1500+ Games Included! Itch.io's Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality [Finished: Over $8m raised]

[Toma]

Shoot Shoot Mega Pack

Local multiplayer shooter arena. Its a set of 4 mp game types focussed on different shooter arena variations (invisible ships, creating black holes, mirrorring the other players inputs..). Those modes are really fun variations, the restarts are snappy, controls are tight. Its a weird little thing, but its just really well executed because every aspect is clearly so well polished. Its a shame there isnt some kind of online highscore mode, but if you have a few friends around, this is absolutely something you should give a try. 4/5

Hellenica

SRPG with heavy emphasis on puzzle like setups. Its a rather original take on the genre, with level ups being granted for accomplishing missions in each level (defeat enemies without taking damage, killing an enemy by pushing him off a cliff..), a unique setting (Steampunk Greece), generally very good level design, every unit having a unique set of skills and possibilities and branching story paths. The story can meander a bit, and some parts of the presentation are a bit off, but this is genuinely a great game and seems massively underrated. Would love to play this on my switch. 5/5

1000 Heads among the Trees

Experimental Walking Simulator style game with a few highly unique ideas. Your camera is your "window" into this world and your main means of interacting with it. Take pictures of this quiet peruvian town, ask the locals about the pictures you took and slowly see the narrative unfold as you get to know more about this town and its paranormal mysteries. Its a bit eerie and unsettling, with good sound design to emphasize the weirdness of it all. This is a bizarre experience and feels a bit unpolished, but its also one of the most unique games in the bundle. You need a bit of patience for this one, but if you are a connoisseur of the weird and enjoy games focussing on mood and experiences, you should absolutely try this. 3/5


313 / 1111 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

 

[Toma]

Resistance is fruitile

A twin stick shooter about shooting fruit, uncovering power up cards, collecting gems, a highscore and a coop mode. So on the one hand, it never felt as good to shoot a banana in the face with a shotgun. On the other hand however, the game has a few small design choices that prevent me from truly loving it. After every level you get to pick a random powerup, which foregoes the genre standard of picking a power up yourself from 3 choices. I never thought about that before, but player agency is a huge draw to these type of games as it allows you to feel in control of your character. The other thing that bugs me is the non-randomized room progression, which simply makes it less interesting to replay. Despite those negatives, its still absolutely worth playing though, especially for a good bit of coop fun. 3/5

AIdol

A light and innocent visual novel about a girl trying to rescue her idol by finding a way to fix her programming errors. Its cute, there is a lot of conversation fleshing out the characters, the idea of the virtual idol contacting you via phone is pleasing and has just enough mystery to keep you reading and you can probably get all the ending within a few hours. If you enjoy visual novels and you want something pleasant, this could scratch that itch. 3,5/5

Little Bug

This is entirely way too beautiful and nobody knows what a special little gem is hiding here (27 steam reviews, what in the world). Its a unique platformer about a girl exploring her surroundings and every bit of the gameplay and presentation masterfully incorporates into the main story beats, message and theme of being a curious girl in a big world where everything might be a wonder to explore or danger to avoid. This game can be drop dead gorgeous when it mixes realistic surroundings with her imaginative view of the world, it is touching, has an amazing ambient soundtrack with an everincreasing amount of challenge (and more unlockable challenge levels), so you are forced to learn the intricacies of the movement system (it gets.. hard later on). It is a rare feat when every section, every new locale in a game feels like a reward in itself, this game is truly special. 5/5

316 / 1111 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

 

[mattiewheels]

👏👏👏👏Toma 👏👏👏👏

 

[Toma]

Tallowmere

Action platforming highscore roguelike with ridiculous weapons and a good amount of challenges. I could barely stop playing this now, as figuring out the intricacies of the items and how to best let the enemies murder themselves was very fun. It clearly has some balancing issues and kinda gets away with it due to the roguelike nature of it, but this weird little unassuming game really makes the best of its rough edges. I will definitely take a look at the sequel coming out this month. 3,5/5

