Six of the Best - Itch.io's Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality
We're going to try out a new format on the blog today! The idea for this came from the fact that we all seem to be overwhelmed with choice all the time when it comes to our entertainment selections. Whether it's on Netflix, on a service like Game Pass or even (if you're like me) your blu-ray shelf, we all have too many choices for consumption. As such, I wanted to try and use random choice to try and pick stuff out from the depths that I may not have tried otherwise. If people like this format, I've got a bunch of other stuff I can do (Netflix, Game Pass and my personal Steam library could all do with some thorough combing) but for today, we're trying out the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality from indie game website itch.io.
I'll quickly set up itch.io and the bundle before we start. Itch.io is a website that specialises in truly independent games from independent creators. Many are free, many have very low or flexible pricing and best of all, it's also very eager to prioritise creators of colour, queer creators and female creators. That leads us onto their Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. As I'm sure you're aware, the conversation around the civil rights of black people in America and worldwide has flared up recently after the high profile murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. In an attempt to raise money and awareness for charities that are having to bear the strain after their governments failed them, itch.io reached out to its creators and asked to put their games in a bundle, the entire proceeds of which would go to charity. You paid whatever you wanted for this bundle (which is no longer available) and got both little known titles and well loved indie hits like Night in the Woods, Celeste and Nuclear Throne. When I bought the bundle, there were around 700 items, spanning games, toolkits for making games, soundtracks and everything in between. By the time it ended, there were 1,741 items. It raised over $8 million dollars and was a massive success, but also flooded my games library with an overwhelming amount of content. So, how did I randomly pick stuff? At the moment, everything in the bundle is sorted across 59 pages, with 30 items on each. I got a random number generator and had it pick out a number between 1 and 59 to decide the page, followed by one between 1 and 30 to decide the item. Whether it's a game, a rulebook for something or a weird middle thing, I have tried all six items out and while nothing I found blew my socks off, I know there's plenty still to discover. That's our format for this week and so, let's get on with the post.
Also, don't forget, defund the police, demand justice for those who have been murdered by police forces and refuse to accept the weak compromises of our governments. We must demand better for those whose voices are ignored and we can't let ourselves become complacent. As ever, this website remains invaluable if you need guidance on educating yourself or donating further. This bundle isn't just about games, it's also about all of that and I would be doing a great negligence if I ignored that fact.
The first choice was a video game called Shrine to Anubis. It's a pixel art platformer made by one guy called Stuart Foley and it is pretty much the embodiment of the independent game. Back in the day, this is exactly the kind of thing I would have played as a flash game. In fact, it would definitely have suited that format, it taking me about 14 minutes to complete. It's hardly one of the most memorable platformers I've played recently but also, I think Shrine knows exactly what it is. Like I said, it's made by one guy and on both itch.io and Steam, you can buy it for less than £1 and just from that image, you already know exactly what this game looks and sounds like. The jumping physics could be a little tighter and I wish there was slightly more direction in terms of what you're meant to be doing but again, this is a tiny project and I have no regrets about playing it. For the price it's at, it's not a must buy but I'd be lying if I said it was a purchase you would regret.
Technically, Gambol is a better platformer than Shrine to Anubis. It has a more impressive visual and sound design, contains more levels and feels altogether more complete than Shrine did. However, something about it didn't hit the spot for me and I think the something was the platforming. There is just something about overly floaty games that require precision jumps that really annoys me and that is regrettably exactly what Gambol is. In a great platform game, any death should feel like your fault and while I never felt like a death was my fault because the game was broken, I also often felt that I had died because of something out of my control. If this game hits the spot for you, that's great. There's over 200 levels and if you enjoy the way it feels, it'll presumably keep you satisfied for a good long time. I never clicked with it though and as such, I couldn't personally recommend it.
When I said not everything is a traditional game, this is exactly what I meant. Dragon's Grave is not a game at all, but a guide on how to make a campaign for a tabletop game to play with your friends. It is incredibly niche but I'll do my best to explain it to you. The pdf sets up a high fantasy world in which some all powerful dragons have died and now dungeons are opening up. Interestingly, this game is apparently completely diceless, very rare for tabletop games. I have no idea how it plays because I haven't had the chance to try it out, although it seemed incredibly complicated to me. Would I actually try it out? Well, high fantasy is as far from "my thing" as it gets, so I'll say probably no but for people aiming to get into the world of tabletop fantasy, this seems like a solid way to start your mind racing with the possibilities.
