Cover art for The Ties That Bind Us

The Ties That Bind Us

2026 · BGG
Avg rating
0.00
Bayes rating
0.00
Weight
0.00 (Light)
Players
1-2
Playtime
1 hr 30 min
Ratings count
--

Log in or make an account to save this game to your lists.

Description

The Ties That Bind Us is a fully narrated, cooperative electronic horror game for 1–3 players. There are no cards, dice, or moving pieces. The entire game runs through a custom-built circuit board. LEDs track every player and every creature in real time, and audio chips narrate every moment of the experience through the voice of Selah Wren, a soul bound to the attic who sees everything... Three characters wake in a four-level house with 41 rooms and no memory of who they are or where they are. Eleanor the Caretaker, Grant the Soldier, Julian the Artist are the stars of this game. The doors are sealed. The windows won't break. Outside is nothing but grey. Something moves through the walls. It remembers them. Players explore, scavenge for weapons and items, manage noise levels, and survive three distinct threats: the Shape That Remembers (relentless and unkillable), the Husks (what rises when a player dies), and the Wailing (what rises when a player loses their mind). Each player tracks three resources: HP, Sanity, and Sin. All three can end you. Sin is especially dangerous. Using darkness to fight is effective, but every use grows your sin, and if it climbs too high, the house simply absorbs you. There is no healing. Combat is a last resort. Stealth is survival. Multiple endings, good, bad, and secret, are determined by what you remember, what you chose, and the final judgment of Selah Wren in the Altar of Judgment. —description from the designer

Mechanics

Action Points Cooperative Game Grid Movement Narrative Choice / Paragraph Stat Check Resolution Variable Player Powers

Themes

None recorded

Publishers

Malafox Games

Designers

Patrick Thomas Mitchell