Tenth Bell: press kit

The world remembers everything you do.
The Emperor wants to be the only thing it remembers.

Fact sheet

Title: Tenth Bell
Developer: Michael Bondi
Platform: In the browser, on a computer or a phone
Price: Free. No ads, and nothing to buy.
Release: Season One, Acts I–V: Tuesday, December 1, 2026
Rating: Mature 17+: blood, swearing and sexual themes (never explicit, no nudity)
Website: thetenthbell.com

About the game

Tenth Bell is a 16-bit-style JRPG that plays in your browser. In Vael, every deed leaves a mark the world keeps. The Gilded Dominion has come for Tallowmere's Tenth Bell, the oldest bell there is, and the town burns. Corin and Isra go after it.

You grow from what you do: swing a hammer and your arm grows strong. Words are keys: learn what people say, then speak it back to open people, doors and fights. The story is dark, and every hit bleeds.

The game runs to thirteen acts, released in seasons. Every act is free. Acts I–IV are out now; the rest follow in whole seasons. Season One (Acts I–V) is about 5–6 hours of main story, more with side quests and secrets.

How it's made

One person makes Tenth Bell: Michael Bondi. He directs every part of it.

Code, art and sound design. Claude, an AI by Anthropic, writes the code, draws the pixel art and makes the sound effects, under Michael's direction. He plays the game, marks up what's wrong and decides what stays.
Story. Michael writes the brief: the shape of the story, its themes and how it should end. Claude drafts the scenes from it, and Michael reads and approves every one.
Music. The score is Michael's own album, The Two Gates, realized with AI assistance.

The game makes nothing with AI while you play: everything you see and hear was made ahead of time. Every act is free.