Botolo

2 player mindgame arena. This is good, really good. Its easy to learn, but the intricate dance of managing the proximity to your enemy and positioning is just so well implemented. You grab a ball, defend it with the right timing or wait for your moment to strike. It is a very well rounded competetive game that will probably shine on a local gaming/lan party if you have a few others around that enjoy playing these reaction based mind games. There is also a few competent single player challenges, but this shines really as 2 player contest. 4/5

Empyrean Frontier

Single player tactical RTS in space with a persistent campaign. Its a bit rough around some edges, but with its RTS spin on the FTL progression formula it is a pretty unique take on the standard RTS formula, and frankly, there havent been enough of those lately. Throughout the campaign, you earn credits, buy and upgrade ships and then use the fleet you created to continue the fight. Any ship you save, you can continue using, any ship you lose is forever dead. The game can feel incredibly rewarding when positioning yourself well pays off, but it also feels like it lacks a bit of depth in other areas (base building, upgrades..). Absolutely worth playing and testing out though. 3,5/5


319 / 1111 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

 

[Toma]

👏👏👏👏Toma 👏👏👏👏

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Back from the dead! What a week.

Also dont sleep on Hellenica and Little Bug, people. Two of the best games in the bundle and no one knows them.

 

[Delroy]

Toma I really enjoy reading your reviews and appreciate all you efforts. Resetera keeps dropping this off my notifications for some reason, so I've had some reading to do to catch up which made for a pleasant little chunk of my afternoon. Please keep it up!

 

[asmith906]

I really appreciate these reviews

 

[Nacho]

Oh damn I didn't realize you were doing this.i just was looking for something like this as I was looking to go through a few games from this bundle next week as I wait for cyberpunk. Subbing to this thread for sure.

 

[Toma]

Toma I really enjoy reading your reviews and appreciate all you efforts. Resetera keeps dropping this off my notifications for some reason, so I've had some reading to do to catch up which made for a pleasant little chunk of my afternoon. Please keep it up!

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I really appreciate these reviews

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Oh damn I didn't realize you were doing this.i just was looking for something like this as I was looking to go through a few games from this bundle next week as I wait for cyberpunk. Subbing to this thread for sure.

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Much appreciated. I will probably be at this for another year or something. There is just way too much good stuff in the bundle and it would be a shame for no one to ever find it. Little Bug and its 27 Steam reviews is the perfect example for that. i still keep being surprised how damn high the average quality of these games is. Any game at ranking 3,5 (180 out of those 316) and above is potentially a game that a sizeable chunk of Resetera could get a lot of fun out of if it was the game we decided to focus on at that time. That ratio keeps being bananas to me.

 

[Deleted member 1849]

Hellenica looks like my kind of game. I missed that one.

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[BringBackSonics]

Man, thanks Toma. Are you going through all of them?!

 

[Toma]

Man, thanks Toma. Are you going through all of them?!

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Thats Gold, Jerry! Gold!
Yeah, too much good stuff in there I wouldnt want to miss.

 

[Delroy]

Toma i might have missed it, but what are your favorite shorter experiences in the bundle? Genre isn't super important, but I generally lean towards things that aren't super challenging And enjoy games with an ending/end.

 

[Toma]

Toma i might have missed it, but what are your favorite shorter experiences in the bundle? Genre isn't super important, but I generally lean towards things that aren't super challenging And enjoy games with an ending/end.

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How short is short for you?

 

[Delroy]

How short is short for you?

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Hmm, ideally something under five hours out so. Enough to set up and accomplish itself while not sticking around too long.

 

[Doomburrito]

Holy heck, Blitz Breaker is FANTASTIC. Like, on part with Super Meat Boy, in my opinion.

It's just so fun and so slick. There are definitely a few rough edges (the hit collision boxes are a bit larger than they should be), but if you're a fan of games like Celeste or Meat Boy, this is a must play.

Thanks, Toma!

 

[Toma]

Holy heck, Blitz Breaker is FANTASTIC. Like, on part with Super Meat Boy, in my opinion.

It's just so fun and so slick. There are definitely a few rough edges (the hit collision boxes are a bit larger than they should be), but if you're a fan of games like Celeste or Meat Boy, this is a must play.

