- ↑ "Pirate Software boldly declares "I don't give a f**k… eat sh*t" while refusing to apologize for his Stop Killing Games remarks". The Times of India. 2025-07-15. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ↑ Benedetto, Antonio G. Di (2025-02-05). "Steam now warns you if an 'early access' PC game might be abandoned". The Verge. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
- ↑ "How to run Pirate Software Heartbound on a smart fridge?". The Times of India. 2025-07-16. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2025-07-18.
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