Without a doubt, this was the most inaccessible thing I came across today. It is a guide for how to play as a new character in the tabletop game Blades in the Dark, a game I have never heard of. This character is called The Sleuth, a "peerless detective and mentalist" who fits into the obsessive detective trend that anyone who has ever read anything, watched anything or played anything will recognise. I don't know, I really have nothing else I can say about it. The design of the character (as you can see above) is something I really dig but seeing as I have no idea about the game he is meant to inhabit, the rest of this file is absolute gibberish to me. If you like Blades in the Dark, this is probably pretty cool. If not, there's still plenty of other stuff in this bundle that is for you instead.
This is the kind of game that I expected to find from a bundle on a website all about prioritising the voices of independent creators. you used to be someone is simple; it is about a character, having a depressive episode and leaving their house in an attempt to break that spell. It's just that, nothing more. No real objective, no real escalation, just a stroll in an attempt of magically making yourself undepressed while searching for the answer to that implied follow up question: if you used to be someone, who are you now? The art style is very similar to the title (seen above) in that it's a collage of pictures used to create a world that feels very harsh and unforgiving. For a 20 hour plus game, that could be annoying but in this short exploration of emotional emptieness, it is a perfect use of form to enhance the themes. If you bought the bundle, I recommend checking this out. It won't take up much of your time but, like me, you'll find yourself thinking about it for much longer afterwards.
A bit of a limp end to the feature. Real Winners: Victoryball is a classic example of the "sportsball" genre of video games, that incorporates fictionalised chaos into real sports. In many ways, the obvious comparison is Rocket League and in its silliness and cartoon chaos, that's an appropriate game to draw parallels with. I wish I could draw more but, unfortunately, this game is local multiplayer only, meaning there isn't even a single player mode. I understand that coding AI for that would obviously be difficult but still, it meant that without access to a selection of loveable rogues who I could gather around my laptop, preferably with a couple of cold cans of cider in hand, I couldn't really play this. It lets you spawn in and fly around the in-game pitches, but otherwise, it's unplayable in solo mode. It's a deliberate choice and like I said, I understand why it exists for an indie developer. However, in a world where Rocket League exists and has a singleplayer mode, there's not much point playing this. Hell, even if I had friends gathered, I'd be more likely to go to the Kung Foot mode in Rayman Legends than return to this. PC gaming is a hive of possibilities for the future of multiplayer gaming but sadly, Real Winners doesn't do enough to make itself stand out from the crowd.
I'll quickly set up itch.io and the bundle before we start. Itch.io is a website that specialises in truly independent games from independent creators. Many are free, many have very low or flexible pricing and best of all, it's also very eager to prioritise creators of colour, queer creators and female creators. That leads us onto their Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. As I'm sure you're aware, the conversation around the civil rights of black people in America and worldwide has flared up recently after the high profile murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. In an attempt to raise money and awareness for charities that are having to bear the strain after their governments failed them, itch.io reached out to its creators and asked to put their games in a bundle, the entire proceeds of which would go to charity. You paid whatever you wanted for this bundle (which is no longer available) and got both little known titles and well loved indie hits like Night in the Woods, Celeste and Nuclear Throne. When I bought the bundle, there were around 700 items, spanning games, toolkits for making games, soundtracks and everything in between. By the time it ended, there were 1,741 items. It raised over $8 million dollars and was a massive success, but also flooded my games library with an overwhelming amount of content. So, how did I randomly pick stuff? At the moment, everything in the bundle is sorted across 59 pages, with 30 items on each. I got a random number generator and had it pick out a number between 1 and 59 to decide the page, followed by one between 1 and 30 to decide the item. Whether it's a game, a rulebook for something or a weird middle thing, I have tried all six items out and while nothing I found blew my socks off, I know there's plenty still to discover. That's our format for this week and so, let's get on with the post.
Also, don't forget, defund the police, demand justice for those who have been murdered by police forces and refuse to accept the weak compromises of our governments. We must demand better for those whose voices are ignored and we can't let ourselves become complacent. As ever, this website remains invaluable if you need guidance on educating yourself or donating further. This bundle isn't just about games, it's also about all of that and I would be doing a great negligence if I ignored that fact.
