Play Secret Ties (Proto) Online

Ever dug through old game ROMs and found something that makes you go "huh"? That's Secret Ties (Proto)—an NES prototype that feels like opening a time capsule someone forgot to finish. The graphics are pure 8-bit charm, with those chunky pixels and muted colors that somehow make everything more mysterious.

You start in what looks like an abandoned temple—no tutorial, no explanation, just you and some cryptic symbols on the walls. I spent my first ten minutes poking at everything, half expecting a secret door to open or some text scroll to explain what the heck I was supposed to be doing. It never came, and honestly? That kinda rules. There's something cool about a game that just drops you in and lets you figure it out.

If you're into lost media or weird gaming history, this one's fascinating. It's rough around the edges (obviously—it's a prototype), but you can almost feel the potential oozing out of it. I kept imagining what the full game might've been—some hybrid of Zelda exploration and Shadowgate puzzles, maybe? We'll never know, and that's half the fun.