Thanks, Toma!

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Indeed, surprised me a lot with its polish. Its just damn fun to play.

 

[Menchi]

Thanks for continuing to go through these Toma - I really enjoy reading your impressions on them!

 

[Deleted member 283]

Indeed, I'd also like to thank Toma for continuing to do these impressions. Discovering a lot of cool stuff because of them as as much as I'd love to, I know that I would probably never shift through these myself, so seeing all these summaries really helps a lot and I definitely appreciate it.

 

[Delroy]

How short is short for you?

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Didn't hear back from you, did you have any recs in that sub-5 hot area? Thanks ahead of time!

 

[Toma]

Didn't hear back from you, did you have any recs in that sub-5 hot area? Thanks ahead of time!

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I have some ideas, give me a bit of time ;) Gotta take care of work stuff first.

 

[Delroy]

I have some ideas, give me a bit of time ;) Gotta take care of work stuff first.

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Ha my bad! Didn't mean to make you feel rushed.

 

[Toma]

Ha my bad! Didn't mean to make you feel rushed.

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Alright, recommendations "I have no time and I must sleep"-edition (sorted by the sequence in my ranking list, so highest recommendation up top) with games that have good worldbuilding, arent too long or too hard and have an ending.

Minit - Unique Zelda style adventure with a Time restriction mechanic.
The Stillness of the Wind - Very laid back and contemplative adventure about what lies behind.
Kids - Very cool art game
Lenna's Inception - Zelda type game with a lot of... surprises.
Pikuniku - Relaxed exploration game with slight adventure elements
Wide Ocean, Big Jacket - Narrative focussed game about a trip with very real people.
Far from Noise - Incredibly insightful story game, about your conversation on a cliffs edge.
A Short Hike - Short little adventure, very fun and lighthearted
One Night Stand - Unique visual novel about a One Night Stand and your futile attempt to figure out what happened
A New Life - Touching visual novel about a relationship.
Milkmaid of the Milky Way - Classic adventure game with some fun characters.
Shrug Island - Dreamy exploration adventure
Old Man's Journey - Half toy, half light adventure puzzle game
Islands - Explorative toy and very mesmerizing scenes
Clam Man - Unique adventure game about... clam man
The White Door - Puzzle/adventure game in which you need to find the background of your own past.

 

[Delroy]

Alright, recommendations "I have no time and I must sleep"-edition (sorted by the sequence in my ranking list, so highest recommendation up top) with games that have good worldbuilding, arent too long or too hard and have an ending.

Minit - Unique Zelda style adventure with a Time restriction mechanic.
The Stillness of the Wind - Very laid back and contemplative adventure about lies behind.
Kids - Very cool art game
Lenna's Inception - Zelda type game with a lot of... surprises.
Pikuniku - Relaxed exploration game with slight adventure elements
Wide Ocean, Big Jacket - Narrative focussed game about a trip with very real people.
Far from Noise - Incredibly insightful story game, about your conversation on a cliffs edge.
A Short Hike - Short little adventure, very fun and lighthearted
One Night Stand - Unique visual novel about a One Night Stand and your futile attempt to figure out what happened
A New Life - Touching visual novel about a relationship.
Milkmaid of the Milky Way - Classic adventure game with some fun characters.
Shrug Island - Dreamy exploration adventure
Old Man's Journey - Half toy, half light adventure puzzle game
Islands - Explorative toy and very mesmerizing scenes
Clam Man - Unique adventure game about... clam man
The White Door - Puzzle/adventure game in which you need to find the background of your own past.

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Thanks Toma! I've played a few of these on PC and other platforms but will definitely check out the others. Perhaps I'll start with Stillness of the Wind and then try Lenna.

 

[mattiewheels]

I know you might have figured this out Toma, but I notice that there's no straightforward way to access the bundle through the PC app, I have to go into the explore tab which just feels like using the website, then my library/purchases/bundles. Is there a way just to have the whole bundle in a list on the app itself somewhere? Doesn't seem to be a way to see purchases on it anywhere.

