Oh nice, I really enjoyed what Dreaming Sarah went for. Thanks for the shoutout.
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1500+ Games Included! Itch.io's Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality [Finished: Over $8m raised]
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No prob! I think it was even your recommendation that got me to notice Dreaming Sarah. I love the Yume Nikki vibes it exudes from what I've seen of it.
Iiimpresssiooons! List heeeere!
Sky Rogue
Neat roguelite flight sim that reminds me of my days playing Rogue Squadron. I'm not sure how deep the roguelite elements are - there's unlockable weapons and ships - but the core flight gameplay is fun and there's a few different modes. Pretty cool. 4/5
HexaCycle
A soothing logic puzzle game. I found it a little easy (it doesn't let you make wrong moves? Is that a setting I missed?) but the core concept is neat. There are harder puzzles but you have to go through the difficulty levels linearly so I lost interest a bit before things got really interesting. 3/5
MewnBase
You know. Survival crafting game. But this time you're a cat. It seems okay, but there's not really an interesting loop or a ton of motivation for exploring so it didn't really grab me. It's still in development though, so I'll check back now and again. 2/5
Vienna Automobile Society
This seems like a cool racing rhythm game, but unfortunately it's multiplayer-only with no AI so I'll never know. ?/5
PAGAN: Autogeny
Although Pagan: Autogeny initially seems like a horror game, it quickly reveals itself as something subtler and stranger. Set in the ruins of an obscure Albanian MMO, it's both an esoteric adventure game about uncovering the internal logic of this bizarre world and a strangely moving meditation on the role of online communities in the construction of identity, and how meaningful the spaces we inhabit can be to us even after we no longer exist in them. It's also creepy as fuck. I'm not done with this game yet, and I am going to play the other two Pagan games as well, but this is probably one of the best experimental games I've ever played both because of the subtle way it explores its themes and because it's genuinely interesting and engaging to play. 5/5
Bonus Autogeny content: there's a bit of writing on Oleander Garden's website that adds a little context to the "setting" of the game.
Sky Rogue
Neat roguelite flight sim that reminds me of my days playing Rogue Squadron. I'm not sure how deep the roguelite elements are - there's unlockable weapons and ships - but the core flight gameplay is fun and there's a few different modes. Pretty cool. 4/5
HexaCycle
A soothing logic puzzle game. I found it a little easy (it doesn't let you make wrong moves? Is that a setting I missed?) but the core concept is neat. There are harder puzzles but you have to go through the difficulty levels linearly so I lost interest a bit before things got really interesting. 3/5
MewnBase
You know. Survival crafting game. But this time you're a cat. It seems okay, but there's not really an interesting loop or a ton of motivation for exploring so it didn't really grab me. It's still in development though, so I'll check back now and again. 2/5
Vienna Automobile Society
This seems like a cool racing rhythm game, but unfortunately it's multiplayer-only with no AI so I'll never know. ?/5
PAGAN: Autogeny
Although Pagan: Autogeny initially seems like a horror game, it quickly reveals itself as something subtler and stranger. Set in the ruins of an obscure Albanian MMO, it's both an esoteric adventure game about uncovering the internal logic of this bizarre world and a strangely moving meditation on the role of online communities in the construction of identity, and how meaningful the spaces we inhabit can be to us even after we no longer exist in them. It's also creepy as fuck. I'm not done with this game yet, and I am going to play the other two Pagan games as well, but this is probably one of the best experimental games I've ever played both because of the subtle way it explores its themes and because it's genuinely interesting and engaging to play. 5/5
Bonus Autogeny content: there's a bit of writing on Oleander Garden's website that adds a little context to the "setting" of the game.
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I honestly really like Sewer Rave. I bought it separately long before this bundle released and just kind of loved wandering around in the sewer. I'll also say I've never played it sober so that might inform my opinion on it, heh.
REALLY enjoyed Wide Ocean Big jacket. Highly recommend:
turnfollow.itch.io
Wide Ocean Big Jacket by Turnfollow
A Camping Story starring: Uncle Brad, Aunt Cloanne, Mord (and Ben)
turnfollow.itch.io
I also kinda enjoyed the semi aimless experience, while at the same time it can throw endless repetition at you with rooms you dont really need and objectively the only actual important gameplay loop being picking up cheese and finding fruits makes it a bit... simplistic. I admit though that I had a really hard time settling on a score for that one.
If any of you are looking for a simple task / project managment tool, definitely have a look at Tape. I installed it only yesterday, but it already seems quite useful. If you decide to try it, make sure to drop the "DROP ME IN TAPE.txt" into the tape window for a short introduction to the application.
