About the game

Bonds is a light-hearted visual novel-type game made with RPG Maker MV.  The game's development started August 2017 and has been funded through donations on Patreon. 

The full game features:

• About an hour's worth of story content with multiple choices and full-screen CGs (Story Mode)
• Interactive gameplay features (Session Mode) with 3 characters and commission system
• Custom recorded gag sounds for all characters
• A gallery where you can view unlocked CGs from Story Mode
• Generally a lot of mild bondage content

Story

Robin is a student in college who has always had a secret interest in being tied up. One day she decides to challenge her roommate and childhood friend, Alicia, to tie her up after they watch a movie featuring a poorly tied damsel in distress. Their games then become a more frequent occurrence, and they decide to try to make money off of their new hobby. Eventually things become a little more complicated once a girl from Robin's class shows interest in their activities.

Installation:

Windows - Mac - Linux

To install the game, simply follow these three steps:

1. Download the .zip file with the version you want, be it the free demo or the full version, Windows, Linux or Mac.
2. Extract/Unzip the folder anywhere you want on your computer, as long as it's not a hidden or restricted folder (which causes issues with the autosave feature).
3. Run the Game.exe file (Windows), Game.app file (Mac) or Game/Game.desktop file (Linux)

Note 1: If want to make sure the game will run on your system, try downloading the free demo first. If your machine can run the demo, it can run the full game :)

Note 2: Running the game from within the .zip folder will prevent the game from saving progress properly, so make sure you don't skip stage 2 above.

Note for people who experience an error message when starting the game:
If you get a long error message after starting the game, try dragging the game folder (Windows) or game file (Mac) to somewhere else, like to your desktop. It could be that the folder you are running the game from has some sort of protection which prevents the game from using its auto-save feature.

Android

Just download the installation file and run it on your device. It is usually easiest to download the file directly from Itch on your phone, and when it is done you should get a prompt asking you if you wish to install the game, which you do. The prompt may mention that there is a risk with installing the game, but that is just because it doesn't have a Google Play certificate (because, well, as of now it's not on Google Play).

It is also possible to download the installation file elsewhere (like on your computer) and transfer it over to your phone via cable or software. The file can then be located and run through a file explorer app.

Note that the game will probably not run if you don't have Android version 4.4 (KitKat) or newer.

Note for people who want to uninstall/remove the game from their device: 
The game can be uninstalled just like any other app, but your game progress will still be stored on your device, and will be there if you re-install or update the game. If you want to remove all game data from your device, you need to do that through your device's settings before you uninstall the app. The option to remove app data is usually found in Settings > Apps/Storage > Bonds > Storage > Remove/Clear Data, although this varies from device to device.

Updating:

Windows - Mac - Linux

If a newer version of the game is available, and you wish to update your game to that version, first follow step 1 and 2 above under "Installation" with the newer version. After that you can either

• move your "save" folder from the old version of the game and replace the "save" folder in the new version. The save folder is inside the folder named www. You can also move over the Screenshots folder if you want.

or

• copy the new version over the old and overwrite all files. You may want to back up your save folder before you do this, just in case.

Android

To update on Android you simply download the installation file again and run it. The installation will overwrite/update the game files, but keep your saved progress intact.

You can view the change log for the game here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EoRLZOEh0AjwLK1wffSRU8y4mGio6f7Tao7K7cdeeJM/...

FAQ:

Q: How do I save in the game?
A: The game is saved automatically at the end of every chapter and every few seconds in Session, among other times.

Q: I bought the game, but I didn't buy it with an Itch account. How can I download it again?
A: When you buy the game without an Itch account, you receive an email with a link that gives you personal access to the game. You'll have to find that email and click the link (or just save the link in some way for later) to get access to the game again.

Q: Can I play the game on iOS (iPhone, iPad etc)?
A: Sadly, no. Games like these are difficult to produce and distribute on iOS, in part because of Apple's strict guidelines.

Q: What is the difference between the Android version and the PC/Mac version?
A: The only noticeable differences are that the Android version is smaller, both in file size and in resolution, and there are some differences in the HUD and text display. Otherwise they are pretty much the same.

Q: My game keeps closing down after having played it for a little while. Why does that happen, and how can I fix it?
A: You probably have too little space to store all the temporary memory the game uses while you play. Clear up some space by deleting files and/or uninstalling other programs, and it should stop happening.

Q: My game shows me a long error message after I start it up. What do I do?
A: See the note for this in the Installation part above.

Q: When I try to install the game on my Android device, it gives me a warning. What does that mean?
A: See the note for this in the Installation part above.

The game began to give an error at startup: Uncaught Error: Header is Wrong. Tell me what to do? I didn’t save the installation file, how to download the game on a new one without buying? The link to the mail is also not saved