In development. Not playable yet, and no release date.
Hey, Gary here. Bellmont is a game I've been thinking about for a long time, and it's a little different from anything else on Paige Games. It's still early, so everything here can change, but I wanted to share where it's headed.
What kind of game it is
Bellmont is an RPG about paying off your parents' debt. You arrive in a town where money is tight, the rent is due, and the loan shark is never far away. It's planned as a full 3D world built in Unity, with low-poly characters, animals and buildings, mixed with chunky pixel art for effects, items, tools, money, the sky and clouds. The ground blends low-poly paths and sand with pixel-finished grass and flowers, and the water is 3D pixel art.
It isn't a game about saving the world. It's about surviving one week at a time, and slowly building a life that's yours.
How it's planned to play
In the early game, you take small jobs and requests from the people in town. Each day brings different tasks for different people, so at first you'll often be working for more than one person just to cover rent and food. Talking to locals matters: good relationships lead to more work and favour with groups of townsfolk.
Every 7 days, rent and your loan payment come due. You can pay early, but be warned: the people of Bellmont are shady. Someone might pay you less than agreed, or charge a fee they never mentioned. Some loan payments will be all interest and no principal, just because the loan shark says so.
Every choice cuts both ways
This is the heart of Bellmont. Every conversation, favour and job you finish has two sides. Helping one person can annoy someone else who saw it or was affected. The stronger your relationship with someone, the less the bad side hurts it; if a relationship is poor, even the good things you do count for less. It's impossible to keep everyone happy, but it is possible to keep everyone from turning against you.
Gathering, trade and your own shop
You can gather and sell, but nobody will buy from you until you get a tax stamp from the local tax marshal, which costs 7,500 silver. Gathering has levels and boosts, and your reputation with buyers matters more than demand.
You can also earn an apprentice spot, work up to professional and then master. Opening a shop puts you in direct competition with the existing store owner, which hurts your standing with him and his friends. Stock comes from caravans that only visit on Wednesdays, so plan well: an empty shop is a broke shop.
The town and the forest
The town is dense and sits in the middle of the map, with farms and roads around it and wild edges beyond: forest, river and an old ruin. The forest is planned to take up about a third of the map and feel alive, with woodcutting groves, herb and mushroom patches that grow back, deer and boar hunting, and a deeper, riskier area near the ruin where wolves and poachers roam. Choosing to hunt with a licence or to poach will affect your reputation, and there's a guard job that sends you on forest patrols.
Where it stands
Bellmont is at the outline and planning stage. Kilumen comes first. I'll share more when there's something real to show.