I love the look and feel of it a lot. I might have started to use it if I was mostly working on my own stuff, but I ended up using Todoist a few months ago so I can cooperate with people. If this had a online functionality, it would be perfect for what I need.
https://studiomutiny.itch.io/sai
Beautiful 3D action adventure, where you explore and fight your way through a few well crafted areas. The bow combat mechanics are satisfying to use and the game tells the everimportant story of saving our nature. They clearly put a lot of love into this project and I absolutely recommend everyone to check it out. I encountered a game breaking bug unfortunately, so I will need to downrate it a good bit. I would love for the concept to be made into a full size game, but as a slice of an idea, this is well done. 3/5
https://futurecat.itch.io/oneshot
Genuinely one of the best games in the bundle. Its a top down adventure game in a world shrouded with darkness and you helping Niko on his journey to restore the light source of this world. The game starts relatively simple, but has quite a few surprises up its sleeve, just dive in and dont look back until you are done about 4 hours or so later. Likable main character, good writing, great world building and a few surprises to reward you with. Some puzzles are quite hard to figure out if you didnt thoroughly explore the world, so be observant. Similarly to other games we discovered in the bundle, there might be more to it than seems at first. Do not read anything about it. 5/5
https://ko-op.itch.io/gnog
Gnog is a relatively straight forward puzzle game, in which you try to uncover the secrets of 9 different boxes and their inhabitants. It feels very playful as you pull all the levers and press all the buttons to see which sights and sounds they lead to. The ambient music changing while you solve the levels is fantastic and its a relatively short, but intriguing journey to uncover all the tactile secrets of each puzzle box. Even if I would prefer more challenging levels, its a delight that you should check out. 4/5
119 / 1112 games done, list of all games and impressions so far, in case you want to keep tabs on my progress or follow the list:
https://itch.io/c/915453/quick-impressions-bundle-for-racial-justice
Beautiful 3D action adventure, where you explore and fight your way through a few well crafted areas. The bow combat mechanics are satisfying to use and the game tells the everimportant story of saving our nature. They clearly put a lot of love into this project and I absolutely recommend everyone to check it out. I encountered a game breaking bug unfortunately, so I will need to downrate it a good bit. I would love for the concept to be made into a full size game, but as a slice of an idea, this is well done. 3/5
https://futurecat.itch.io/oneshot
Genuinely one of the best games in the bundle. Its a top down adventure game in a world shrouded with darkness and you helping Niko on his journey to restore the light source of this world. The game starts relatively simple, but has quite a few surprises up its sleeve, just dive in and dont look back until you are done about 4 hours or so later. Likable main character, good writing, great world building and a few surprises to reward you with. Some puzzles are quite hard to figure out if you didnt thoroughly explore the world, so be observant. Similarly to other games we discovered in the bundle, there might be more to it than seems at first. Do not read anything about it. 5/5
https://ko-op.itch.io/gnog
Gnog is a relatively straight forward puzzle game, in which you try to uncover the secrets of 9 different boxes and their inhabitants. It feels very playful as you pull all the levers and press all the buttons to see which sights and sounds they lead to. The ambient music changing while you solve the levels is fantastic and its a relatively short, but intriguing journey to uncover all the tactile secrets of each puzzle box. Even if I would prefer more challenging levels, its a delight that you should check out. 4/5
119 / 1112 games done, list of all games and impressions so far, in case you want to keep tabs on my progress or follow the list:
https://itch.io/c/915453/quick-impressions-bundle-for-racial-justice
We got vastly more positive feedback, requests for DLC and even sequel inquiries from folks playing Glittermitten Grove than we did about the other thing.
OP
OP
It was surprisingly good to be honest. Just super pleasant to play. It kinda fell into a hole between gardening simulation and empire building that I could easily see expanded up as well. Helps that the light mechanic was as unique and interesting as well. Are there plans for it? You really might have found something there that you could make into a pretty good game, maybe with more simulation aspects (water?) or more exploration mechanics or whatever.
Was it meant as a full game already or only as a front to hide the other experience?
Haha, well, you don't see the folks who buy the game just for glittermitten posting on forums like this one all that often. It's a different demographic (and one that is often invisible to "mainstream" gaming...)
If the money ever showed up to do more work on it I'm sure folks would be happy to either put in more development time to expand things/work on a more robust sequel, but that's currently not in the cards to my knowledge, sadly.