Item 1: 55, 29 - Shrine to Anubis
The first choice was a video game called Shrine to Anubis. It's a pixel art platformer made by one guy called Stuart Foley and it is pretty much the embodiment of the independent game. Back in the day, this is exactly the kind of thing I would have played as a flash game. In fact, it would definitely have suited that format, it taking me about 14 minutes to complete. It's hardly one of the most memorable platformers I've played recently but also, I think Shrine knows exactly what it is. Like I said, it's made by one guy and on both itch.io and Steam, you can buy it for less than £1 and just from that image, you already know exactly what this game looks and sounds like. The jumping physics could be a little tighter and I wish there was slightly more direction in terms of what you're meant to be doing but again, this is a tiny project and I have no regrets about playing it. For the price it's at, it's not a must buy but I'd be lying if I said it was a purchase you would regret.
Item 2: 48, 19 - Gambol
Technically, Gambol is a better platformer than Shrine to Anubis. It has a more impressive visual and sound design, contains more levels and feels altogether more complete than Shrine did. However, something about it didn't hit the spot for me and I think the something was the platforming. There is just something about overly floaty games that require precision jumps that really annoys me and that is regrettably exactly what Gambol is. In a great platform game, any death should feel like your fault and while I never felt like a death was my fault because the game was broken, I also often felt that I had died because of something out of my control. If this game hits the spot for you, that's great. There's over 200 levels and if you enjoy the way it feels, it'll presumably keep you satisfied for a good long time. I never clicked with it though and as such, I couldn't personally recommend it.
Item 3: 39, 7 - Dragon's Grave: Driven by Bids
When I said not everything is a traditional game, this is exactly what I meant. Dragon's Grave is not a game at all, but a guide on how to make a campaign for a tabletop game to play with your friends. It is incredibly niche but I'll do my best to explain it to you. The pdf sets up a high fantasy world in which some all powerful dragons have died and now dungeons are opening up. Interestingly, this game is apparently completely diceless, very rare for tabletop games. I have no idea how it plays because I haven't had the chance to try it out, although it seemed incredibly complicated to me. Would I actually try it out? Well, high fantasy is as far from "my thing" as it gets, so I'll say probably no but for people aiming to get into the world of tabletop fantasy, this seems like a solid way to start your mind racing with the possibilities.
Item 4: 48, 7 - The Sleuth: A BitD Playbook
Without a doubt, this was the most inaccessible thing I came across today. It is a guide for how to play as a new character in the tabletop game Blades in the Dark, a game I have never heard of. This character is called The Sleuth, a "peerless detective and mentalist" who fits into the obsessive detective trend that anyone who has ever read anything, watched anything or played anything will recognise. I don't know, I really have nothing else I can say about it. The design of the character (as you can see above) is something I really dig but seeing as I have no idea about the game he is meant to inhabit, the rest of this file is absolute gibberish to me. If you like Blades in the Dark, this is probably pretty cool. If not, there's still plenty of other stuff in this bundle that is for you instead.
Item 5: 30, 11 - you used to be someone
This is the kind of game that I expected to find from a bundle on a website all about prioritising the voices of independent creators. you used to be someone is simple; it is about a character, having a depressive episode and leaving their house in an attempt to break that spell. It's just that, nothing more. No real objective, no real escalation, just a stroll in an attempt of magically making yourself undepressed while searching for the answer to that implied follow up question: if you used to be someone, who are you now? The art style is very similar to the title (seen above) in that it's a collage of pictures used to create a world that feels very harsh and unforgiving. For a 20 hour plus game, that could be annoying but in this short exploration of emotional emptieness, it is a perfect use of form to enhance the themes. If you bought the bundle, I recommend checking this out. It won't take up much of your time but, like me, you'll find yourself thinking about it for much longer afterwards.
Item 6: 43, 18 - Real Winners: Victoryball
A bit of a limp end to the feature. Real Winners: Victoryball is a classic example of the "sportsball" genre of video games, that incorporates fictionalised chaos into real sports. In many ways, the obvious comparison is Rocket League and in its silliness and cartoon chaos, that's an appropriate game to draw parallels with. I wish I could draw more but, unfortunately, this game is local multiplayer only, meaning there isn't even a single player mode. I understand that coding AI for that would obviously be difficult but still, it meant that without access to a selection of loveable rogues who I could gather around my laptop, preferably with a couple of cold cans of cider in hand, I couldn't really play this. It lets you spawn in and fly around the in-game pitches, but otherwise, it's unplayable in solo mode. It's a deliberate choice and like I said, I understand why it exists for an indie developer. However, in a world where Rocket League exists and has a singleplayer mode, there's not much point playing this. Hell, even if I had friends gathered, I'd be more likely to go to the Kung Foot mode in Rayman Legends than return to this. PC gaming is a hive of possibilities for the future of multiplayer gaming but sadly, Real Winners doesn't do enough to make itself stand out from the crowd.
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