The Pactmaker looking committed to 2027 release

• Announcements by Jack Allin
• Published:

Retro-styled point-and-click supernatural thriller coming to Windows PC on Steam and itch.io 

Ask any good parent, and they would tell you they'd go to the ends of the earth to save their child. But the troubled star of journalist-turned-indie-developer Alejandro Pascual's debut adventure will have to go even farther than that, no matter the cost, when The Pactmaker arrives next year. 

Edward Wolfe is an accomplished university professor in Edinburgh whose academic achievements come to mean nothing at all when his 12-year-old daughter is injured and hospitalized after an accident. Of course Edward is willing to do "whatever it takes to save her, even if it means summoning a supernatural being, known as a Goetic." But as always seems to happen when dabbling with black magic and the like, there are consequences for crossing "the ultimate line," and the professor soon discovers that his price "might just be too high to pay." But with his daughter's life hanging in the balance, players will need to "forge pacts and alliances with entities from this world and beyond, absorb and explore the memories of others" and unlock other special abilities to guide Edward in his quest. 

Described as a "supernatural thriller with a dark academia vibe," The Pactmaker is a classic-styled, point-and-click pixel art adventure that spans two different worlds. Not only will you "visit a prestigious institution in Scotland, investigate a bizarre apparition in a remote Irish village, and uncover tales of reincarnation and ancient god-cults" in Egypt, you will also travel to "realms beyond the veil," populated by "otherworldly entities" whose true intentions are unclear. Every character you encounter on the other side matters, as they are "fractured souls" with their own secrets, "inner conflicts" and personal tragedies involving something they've lost, giving real meaning to the choices you make in dealing with them. Gameplay, too, involves strategic use of both worlds, featuring "supernatural mechanics" that allow players to "shift between reality and memories, altering events to uncover vital clues" in a story that promises plenty of "mystery, drama, and unexpected twists."

There is no firm target release date just yet, but the game is due to arrive in sometime in 2027 on Steam and itch.io for Windows PC. And surely the developer of a title called The Pactmaker wouldn't back out, right? 

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