Well, as my experience proved, this could easily be a game interesting for "experienced gamers" as well. Might have been the theme that drove people away or literally the fact nobody seemed to take it seriously because of that other thing. Maybe just add a dwarf skin so there are dwarves flying around and all "gamers" can finally admit to playing it or recommend it to others. Greatbeard Grove! :P
Signs of the Sojourner is incredible. It's a wonderful narrative game filled with compassionate writing, lovely characters, chill music and a lot of great art. It also completely redefines the core mechanic of talking to other people in a way no other game has done before.
It's a deck-building game similar to games like Slay the Spire, but instead of using your deck to kill things you use it to talk to other people. Your cards represent various personality traits (emphatic, logical, forceful) and you have to match them with cards the other person will play. It's a simple system, but you quickly run into an obvious problem: the people you can talk to have different personalities and unless you have a deck that's compatible with theirs, you won't be able to talk to them.
It's such a clever take on a mechanic that most games completely ignore. Videogames have given us a million different ways of killing people, but conversations always come down to picking responses from a list. It's also a clever take on RPG mechanics. The game doesn't have any stats. Instead, the way you build your deck defines your character. You start off with a simple deck that's filled with emphatic cards, but as you play the game your deck will invariably change. You can chose to become more forceful and direct so that you can to talk to characters from a cold, depressing town, but doing that means you'll have trouble talking to your kind and emphatic best friend. In practice, this ends up working so much better than just picking up a bunch of skill points whenever you level up. Your deck influences everything: the gameplay, the story, and your character's core identity.
It's also really well balanced. Clever ideas like this often end up sounding good in theory but don't work all that well in practice. This is not the case here. Building a deck that works with many different people is tricky, but the game gives you just enough tools and abilities (stuff like drawing a specific card from your deck or wildcards that match multiple symbols) to make it sort of possible. The game also forces you to swap a card for a new one every time you finish a conversation, making you constantly change your deck. Trying to optimize your deck quickly becomes much more complicated than it initially seems. It's also a pretty though game. There's characters that will immediately stop talking to you whenever you make a single error, potentially locking you out of locations or different endings.
There's also a couple of great "twists" that use core gameplay mechanics to tell a story.
Then there's additional mechanics that make everything even better. There's some light time management: you can travel through various cities, but some whill have events requiring you to be there at specific time. There's a fatigue system where conversations become harder the longer you've been away from home. There's different endings that unlock depending on your success and failures. It all comes together really well.
When I bought the bundle I thought I'd just get a ton of neat little indie projects that will be fun enough for an hour or two each (which would be incredible enough by itself). I wasn't expecting to find a genuine GOTY contender. It makes me sad that I would have never even heard about this if I didn't buy the bundle.
It's a deck-building game similar to games like Slay the Spire, but instead of using your deck to kill things you use it to talk to other people. Your cards represent various personality traits (emphatic, logical, forceful) and you have to match them with cards the other person will play. It's a simple system, but you quickly run into an obvious problem: the people you can talk to have different personalities and unless you have a deck that's compatible with theirs, you won't be able to talk to them.
It's such a clever take on a mechanic that most games completely ignore. Videogames have given us a million different ways of killing people, but conversations always come down to picking responses from a list. It's also a clever take on RPG mechanics. The game doesn't have any stats. Instead, the way you build your deck defines your character. You start off with a simple deck that's filled with emphatic cards, but as you play the game your deck will invariably change. You can chose to become more forceful and direct so that you can to talk to characters from a cold, depressing town, but doing that means you'll have trouble talking to your kind and emphatic best friend. In practice, this ends up working so much better than just picking up a bunch of skill points whenever you level up. Your deck influences everything: the gameplay, the story, and your character's core identity.
It's also really well balanced. Clever ideas like this often end up sounding good in theory but don't work all that well in practice. This is not the case here. Building a deck that works with many different people is tricky, but the game gives you just enough tools and abilities (stuff like drawing a specific card from your deck or wildcards that match multiple symbols) to make it sort of possible. The game also forces you to swap a card for a new one every time you finish a conversation, making you constantly change your deck. Trying to optimize your deck quickly becomes much more complicated than it initially seems. It's also a pretty though game. There's characters that will immediately stop talking to you whenever you make a single error, potentially locking you out of locations or different endings.
There's also a couple of great "twists" that use core gameplay mechanics to tell a story.
Halfway through game, there's a rough event that affects every character. This is reflected in their decks: suddenly, everyone has additional grieving cards, which makes it more difficult to talk to them. However, this also brings people closer together and if you add those cards to your deck you're now able to use them to connect with everyone. You understand how this tragedy brought everyone closer without the game having to say a single thing.
