Itch.io has fast become a popular distribution platform among developers for its many and flexible tools for distributing and promoting games. The co-op bundles, which lets developers team up to bundle their games and agree on the split caught my attention when it was announced in April. There have been some interesting bundles since, but from what I've seen as an outsider, it hasn't generated much attention. The desktop app instantly became much more popular when it was released earlier this month, and it's the first real DRM free alternative we've had to the Steam client for Linux in a while (not counting clients independent of distribution platforms, like Lutris).
What many might not know is that itch.io isn't just host of jam games and thousands of amateur projects, but that it also has a good selection of high-quality professional games, like Gone Home, Tales of Maj'Eyal, Electronic Super Joy, VVVVVV and Super Win the Game. You'll also find several of my biggest favorites from this year there, including Dropsy, Snakebird, BLACKHOLE, A Good Snowman is Hard to Build, and many more.
Here's a look at some popular games released on itch.io this year that we didn't cover before.
Feist
Watch the trailer
FEIST is an atmospheric action platformer, published by Canabalt developer Finji. Finji is also working on the intriguing 3D survival tactics game Overland, and is acting as publisher of the Kickstarter funded Night in the Woods. You can find two supplemental games for the exploration game on Finji's itch.io page, including a recent remake of the game that NitW is based on, Longest Night. One of my biggest regrets as a writer for GOL this year is that I never got around to covering FEIST—or even playing the game—an omission that I hope to rectify soon.
Buy on [ itch.io | GOG | Humble Store | Steam ]
Steredenn
Watch the trailer
Steredenn is a hectic shoot 'em up with nice looking pixel graphics. Levels are procedurally generated for more replayability, and there are many weapons and spaceship upgrades to choose from. There are also several modes to choose from, including boss arenas and fixed levels, with no randomization. I haven't played the game myself, but I love the look of it and it is very popular among users on Steam.
Buy on [ itch.io | Steam ]
Wheels of Aurelia
Watch the trailer
Wheels of Aurelia is a mix of visual novel and arcade racer, set in Italy at the end of the 70s. The full game is set for a release next year, but is available as a beta, and is already an interesting experience. The racing part of it felt a bit wonky and uninteresting in the build I played a while back, but it mostly serves as a backdrop for the story, and as a way to choose which paths to take and which characters to pick up and interact with throughout one branch of the game. I've made it to three distinct endings, each of which took around 10 minutes, and I look forward to playing it again when the game is completed next year.
Buy on [ itch.io ]
Cross Set
Watch the trailer
Cross Set is a number puzzle game, similar to Sudoku, where you must fill sequences from 1 to n on every row and column of an n x n grid. Each cell has one or more digits to choose from, but there's only one correct solution that you must find by logical thinking. I've played through the game, and found it to be an enjoyable and relaxing experience. It lacks something in complexity though, compared to traditional Japanese logic puzzles. The game took me over six hours to complete, and considering the low price, it's a good deal if you're looking for a nice and casual puzzle game.
Buy on [ itch.io | Steam ]
Cluck Yegger in Escape from the Planet of the Poultroid
Watch the trailer
Cluck Yegger in Escape from the Planet of the Poultroid is a parody of the popular survival horror game Five Nights at Freddy's, and was originally developed as a minigame for the upcoming Kickstarter funded point-and-click SpaceVenture. I played a bit of the game, but even though I don't really enjoy the genre, I appreciate the game as way to iron out any kinks they might otherwise have had with their upcoming game. Which, by the way, is scheduled for a 30 November release next year, after what has been a very rough 2015 for both of the Two Guys from Andromeda.
Buy on [ itch.io | Steam ]
There's more though, and I've started putting together a collection of professional and/or notable Linux games on itch.io called Linux Gems. This list won't have any arbitrary requirements like my Steam curator group, so if you have a favorite game on itch.io which isn't in my collection, please tell me about it in the comments. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
What many might not know is that itch.io isn't just host of jam games and thousands of amateur projects, but that it also has a good selection of high-quality professional games, like Gone Home, Tales of Maj'Eyal, Electronic Super Joy, VVVVVV and Super Win the Game. You'll also find several of my biggest favorites from this year there, including Dropsy, Snakebird, BLACKHOLE, A Good Snowman is Hard to Build, and many more.
Here's a look at some popular games released on itch.io this year that we didn't cover before.
Feist
Watch the trailer
FEIST is an atmospheric action platformer, published by Canabalt developer Finji. Finji is also working on the intriguing 3D survival tactics game Overland, and is acting as publisher of the Kickstarter funded Night in the Woods. You can find two supplemental games for the exploration game on Finji's itch.io page, including a recent remake of the game that NitW is based on, Longest Night. One of my biggest regrets as a writer for GOL this year is that I never got around to covering FEIST—or even playing the game—an omission that I hope to rectify soon.