 

[Illusionary]

I know you might have figured this out Toma, but I notice that there's no straightforward way to access the bundle through the PC app, I have to go into the explore tab which just feels like using the website, then my library/purchases/bundles. Is there a way just to have the whole bundle in a list on the app itself somewhere? Doesn't seem to be a way to see purchases on it anywhere.

Click to shrink...

No. Itch.io was saying for a while that they were going to implement something wrong these lines, but quietly dropped that after silence for a couple of months.

 

[Toma]

I know you might have figured this out Toma, but I notice that there's no straightforward way to access the bundle through the PC app, I have to go into the explore tab which just feels like using the website, then my library/purchases/bundles. Is there a way just to have the whole bundle in a list on the app itself somewhere? Doesn't seem to be a way to see purchases on it anywhere.

Click to shrink...

1-2 pages back, I linked a script that allows you to add the games to your library. Thats unfortunately your best bet currently.

 

[Fat4all]

on a whim i decided to try out Long Gone Days and it's pretty cool so far

'Morale' being built through social interactions, as well as acting as your magic meter, as well as acting as a buff/debuff is really neat

I'm not super far into it yet but for an early access RPG its well made

 

[Toma]

on a whim i decided to try out Long Gone Days and it's pretty cool so far

'Morale' being built through social interactions, as well as acting as your magic meter, as well as acting as a buff/debuff is really neat

I'm not super far into it yet but for an early access RPG its well made

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I really want to play through it once they aere done. Apparently they are currently still working on the last chapter of the game.

 

[acmshar]

Alright, recommendations "I have no time and I must sleep"-edition (sorted by the sequence in my ranking list, so highest recommendation up top) with games that have good worldbuilding, arent too long or too hard and have an ending.

Minit - Unique Zelda style adventure with a Time restriction mechanic.
The Stillness of the Wind - Very laid back and contemplative adventure about what lies behind.
Kids - Very cool art game
Lenna's Inception - Zelda type game with a lot of... surprises.
Pikuniku - Relaxed exploration game with slight adventure elements
Wide Ocean, Big Jacket - Narrative focussed game about a trip with very real people.
Far from Noise - Incredibly insightful story game, about your conversation on a cliffs edge.
A Short Hike - Short little adventure, very fun and lighthearted
One Night Stand - Unique visual novel about a One Night Stand and your futile attempt to figure out what happened
A New Life - Touching visual novel about a relationship.
Milkmaid of the Milky Way - Classic adventure game with some fun characters.
Shrug Island - Dreamy exploration adventure
Old Man's Journey - Half toy, half light adventure puzzle game
Islands - Explorative toy and very mesmerizing scenes
Clam Man - Unique adventure game about... clam man
The White Door - Puzzle/adventure game in which you need to find the background of your own past.

Click to shrink...

I didn't realize A Short Hike was in this bundle. I'd been wanting to play it since I saw the dev's GDC talk. Glad I saw this post. Thanks for writing this up!

 

[Toma]

Eselmir and the five magical gifts

A very long adventure game with an amazing and remarkable handdrawn art style, janky animations, a wide variety of puzzles, an appealing original soundtrack and text over text over text. Unfortunately the beginning mostly comes down to walking around and the puzzles you encounter in the beginning arent that interesting, but to be fair thats also not the main selling point. Apparently the game is based on a fantasy world by an author, who also decided to write and draw everything for this game. That leads to sometimes very long reading sessions, as so much is presented in text form. There definitely is a charm to it though, so if you feel like diving slowly and thoroughly super deep into a new fantasy world, but ever wondered why you cant do that in adventure game form, then this is the game for you. Its an interesting game, it just wont be for everyone. 3/5

Heavy Bullets

Hyperstlylized FPS roguelike, in which you only have the bullets in your clip, so you better make your shots count (and then collect your bullets from the remains of your enemies). This is by no means a bad game. Its snappy, weirdly nice to look at, offers a good sense of improvement and progression through getting to know items, and development systems and is overall fun to navigate/play. My biggest issue is that it starts to feel repetetive extremely quickly as most of the enemy types require the same type of strategy, walk slowly around a corner, check if you see enemyjump out of cover, shoot and win. Make no mistake, this game is deviously relentless and challenging, though, so it does offer a good challenge for a few hours to bite through. 3,5/5