Also, you eventually get a dog that hangs out with you. When you talk to him, all his cards are just a cute paw symbol that matches with everything in your deck because he loves you no matter what.
Also, you eventually get a dog that hangs out with you. When you talk to him, all his cards are just a cute paw symbol that matches with everything in your deck because he loves you no matter what.
Then there's additional mechanics that make everything even better. There's some light time management: you can travel through various cities, but some whill have events requiring you to be there at specific time. There's a fatigue system where conversations become harder the longer you've been away from home. There's different endings that unlock depending on your success and failures. It all comes together really well.
When I bought the bundle I thought I'd just get a ton of neat little indie projects that will be fun enough for an hour or two each (which would be incredible enough by itself). I wasn't expecting to find a genuine GOTY contender. It makes me sad that I would have never even heard about this if I didn't buy the bundle.
I finished a run through of this last night, and it really left a great impression on me. It tells a great story, with awesome mechanics for conversations like you say. I barely scratched the surface of the world, ending up largely failing, and an ending that was satisfying, but a little sad. I will play this again.
Great write-up. This is definitely one of my favorite games of the year. Such a warm, creative thing.
Just wanted to direct folks to Wave Crash. It's in EA but you get access to the full game once its out and its pretty neat.
Thank you for that writeup. Because I am pushing through more games I am not giving each game the written attention they deserve and that game is definitely in need of more visibility. The conversation mechanic is utterly brilliant, even if some people have issues with the balancing.
And yes, I found quite a few games that seriously surprised me and went well beyond what I was expecting in the bundle.
Sad to see no one talking about Silver Grapple, like someone said on Steam it's like Cave Story X Bionic Commando (or Umihara Kawase).
It's full momentum and grapple gameplay with a simple story in the background that lead the way, it isn't easy but very rewarding.
Here a trailer, please give it a try:
It's full momentum and grapple gameplay with a simple story in the background that lead the way, it isn't easy but very rewarding.
Here a trailer, please give it a try:
https://bootdiskrevolution.itch.io/bleed-2
Insanely fun arcade style action game that makes you feel like a badass slicing through bullets, shooting and air gliding through the levels. Oh yeah, and you can slow time too. The first bleed was fun, but they really ramped up your movement capabilities in a way that just navigating these worlds is stupidly fun. The bosses are extremely well designed and the game has a multitude of different modes such as random worlds and daily challenges. Pretty damn near perfect sequel. 5/5
https://no-wand-studios.itch.io/the-fall-of-lazarus
Neat walking simulator with a few puzzles in between. The puzzles are bit hit or miss, but I really enjoyed the athmosphere and the background story as well as how the game "rewards" you visually and narratively. Its a cool little story that you might very well enjoy, despite its flaws and occasional bugs. 3,5/5
https://brunodias.itch.io/voyageur
Text based space exploration game. Voyageur has a good foundation for an entertaining game, but unfortunately doesnt really have the balancing and mechanics in place to make it rewarding yet. The texts are well written and I did enjoy cruising around the galaxy for a bit, but ultimately none of the world building has any actual input to you as a player. Mechanically, you rarely get actual choices either, you just click on all the buttons you see and then move on. Trading is the only "bigger" mechanic and that comes down to the same thing. Buy good, sell good at next planet. A space exploration game needs adventure, excitement and interesting choices and this game doesnt have that. 2/5
122 / 1112 games done, list of all games and impressions so far, in case you want to keep tabs on my progress or follow the list:
https://itch.io/c/915453/quick-impressions-bundle-for-racial-justice
Insanely fun arcade style action game that makes you feel like a badass slicing through bullets, shooting and air gliding through the levels. Oh yeah, and you can slow time too. The first bleed was fun, but they really ramped up your movement capabilities in a way that just navigating these worlds is stupidly fun. The bosses are extremely well designed and the game has a multitude of different modes such as random worlds and daily challenges. Pretty damn near perfect sequel. 5/5
https://no-wand-studios.itch.io/the-fall-of-lazarus
Neat walking simulator with a few puzzles in between. The puzzles are bit hit or miss, but I really enjoyed the athmosphere and the background story as well as how the game "rewards" you visually and narratively. Its a cool little story that you might very well enjoy, despite its flaws and occasional bugs. 3,5/5
https://brunodias.itch.io/voyageur
