Pay To SlayPay To Slay

No martial art can beat money... or can it?

Pay To Slay is a single-player, top-down wuxia action RPG painted in a bright gouache style. In the Daqian dynasty the throne was bought, every office has a price list, and even the ferry crossing and the water supply are itemised, priced and subcontracted. You arrive in Baishidu Village, a riverside ferry town, as an ordinary martial artist with no famous school behind you. Before you have earned a single coin, you are handed an interest-bearing bill and a recycled registration number. Its previous holder was recorded long ago as having died at the canal's last lock gate, but the unpaid fee for closing his record has been passed on to you.

A story that starts with a bill

The contractors have sealed the Old Canal Works "for maintenance". The ferries have stopped, the water mill has stopped and the clinic is running out of water, yet the Canal Upkeep Levy is still collected. Two canal workers are locked inside, and the man guarding the last lock gate is waiting for whoever signed the order to come back. You will play through a complete opening chapter in Baishidu Village and the Old Canal Works beneath it, with side stories along the way.

• Six connected main quests, from your very first lesson all the way to the last lock gate and a final public hearing
• Many problems have more than one answer: pay up, find the right connection, turn the rulebook against the people who wrote it, or fight
• Deadpan humour from absurd rules enforced with a straight face: a tax collector dutifully renews a dead man's fees, and on the day refunds are paid, a "refund handling fee" goes up on the notice board

Martial arts and combat

• Real-time action combat built on External Arts, Internal Arts, Mind Arts and Lightness Skill, with blocking and dodging
• Spar with a martial instructor, face the guardian of the Old Canal and take on powerful foes out in the field
• Collect martial arts manuals of different quality grades, learn new techniques and keep training them
• Equip weapons and change outfits to shape your own hero

Making a living

Martial arts take practice, and life still has to be lived. In Baishidu Village you can:

• Chop wood, mine ore, gather herbs and go fishing
• Craft gear, cook food and prepare medicine
• Trade at the market, and pay taxes, set up instalments or obtain permits at the tax desk

Taxes: pay, delay or defy?

Everyone here owes something. Paying on time saves you plenty of trouble; falling behind escalates step by step, all the way to a public notice. You can pay in instalments or work off what you owe, or you can fight the collector who comes knocking. Just expect him to come back with more guards.

A world painted in gouache

Indigo rooftops, pale walls, riverside paths and narrow streets give this martial world a lived-in warmth. Baishidu Village has its own daytime music and ambient sound, and combat, life skills and the interface all have their own sound effects.

Plans for Early Access

During Early Access we plan to add more regions and towns beyond Baishidu Village, Mystic Realms, more side stories, martial schools and meridian training, as well as more weapon types and everyday-life activities. The exact scope may change with development progress and player feedback.

At a glance

• Single-player, keyboard and mouse
• Autosave plus multiple manual save slots
• One-time purchase with no real-money in-game purchases. The only paying to slay happens inside the story