Buy on [ itch.io | GOG | Humble Store | Steam ]
Steredenn
Watch the trailer
Steredenn is a hectic shoot 'em up with nice looking pixel graphics. Levels are procedurally generated for more replayability, and there are many weapons and spaceship upgrades to choose from. There are also several modes to choose from, including boss arenas and fixed levels, with no randomization. I haven't played the game myself, but I love the look of it and it is very popular among users on Steam.
Buy on [ itch.io | Steam ]
Wheels of Aurelia
Watch the trailer
Wheels of Aurelia is a mix of visual novel and arcade racer, set in Italy at the end of the 70s. The full game is set for a release next year, but is available as a beta, and is already an interesting experience. The racing part of it felt a bit wonky and uninteresting in the build I played a while back, but it mostly serves as a backdrop for the story, and as a way to choose which paths to take and which characters to pick up and interact with throughout one branch of the game. I've made it to three distinct endings, each of which took around 10 minutes, and I look forward to playing it again when the game is completed next year.
Buy on [ itch.io ]
Cross Set
Watch the trailer
Cross Set is a number puzzle game, similar to Sudoku, where you must fill sequences from 1 to n on every row and column of an n x n grid. Each cell has one or more digits to choose from, but there's only one correct solution that you must find by logical thinking. I've played through the game, and found it to be an enjoyable and relaxing experience. It lacks something in complexity though, compared to traditional Japanese logic puzzles. The game took me over six hours to complete, and considering the low price, it's a good deal if you're looking for a nice and casual puzzle game.
Buy on [ itch.io | Steam ]
Cluck Yegger in Escape from the Planet of the Poultroid
Watch the trailer
Cluck Yegger in Escape from the Planet of the Poultroid is a parody of the popular survival horror game Five Nights at Freddy's, and was originally developed as a minigame for the upcoming Kickstarter funded point-and-click SpaceVenture. I played a bit of the game, but even though I don't really enjoy the genre, I appreciate the game as way to iron out any kinks they might otherwise have had with their upcoming game. Which, by the way, is scheduled for a 30 November release next year, after what has been a very rough 2015 for both of the Two Guys from Andromeda.
Buy on [ itch.io | Steam ]
There's more though, and I've started putting together a collection of professional and/or notable Linux games on itch.io called Linux Gems. This list won't have any arbitrary requirements like my Steam curator group, so if you have a favorite game on itch.io which isn't in my collection, please tell me about it in the comments. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Some you may have missed, popular articles from the last month:
The comments on this article are closed.
Cheeseness Dec 28, 2015
Quoting: HamishObviously the whole point of the service is to promote raw creativity, and these games do deserve their place on the service, but itch.io really does need a way to separate the cream from the crop.I'm not so sure. Currently itch.io is the same kind of service that Bandcamp is for music. It's not really a discoverability platform and doesn't need to be - it's a hosting/storefront service that developers can use in conjunction with other marketing efforts rather than a place where monolithic curation is appropriate.
At the end of the day, what constitutes the"good stuff" is subjective, and it's super important for a distribution platform (a general platform like Steam or itch.io rather than a platform that tailors itself to a specific flavour of game) to not overtly favour one set of tastes above another IMO.
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Yeah, I think it's more important that itch.io gives creators the means to distribute and promote their games and provide the tools to make it an interesting place to find and play games for users. We already have several good curated DRM free stores, like GOG, FireFlower Games and IndieGameStand, and itch.io is a more democratic approach that I think fills its own niche.
Browsing the store front for games for a user who expects to find games of the same quality as on other store fronts is less than ideal though, and even after they made it possible to combine platform filters with tags and other filters, I still find it difficult to find anything I want to play there. Even though I knew that both Blocks that Matter and Tetrobot and Co., neither showed up even after spending well over an hour looking through the most popular Linux games from top to bottom.
I don't want to limit the collection to my own taste, and I figure if at least one person can say that they enjoyed a game, it's worth adding, even if it doesn't have a high Metascore or user ratings on other distribution platforms.
Yeah, the reason why it's in "staging" is because I couldn't figure out if it's legit.
Browsing the store front for games for a user who expects to find games of the same quality as on other store fronts is less than ideal though, and even after they made it possible to combine platform filters with tags and other filters, I still find it difficult to find anything I want to play there. Even though I knew that both Blocks that Matter and Tetrobot and Co., neither showed up even after spending well over an hour looking through the most popular Linux games from top to bottom.
I don't want to limit the collection to my own taste, and I figure if at least one person can say that they enjoyed a game, it's worth adding, even if it doesn't have a high Metascore or user ratings on other distribution platforms.