Text based space exploration game. Voyageur has a good foundation for an entertaining game, but unfortunately doesnt really have the balancing and mechanics in place to make it rewarding yet. The texts are well written and I did enjoy cruising around the galaxy for a bit, but ultimately none of the world building has any actual input to you as a player. Mechanically, you rarely get actual choices either, you just click on all the buttons you see and then move on. Trading is the only "bigger" mechanic and that comes down to the same thing. Buy good, sell good at next planet. A space exploration game needs adventure, excitement and interesting choices and this game doesnt have that. 2/5
122 / 1112 games done, list of all games and impressions so far, in case you want to keep tabs on my progress or follow the list:
https://itch.io/c/915453/quick-impressions-bundle-for-racial-justice
Quiet as a Stone
A nice combo between one of those ambient nature games and a sort of hidden object diorama. You explore these little scenes, looking for gems and objects and then can move things around and see the limited interaction between objects. Very contemplative. 3/5
Test Tube Titans
Mutate yourself some kaiju, then stomp around towns with QWOP controls. Cute, but not really my thing. Would probably be fun in multiplayer. 2/5
Hero Generations
More for the "cool idea that doesn't quite work" pile. The idea of a generational roguelite where you're building up the world over time like a 4x game is really cool, but all of the systems just feel too simple to give you much to work with and I also don't like the art at all. 2/5
BEACON
Really cool run-n-gun roguelike, with combat that feels great, cool DNA mechanics, and strong visuals. I do think the game is sometimes a little hard to read visually and the camera is sometimes weird, but it's very cool and well-executed on the whole. 4/5
Sonar Smash
Cute vertical shmup with great art, but pretty standard and a little slow gameplay-wise. Also it plays in a tiny vertical window by default. Is it primarily a mobile game? 2/5
Erth
Seemed like an okay, if unexciting, top-down crafting survival RPG thing. One of those. Then it crashed entering a dungeon and what I had seen to that point wasn't much motivation to go back in. 1/5
And full list here!
A nice combo between one of those ambient nature games and a sort of hidden object diorama. You explore these little scenes, looking for gems and objects and then can move things around and see the limited interaction between objects. Very contemplative. 3/5
Test Tube Titans
Mutate yourself some kaiju, then stomp around towns with QWOP controls. Cute, but not really my thing. Would probably be fun in multiplayer. 2/5
Hero Generations
More for the "cool idea that doesn't quite work" pile. The idea of a generational roguelite where you're building up the world over time like a 4x game is really cool, but all of the systems just feel too simple to give you much to work with and I also don't like the art at all. 2/5
BEACON
Really cool run-n-gun roguelike, with combat that feels great, cool DNA mechanics, and strong visuals. I do think the game is sometimes a little hard to read visually and the camera is sometimes weird, but it's very cool and well-executed on the whole. 4/5
Sonar Smash
Cute vertical shmup with great art, but pretty standard and a little slow gameplay-wise. Also it plays in a tiny vertical window by default. Is it primarily a mobile game? 2/5
Erth
Seemed like an okay, if unexciting, top-down crafting survival RPG thing. One of those. Then it crashed entering a dungeon and what I had seen to that point wasn't much motivation to go back in. 1/5
And full list here!
Yup, I played through and loved this one too. It really made a mark on me. Someone should make an OT, to be honest. It's on Steam, too.
This would be a genuine GOTY candidate for me, and maybe in the end it still still be, but I was really deflated and bummed out by the weird and somewhat random ending I ended up with.
I helped the kid in the seaside town (Tariiq?) start a riot/insurrection against the Rilkers in the middle of the final trip. In the game's defense it does warn you multiple times to be "prepared to accept the consequences" if you two of you throw the first bricks but I thought they were hinting that HE was going to die, or that something bad was going to happen to him.
Instead I was treated to a game over screen that explains he eventually took over the town and peaceful leadership was installed, but you were killed in the process, and a statue was erected in your honor. I was then booted back to the title screen, with my save game deleted :(
No way to finish out my final trip and visit the mysterious ship or get closure with other characters. Absolutely no resolution or closure to the game's central storylines (your shop, Bartow, Elias, The Circle). I didn't even visit that town at all in the first half of the game so to be railroaded into an ending that revolves around it was really disappointing.
Game runs aren't that long (3-4 hours) but they're too long and too repetitive for me to run through it again to try and get an ending that actually touches on any of the game's central characters. The "run" I was on had been quite good, mostly. The shop was doing well, and most characters were in a good state. So in the end I just uninstalled it. Bummer.
