Action · December 24, 2018

Heartbound (2018)

trophy31 achievementsextension1 DLCgroup100k–1M ownersrecommend3.2k recommendations
Heartbound is a non-traditional role-playing game about a boy, his dog, secrets, and sanity. Follow Lore and Baron on their adventures through time and space. Handle combat through a series of unique mini-games with varying objectives. Change the story through exploration and interaction with the world. A massive series of optional cryptographic puzzles that can be solved as a community. Varying environments with unique pixel art, an inspired soundtrack, and tons of extra socks. That awful feeling when you do something terrible to someone who loves you. More gags than you can shake a stick at. Binder can lend you one of his if you don't bring your own. Advanced sadness. Heartbound does not use the traditional systems of Levels, Experience, or Consumables. Everything is skill-based and combat can change based on your relationships with others or things you have done. Weapons can be found throughout the world and they augment how much damage you deal in certain situations. Every enemy you encounter has unique mini-games that you will not see anywhere else in the game. There are no random battles and a number of encounters are avoidable based on how you progress. Combat never ends in death and defeating someone allows you to see their memories from their perspective. What you do from there is up to you.

Action releases from 2018

175 Action titles launched in 2018 — top 6 by review volume.

Peer Action titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • Story Rich · 119
  • RPG · 116
  • Adventure · 114
  • Indie · 105
  • Great Soundtrack · 103
  • Pixel Graphics · 95
  • Choices Matter · 79
  • 2D · 67
  • Singleplayer · 67
  • Action · 65
  • Early Access · 57
  • Puzzle · 39
  • Psychological Horror · 39
  • Funny · 21
  • Atmospheric · 19

Position in Action

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume2.7k Steam reviewsTop 85% in Action
Positive rating85% positiveGenre average: 83% — this title sits in top 55%
Engagement hours1 h averageTop 97% for session depth among Action

Press Quotes

“Returning to a game in this style felt like coming home.” IGN “It appears that Heartbound will be a game that'll tug at the heartstrings and more by the time of its release, which, judging by the title, seems just right.” Game Skinny “I really really like it! I can't wait to see more of this!” Jack Septic Eye

Release & Availability

Release dateDec 24, 2018
DeveloperPirate Software
Base price$9.99
DLC / Add-ons1 released
PlatformsWindows, Linux
Estimated owners100k–1M
External linksOfficial site · Support · [email protected]

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (6)

  • English
  • Portuguese - Brazil
  • French
  • Russian
  • Spanish - Latin America
  • Japanese

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

1h

brief (under 5 hours)

Median

2h

Typical completion time

Achievements

31

Steam unlocks available

Reception Metrics

Steam community

85%Very Positive · 2.7k reviews

2.3k positive · 399 negative

Curator recommendations

3.2k

Features & Capabilities

Community

  • Steam Achievements
  • Steam Trading Cards

Input & Comfort

  • Full controller support

Other

  • Single-player
  • Family Sharing

Editions & Packages

  • Buy Heartbound