Cult of the Catacombs: Blood Initiate - A vampiric Visual Novel Game (coming soon!)

🩸 WELCOME, BLOOD INITIATE.

Beneath ruined temples and forgotten tombs lies the catacomb cult — a secret society of ancient vampires, ruled by Elders, bound by ritual, and obsessed with prophecy.

You awaken as their newest Initiate, turned by the Rite of Chains and marked by visions. Your blood is not just sustenance — it is key.

Drink deep in this visual novel of ancient thirst where you'll:

🔮 Explore romance, betrayal, and transformation
🧛‍♀️ Meet seductive, terrifying vampire Elders
🧠 Influence fate with the Blood Affinity & Insight systems
🔥 Uncover cult secrets, hidden chambers, and ancient power
💔 Face loyalty tests, visions, and the threat of your own unraveling

Your choices shape your path — and the cult's.

Will you embrace the prophecy, or destroy it from within?

🎮 Features

• 5 Unique Elder characters, each with romance & betrayal paths

• Custom Blood Affinity / Insight system that affects outcomes

• Ancient vampire lore drawn from forgotten desert empires and tomb-born gods

• Original art and AI-assisted visuals (sprite + background)

• Intense ritual scenes, prophetic visions, and hidden endings

• Built in Ren'Py — easy to run on most systems

• Coming to Windows / Mac / Linux

• Completely free to play — tips welcome 🦇

⏳ Release Info

📅 Full release planned for May/June

🧪 Public beta build launching soon! live testing it on tiktok/ twitch @pandiejames in the meantime (feedback welcome on live!)

✨ Follow this page or the dev to be notified when the game is ready to play.

💸 Price

Free – Pay What You Want

This game is free, but your support helps the cult thrive. You can tip any amount to support development! 

🧛‍♀️ Content Warnings

• Blood, mild horror imagery, dark fantasy rituals
• Themes of manipulation, power, and seduction
• Optional romantic and betrayal routes (including intense emotional moments)

🧠 Credits

• Visual Novel: Pandie James
• Writing: Pandie James
• Art Direction:  AI-assisted, directed and curated by creator - with a plan to move away from  this and into more human involvement 
• Built with: Ren'Py

Hi guys! Pandie here, thanks for stopping by. I was looking for a fun vampire game to play, and while there are some cool classics and fresh takes on the genre out there, I didn't quite find the type of vampire lore I was looking for at the time. So, I decided to try my hand at making something myself!  And so Cult of the Catacombs: Blood Initiate was born. 

I'll be streaming the test versions as I go along, feel free to join me on tiktok or twitch and leave your feedback! I had no gaming creation and barely any coding knowledge before this so it's been an interesting challenge! Thought someone else might find the storyline fun and so I'm going to be throwing the results of my experiment up here for anyone to download. for free.

Thanks for playing!

- Pandie James

Find me on tiktok at: @pandiejames

NOTE ABOUT AI USE:

Please note: This is my first attempt at making a game and AI was used for some aspects in its creation. I am wary of the ethical and environmental issues surrounding AI and hope to reduce or replace the need for AI-assistance in this and future efforts.

It's because of this I am not charging any money but any funds received would be much appreciated and put to good use paying for steam store set up and meeting the goal of replacing or reducing current or future AI involvement.