Instead I was treated to a game over screen that explains he eventually took over the town and peaceful leadership was installed, but you were killed in the process, and a statue was erected in your honor. I was then booted back to the title screen, with my save game deleted :(
No way to finish out my final trip and visit the mysterious ship or get closure with other characters. Absolutely no resolution or closure to the game's central storylines (your shop, Bartow, Elias, The Circle). I didn't even visit that town at all in the first half of the game so to be railroaded into an ending that revolves around it was really disappointing.
Game runs aren't that long (3-4 hours) but they're too long and too repetitive for me to run through it again to try and get an ending that actually touches on any of the game's central characters. The "run" I was on had been quite good, mostly. The shop was doing well, and most characters were in a good state. So in the end I just uninstalled it. Bummer.
That was my second ending and it sucks that you got it first. It's really one of the few endings that feels incomplete like that! The first ending I got was much better and had me and Elias moving to the Circle in Pancheco. Now that you get the mechanics, I really do recommend playing once more to see a different ending. The game can be run through super quick since you already read the dialogue and you get the basics and soon you'll be opening up new stuff or seeing new content. It is a bummer, so I'm sorry that was your first ending.
I am addicted though and want to see more and more content with it, so I'll be returning to it regularly.
https://dear-villagers.itch.io/a-normal-lost-phone
I love games which mimic real life devices so you can dig around in the history of its owner and any hidden files. This one is also rather entertaining with a great little soundtrack that keeps humming along while you explore the contents of the phone. Its very short and absolutely worth your time for that period, but it is a bit of a bummer how few possibilities for interactivity and "content" there is actually to discover in here other than the messages you have access to direct at the start. Considering how often I heard about it, I was actually a bit disappointed to be honest. 3,5/5
https://copychaser.itch.io/speeddatingforghosts
A visual novel with an intriguing premise. Every playthrough is quick and snappy so you can replay the experience when you have some downtime. you get to know 3 Ghosts each run, ask one of them out to get them to know more and get some cool background and story beats from each one. Even though the game is kept in a super simple style, the ghosts really feel vividly portrayed and its fun to figure out how they behave or what happened to them. Lovely game that will easily drag you into another dead persons unlife. 4/5
https://papercastlegames.itch.io/underhero
Obviously inspired by Paper Mario, this turn based RPG puts you into the role of an evil minion that suddenly finds itself having defeated the hero. Now you are on your quest for power, traversing the evil lands, using your newfound inspiration to become the strongest to overthrow the evil emperor. The theme is charming and very well done, it has many delightful interactions and some cool ideas (ever felt like talking to every monster before your curbstomp it? Now you can do exactly that!) and the combat is satisfying. My only grip with the game is the level design, which does feel a bit too basic sometimes, but this is an easy recommendation. 4,5/5
125 / 1112 games done, list of all games and impressions so far, in case you want to keep tabs on my progress or follow the list:
https://itch.io/c/915453/quick-impressions-bundle-for-racial-justice
I love games which mimic real life devices so you can dig around in the history of its owner and any hidden files. This one is also rather entertaining with a great little soundtrack that keeps humming along while you explore the contents of the phone. Its very short and absolutely worth your time for that period, but it is a bit of a bummer how few possibilities for interactivity and "content" there is actually to discover in here other than the messages you have access to direct at the start. Considering how often I heard about it, I was actually a bit disappointed to be honest. 3,5/5
https://copychaser.itch.io/speeddatingforghosts
A visual novel with an intriguing premise. Every playthrough is quick and snappy so you can replay the experience when you have some downtime. you get to know 3 Ghosts each run, ask one of them out to get them to know more and get some cool background and story beats from each one. Even though the game is kept in a super simple style, the ghosts really feel vividly portrayed and its fun to figure out how they behave or what happened to them. Lovely game that will easily drag you into another dead persons unlife. 4/5
https://papercastlegames.itch.io/underhero
Obviously inspired by Paper Mario, this turn based RPG puts you into the role of an evil minion that suddenly finds itself having defeated the hero. Now you are on your quest for power, traversing the evil lands, using your newfound inspiration to become the strongest to overthrow the evil emperor. The theme is charming and very well done, it has many delightful interactions and some cool ideas (ever felt like talking to every monster before your curbstomp it? Now you can do exactly that!) and the combat is satisfying. My only grip with the game is the level design, which does feel a bit too basic sometimes, but this is an easy recommendation. 4,5/5
125 / 1112 games done, list of all games and impressions so far, in case you want to keep tabs on my progress or follow the list:
https://itch.io/c/915453/quick-impressions-bundle-for-racial-justice
Wait, what? I played it on Steam a while ago and I had no idea.