Quoting: rustybroomhandleQuoting: RobertQuoting: fleskThanks. :) I have a couple of of those in my "staging" collection of games I haven't checked out properly yet...
You can safely move the Zork series out of staging, they were one of the best-selling games of their time, but I wonder if they're legit...
I seem to recall that for some bizarre reason, Activision chose to renew the copyright on Leather Goddesses of Phobos, but not the Zork series.
Yeah, the reason why it's in "staging" is because I couldn't figure out if it's legit.
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I think you both misunderstood my original post - I was not actually arguing for monolithic curation or limiting their selection like you seem to be implying, and I even said that doing so would be a never ending task for the service. What I did say was actually in line with flesk's comment about itch.io making it harder than it needs to be to find games that meet certain users defined thresholds of completeness or quality. This is an area where itch.io badly needs some improvement, as it is hurting their brand unnecessarily.
To say that the service only needs to function as a generic storefront also seems a little misguided in my opinion. I only buy games from a few services now (GOG.com and Humble specifically). While this is admittedly mostly due to the convenience of only having to manage one or two accounts, it is also due to the fact that I am not comfortable with handing out my financial information to too many different groups. In order to purchase games from itch.io I need to have some confidence both in them and the fact that I would be willing to buy more than one game from them. Otherwise the activation energy is simply not there to get onboard.
Some level of discoverability is key in this, especially considering recent moves such as making the Itch client do suggest they want to promote a coherent brand.
To say that the service only needs to function as a generic storefront also seems a little misguided in my opinion. I only buy games from a few services now (GOG.com and Humble specifically). While this is admittedly mostly due to the convenience of only having to manage one or two accounts, it is also due to the fact that I am not comfortable with handing out my financial information to too many different groups. In order to purchase games from itch.io I need to have some confidence both in them and the fact that I would be willing to buy more than one game from them. Otherwise the activation energy is simply not there to get onboard.
Some level of discoverability is key in this, especially considering recent moves such as making the Itch client do suggest they want to promote a coherent brand.
2 Likes, Who?
Cheeseness Dec 29, 2015
I guess my take on it is that ideally, a store shouldn't be somewhere you should go to find games you don't already know about/plan on buying. That's something that should be done by third parties/communities with interest focuses/general discourse. The alternatives are pretty reductive, and we see that on GOG, Humble and Steam to what I believe is our cultural detriment.
As for whether itch.io is a trustworthy storefront to spend your money at, that seems entirely separate from any level of curation or quality control, but I guess if you're not sure that there will be enough games that you'd be willing to pick up, then that's fair enough. It's worth noting that there's a large number of gratis and Free titles (including my stuff \o/), that add some value to having an account outside of purchasing.
Last edited by Cheeseness on 29 December 2015 at 1:05 am UTC
As for whether itch.io is a trustworthy storefront to spend your money at, that seems entirely separate from any level of curation or quality control, but I guess if you're not sure that there will be enough games that you'd be willing to pick up, then that's fair enough. It's worth noting that there's a large number of gratis and Free titles (including my stuff \o/), that add some value to having an account outside of purchasing.
Last edited by Cheeseness on 29 December 2015 at 1:05 am UTC
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Just to make it clear, I do not mean to imply that itch.io is not trustworthy, but that is something I would be worried about if I really was just being faced with a generic storefront. So that is something that having an established brand helps with.
Most of the games I have purchased recently have been because they have appeared for me on GOG.com, although admittedly very few of them were games I was not aware of before. Still, it does help that it is easy for me to browse their catalogue, as well as Humble Stores, and find fully realized games to play. itch.io could still use improvements in this area, and the fact that I find it difficult to find any games that I would want to play is the main reason I have not gotten on the service, even though I really do like what it means for developers.
This is a management barrier and not a financial one, so saying that there are lots of free games to play does not really help with this problem. In fact, they might even help get in the way of my search for polished content, although I do not mean to imply that all free games are not polished. But you do have to admit, there are an awful lot of pre-alphas or basic demonstrations on there.
Most of the games I have purchased recently have been because they have appeared for me on GOG.com, although admittedly very few of them were games I was not aware of before. Still, it does help that it is easy for me to browse their catalogue, as well as Humble Stores, and find fully realized games to play. itch.io could still use improvements in this area, and the fact that I find it difficult to find any games that I would want to play is the main reason I have not gotten on the service, even though I really do like what it means for developers.
This is a management barrier and not a financial one, so saying that there are lots of free games to play does not really help with this problem. In fact, they might even help get in the way of my search for polished content, although I do not mean to imply that all free games are not polished. But you do have to admit, there are an awful lot of pre-alphas or basic demonstrations on there.
