codebound

Codebound is a game idea I've had for a while now, and I've always had the intention of making a concept OST from it. But since I'm already working on a different album, I thought I'd trial run the idea as a submission for Grunt's 2026 OST Album Jam. Since I'm terrible at organising myself, I haven't gotten many songs done, including the main theme. But I still made enough music to qualify for the jam so I thought I might as well submit what I have. I do intend to finish a song or two more though, cos I kinda wanna make more than just 3 character themes.

While I have a pretty thorough understanding of the deeper lore of the game, I want to keep that as a surprise for when I actually finish a full album. So I'll discuss some of the characters and general plot instead.

Btw, I just thought I'd mention that I imagine the style of the game to be a top-down pixel art RPG.

Also, I'd prefer if you don't use this music in your game/project. It's only downloadable due to the Jam rules. I intend to eventually turn this idea into an actual game, and obviously the OST should be unique to the game. However, if you wanna use it in a YouTube video or something like that then it's fine.

The game starts with your character, an adventurous teen walking through the woods, who finds a giant abandoned facility. Its towering presence and creepy vibes scare you off, so you turn the other way and head home. After walking for a bit, you find the same massive structure in front of you again - it seems to always be in front of you. With no other choice, you enter through the heavy metal doors.

turbine13 - Soon after entering the facility, you meet Turb13 (Turbie). He's a bumbling little propeller drone that follows you around and helps explain what you should do. He's kinda child-like in his behaviour despite being a programmed robot.

NUMBER_CRUNCH (ADDED AFTER SUBMISSIONS CLOSED! If you wanna listen to IMO the best song here, use the YT link at the bottom) - After wandering around for a while, you reach of area of the facility which has many broken robots lying around. At this point, you must have already gone past dozens, when suddenly, one powers on and jumps at you and Turb13. You're now locked in a battle and this music starts playing. 

"NUMBER_CRUNCH" is the general battle theme for the game for when you're fighting normal enemies. I love Deltarune, so I was thinking about Rude Buster a lot while making this song. If you've heard it, then you can probably hear the inspiration.

PROCESSING... - Turb13 keeps on mentioning how you should "be careful" and "not make too much noise" without explaining why. After getting mad at him for this, a loud static sound fills the dimly lit corridors. Turb13 yells at you to hide when one of the cracked monitors along the walls glows bright red. The security cameras turn on and survey the room. A booming robotic voice rings through the room, questioning Turb13 about what he was doing and if he saw anything happen. Turb13 covers for you and lies, then the cameras and screen turn off, and the static stops.

You ask Turb13 what that was and he explains to you that it's the LCPU, or Laboratory Central Processing Unit. Turb13 doesn't know what it wants, but it's always angry and looking for something.

MicrowaveOS - Some time later after exploring some more, you hear a voice shouting from around the corner. You and Turb13 investigate, and it's a microwave. He says his name's MicrOS (Micros) and that he's sick of being stuck in a microwave. According to him, he was an early version of the LCPU whose code was copied and put in a microwave. MicrOS is a lovable jerk who demands to be carried around so he can find a way of getting more power, in any way he can.

I would say more, but like I said I don't wanna spoil too much, and I haven't made enough music to explain it anyway. If you like the songs, then they are on YouTube and could be coming out on streaming services soon.

Thanks for reading all that!

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNZk7uGLylyw&si=yRtRRpHS6oqX-tSw