Yes, you
missed a big chunk and true ending of the game actually.
Back when it released, it was apparently
a bit more clear, because there was a big room with a huge ass real life countdown so everybody would know they should return. But since that countdown isnt in the game anymore, you dont really get that huge visual hint that there is something else waiting for you.
Big spoilers for anyone that hasn't played OneShot:
I remember doing a bunch of stuff with an external file and the game window towards the end. Was that true ending stuff or do I have more to play?
You cannot
get the true ending and finish all content in the first playthrough
Wow, this just reminded me
I never played the Solstice ending because I originally played the game before the countdown finished. I need to go back!
The Chicago New Media Artists for Racial Justice bundle launched with 23 items (including 3 Steam keys) for $20+. Proceeds go to BLM Chicago, Chicago Community Bail Fund, ChiCAT, and the Brave Space Alliance.
I'll be away for the weekend and so these are probably the last impressions for a few days. List here.
FLAMBERGE
Really cool puzzley tactical RPG where you dial in your moves and then everything executes at once. Feels great to play and very unique, and it's garnished with great art and music. It's in early access so I'll probably let it sit till release, but very impressive. 4/5
KIDS
Very neat interactive animation. The animation itself is great, but the thing that really makes this is the sound design. The sounds of the crowds running around and clapping and smacking into the ground all makes it feel very tactile in a way kind of rare for this sort of game. 4/5
Kingdom Ka
Beautiful little game, this. The collage art is wonderful and the soundtrack is quite good as well. Where it doesn't quite gel for me is its exploration of its themes. It combines some retellings of old folk tales with some slightly meta exploration of identity but it doesn't really feel like it coheres all that together into any kind of actual theme or statement. It's just some abstract vignettes interspersed with fairly typical "what makes you you" philosophy. Still definitely worth a go, though. 3/5
Hidden Folks
Incredibly charming I Spy-type game. Great art and sound effects, interactivity beyond just finding things, and enough clues to prevent getting stuck. Great! 4/5
Fugue
Ostensible music puzzle game that's actually about basic math. This could be a fun way to have kids in school practice addition and subtraction but it's not all that interesting as a standalone puzzle game. 2/5
And here, as a handy reference, are all the games I've rated 4 or 5 so far and thus would unequivocally recommend for everyone:
FLAMBERGE
Really cool puzzley tactical RPG where you dial in your moves and then everything executes at once. Feels great to play and very unique, and it's garnished with great art and music. It's in early access so I'll probably let it sit till release, but very impressive. 4/5
KIDS
Very neat interactive animation. The animation itself is great, but the thing that really makes this is the sound design. The sounds of the crowds running around and clapping and smacking into the ground all makes it feel very tactile in a way kind of rare for this sort of game. 4/5
Kingdom Ka
Beautiful little game, this. The collage art is wonderful and the soundtrack is quite good as well. Where it doesn't quite gel for me is its exploration of its themes. It combines some retellings of old folk tales with some slightly meta exploration of identity but it doesn't really feel like it coheres all that together into any kind of actual theme or statement. It's just some abstract vignettes interspersed with fairly typical "what makes you you" philosophy. Still definitely worth a go, though. 3/5
Hidden Folks
Incredibly charming I Spy-type game. Great art and sound effects, interactivity beyond just finding things, and enough clues to prevent getting stuck. Great! 4/5
Fugue
Ostensible music puzzle game that's actually about basic math. This could be a fun way to have kids in school practice addition and subtraction but it's not all that interesting as a standalone puzzle game. 2/5
And here, as a handy reference, are all the games I've rated 4 or 5 so far and thus would unequivocally recommend for everyone:
Hi all, just in case anybody is as stupid as me, you do not have to do manual installs on these games, there is an itch app that you can use to download the games. Once you hit download on the list it adds it to your library and you can install from there.
I certainly feel a bit dumb right now.
I certainly feel a bit dumb right now.