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Christmas was a few days ago now so this is out of season, but I made this one for a Godot game jam. http://shineuponthee.itch.io/santa-sniper
It's got leaderboards too. I think they still work... lol
It's got leaderboards too. I think they still work... lol
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Cheeseness Dec 29, 2015
Quoting: HamishJust to make it clear, I do not mean to imply that itch.io is not trustworthy, but that is something I would be worried about if I really was just being faced with a generic storefront. So that is something that having an established brand helps with.Yeah, for sure, but I see that as how-often-you-see-an-itch.io-widget-on-websites-of-games-you-care-about more than how-easy-it-is-to-find-games-you-care-about-on-the-itch.io-website. itch.io as a tool for selling games feels like it's got pretty strong (and growing) brand presence.
Quoting: Hamish... and find fully realized games to play. itch.io could still use improvements in this areaIt's definitely interesting that there are no filters for this since release status (a choice of in-development, released, on-hold, cancelled, or prototype) is something developers must enter. It's still hard for me to see that as a big issue though, since I'm aware of a project's status before I arrive on the itch.io site (unless I'm following a developer on itch.io and get notification that way, but at that point, I want to read up on what they're doing anyway).
Quoting: HamishThis is a management barrier and not a financial one, so saying that there are lots of free games to play does not really help with this problem. In fact, they might even help get in the way of my search for polished content, although I do not mean to imply that all free games are not polished. But you do have to admit, there are an awful lot of pre-alphas or basic demonstrations on there.For reasons stated above, I can't see that as a bad thing, but also I know I'd rather play Photobomb from last 7DFPS than Football Manager 2016 (to pick a game at random from the queue thing that Steam seems to think is full of games I'd like). I feel like the majority of those unpolished or unfinished titles have some intrinsic value even if the majority of them aren't of interest to me. I don't mean to imply that you're saying those things shouldn't be there at all, but I do feel that it's important to not be dismissive of prototypes and in-development projects when open development is a comparatively new thing that developers and consumers are still coming to terms with.
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I guess it is also partly a matter of how invested one wants to be - I basically gave up following games before release once it became clear that the vast majority of the games I looked at would never reach completion or see a Linux port. So now I content myself with finished projects that are less likely to get me burnt.
Someone who does want to get involved in the development or emergent side of things would see more value in the prototypes and early releases, and it is a good thing that itch.io caters to them, but for a service that lauds itself for being inclusive it does have a rather bad habit of leaving people looking for polished content feeling out in the cold, with the entire service appearing as nothing more than a staging ground for developers before they move on to bigger and brighter things.
Open development when it comes to games is its own topic though, and one I am sure that we could both go on about at some length, but it does stray a little far from the topic of this particular article. Sorry for turning this into a mere back and forth between me and Cheese flesk.
Someone who does want to get involved in the development or emergent side of things would see more value in the prototypes and early releases, and it is a good thing that itch.io caters to them, but for a service that lauds itself for being inclusive it does have a rather bad habit of leaving people looking for polished content feeling out in the cold, with the entire service appearing as nothing more than a staging ground for developers before they move on to bigger and brighter things.
Open development when it comes to games is its own topic though, and one I am sure that we could both go on about at some length, but it does stray a little far from the topic of this particular article. Sorry for turning this into a mere back and forth between me and Cheese flesk.
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Quoting: HamishSorry for turning this into a mere back and forth between me and Cheese flesk.
Actually that conversation was interesting for some of us who haven't tried itch.io yet
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Quoting: HamishSorry for turning this into a mere back and forth between me and Cheese flesk.
I think it's good to have a discussion about what itch.io has to offer, so I don't mind. Like I said before, I don't think it needs to curate content like other distribution platforms to be a good option for customers, since that role can be filled by specialist sites like http://buysomeindiegames.com and http://metroidvanias.com, and maintainers of itch collections. Like Cheeseness mentioned though, it's unfortunate that you can't filter by the state of games, since it's needlessly difficult to find complete games, and the popularity of a free game isn't necessarily comparable to that of a paid game if it's only a comparison of number of downloads over a certain period. A
Quoting: HamishSorry for turning this into a mere back and forth between me and Cheese flesk.
I think it's good to have a discussion about what itch.io has to offer, so I don't mind. Like I said before, I don't think it needs to curate content like other distribution platforms to be a good option for customers, since that role can be filled by specialist sites like http://buysomeindiegames.com and http://metroidvanias.com, and maintainers of itch collections. It's needlessly difficult to find complete games though, and I suspect their popularity filter is just based on downloads over a certain period of time, which gives free games of all types an unfair advantage, and drowns the good paid content.
Another issue, which isn't itch's fault, is that I've seen at least a couple of developers completely abandon itch.io and their only DRM free option once they get on Steam.
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I run the Hidden Linux Gems group on Steam, where we highlight good indie games for Linux that we feel deserve more attention.
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