Download App
itch, the best way to download and play indie games. Download free games and manage your library from your desktop. Now available for Windows, macOS and Linux.
itch.io
https://nothke.itch.io/tower
This is undoubtedly a fun toy that I recommend you to check out. Blowing up thousands of blocks and watching a tower collapse bit by bit is incredibly satisfying. However, it is literally "only" that, the physical simulation of falling blocks. No sound, no music, no goals, just blowing up blocks. As such, it shows that the developer just made this as a quick fun project to be able to call it Unitys first Havok Engine game, but its still fun to check out. 2,5/5
https://jenniferraye.itch.io/imperishable-memories
Levels didnt load. 0/5
https://iansnyder.itch.io/the-floor-is-jelly
One of my favourite Indies the year it came out and I didnt even realize its in the bundle. The game is easy to explain: Its a an action puzzle platformer, with jello physics and a great soundtrack. You jump and sink into jello and using that to propel yourself towards the goal. Its well polished and an all around blast to play and you might be surprises how challenging the levels can become later with that seemingly simple concept. Keep playing if you enjoy the beginning, but think its a bit simple. Shame the game never got the attention it deserved. 5/5
128 / 1112 games done, list of all games and impressions so far, in case you want to keep tabs on my progress or follow the list:
https://itch.io/c/915453/quick-impressions-bundle-for-racial-justice
This is undoubtedly a fun toy that I recommend you to check out. Blowing up thousands of blocks and watching a tower collapse bit by bit is incredibly satisfying. However, it is literally "only" that, the physical simulation of falling blocks. No sound, no music, no goals, just blowing up blocks. As such, it shows that the developer just made this as a quick fun project to be able to call it Unitys first Havok Engine game, but its still fun to check out. 2,5/5
https://jenniferraye.itch.io/imperishable-memories
Levels didnt load. 0/5
https://iansnyder.itch.io/the-floor-is-jelly
One of my favourite Indies the year it came out and I didnt even realize its in the bundle. The game is easy to explain: Its a an action puzzle platformer, with jello physics and a great soundtrack. You jump and sink into jello and using that to propel yourself towards the goal. Its well polished and an all around blast to play and you might be surprises how challenging the levels can become later with that seemingly simple concept. Keep playing if you enjoy the beginning, but think its a bit simple. Shame the game never got the attention it deserved. 5/5
128 / 1112 games done, list of all games and impressions so far, in case you want to keep tabs on my progress or follow the list:
https://itch.io/c/915453/quick-impressions-bundle-for-racial-justice
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You ... erm... didnt miss out on anything... not super great games in here and tons of games that are super interesting to check out but one might be a bit hesitant to spend that money per game. Not at all. >_>
I really liked this one. Really fun to experiment and destroy, plus if you set the right parameters you can basically make a hotseat Jenga game. Good benchmarking program as well. :Phttps://nothke.itch.io/tower
This is undoubtedly a fun toy that I recommend you to check out. Blowing up thousands of blocks and watching a tower collapse bit by bit is incredibly satisfying. However, it is literally "only" that, the physical simulation of falling blocks. No sound, no music, no goals, just blowing up blocks. As such, it shows that the developer just made this as a quick fun project to be able to call it Unitys first Havok Engine game, but its still fun to check out. 2,5/5
I would rate it up significantly if it at least had any type of sound. Seems like such a small thing, but thats whats really keeping me from enjoying it long term as a toy. Still really fun to play around with for a while though.
The amount of amazing games in the bundle is insane. I keep getting shocked at some of them. Like, I learned a few days ago that Pyre is in the bundle! It's the only Supergiant game I didn't own yet, and had it wishlisted, so it was such a nice surprise.
A random memento from the bundle. Going to the Steam page of any game in the bundle yielded this gargantuan thing:
And even that was only around a fourth of all the ~1200 games in the bundle. Really puts it in perspective.
(This wasn't even the complete list, btw. By the end of the bundle, the number of games with Steam versions had ballooned to around 370. I wish I had a screencap of that version instead.)
And even that was only around a fourth of all the ~1200 games in the bundle. Really puts it in perspective.
(This wasn't even the complete list, btw. By the end of the bundle, the number of games with Steam versions had ballooned to around 370. I wish I had a screencap of that version instead.)
Wait, there was a Steam version of the bundle, too? I had no idea or I would have bought that as well, though the price of it is kind of low.A random memento from the bundle. Going to the Steam page of any game in the bundle yielded this gargantuan thing:
And even that was only around a fourth of all the ~1200 games in the bundle. Really puts it in perspective.
(This wasn't even the complete list, btw. By the end of the bundle, the number of games with Steam versions had ballooned to around 370. I wish I had a screencap of that version instead.)
There was no steam version. Maybe he was using an addon that shows bundles for other sites as well?
There wasn't, it was just a thing on Steam (I think it's the Augmented Steam extension actually) telling users about a bundle deal. The itch.io bundle also did not give out Steam keys for any game. I posted it just to showcase what about a fourth of the games in the bundle looked like; sorry for any confusion.