Cityglitch

Utterly fantastic puzzle game on a 5x5 grid. Almost 100 levels with different challenges and as expected in the genre genuine head scratchers. Its not quite among the best in the genre, as some levels feel a bit redundant, but its really damn close. It does well to constantly introduce new ideas, has more than enogh content if you decide to gold star every level (figre out the paths for minimum moves) and has genuine "oh shit, thats how this works" classic puzzle game moments. 4,5/5



322 / 1111 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

 

[RRW]

Kinda off topic but i want to share this cool game gimmick

 

[Toma]

Kinda off topic but i want to share this cool game gimmick

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That is a pretty genius and slightly insane. But I suppose genius and madness are once again only a step apart.

 

[Toma]

All-Stars Dungeon and Diamonds

Charming 2 player racing game where you collect and use Mario Kart style items to slow down the opponent and propel yourself to the goal. The devs clearly put a lot of heart into this, but unfortunately the gameplay systems just dont mesh with what the experience tries to be. Mario Kart still requires you to decide when to use a mushroom, or to aim a turtle shell. There are some exceptions, but for the most part it doesnt really matter how you play, you can just mash all the items out as soon as you get them, and usually the player with the best luck wins (There is an item that changes player positions too). As with all couch vs gaes, this can still be a laugh with a friend, but overall I cant recommend it. Unfortunate. 2/5

Go morse go

Its a morse code competition typing game. You and up to 3 friends compete in typing the morse code to any given letter and get points for being the quickest. The game has a few different modes, that unfortunately feel a bit too similar, but is super adorable, made me grin and I could see this being a fun little party game diversion for 4 people.scrambling to find the correct morse code. I am sure this could also teach you to learn morse code too. Cute idea. I would have loved to see this being expanded to reading /typing words instead of just letters. 3/5

The adventures of Elena Temple

Relatively short retro inspired Jump & Run that is a good bit of fun if you go into it with the right mindset. This game intentionally tries to emulate a lot of the fun and semi fun aspects of 80s retro platformers, while making enough concessions that everybody can enjoy it. The jumping controls, midi music are all nostalgic and not particular good, but the sense of exploration and figuring out how the game unfolds, making you find its little secrets and hidden rooms starts becoming more and more alluring the deeper you go on. The game is also massively helped by having a very unpunishing instant revival system that allows you to enjoy the retro sensation, without needing to hammer your head against the table for weeks. 3/5


325 / 1111 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

 

[Toma]

Currently a bit slower with the impressions again, because I fell into a Shiren the Wanderer sized hole on Switch, which just for the record comes incredibly highly recommended from me.
https://www.resetera.com/threads/sh...-releases-december-2nd-3rd-2020-up-20.282329/

 

[Toma]

Vienna Automobile Society

This is a very interesting local vs racing game with unique mechanics, that reminded me a lot of those real life toy car racing tracks. You dont steer the cars, but instead "plan" the route your car takes, which is especially critical around corners for the quickest path and to avoid crashing into other cars taking the same route, all the while managing your speed to not steer out in a tight corner, which makes it not only a fun bit of risk and reward, but also a mind game around deciphering your opponents track plans. It has 12 different tracks, weather conditions with different effects and just in general seems like a very fun local vs game. It technically has online MP too, but that unfortunately only works in the Steam version. I contacted the dev about it, so if this is something that might interest you, maybe chime in on the Itch community page about it as the bundle didnt give out Steam keys. 4/5

Brushwood Buddies

Cute and well done puzzle game in the vein of Doodle God style crafting puzzles. You have a variety of locations and need to craft items with what you are given, creating an ever more complex chain of crafting puzzles, which is simultaneously one of the biggest strengths and weaknesses. The game has over 100 puzzle recipes that are genuinely interesting to figure out with the restrictions that the game imposes on you. Due to the nature of the recipes becoming increasingly more complex and relying on older recipes, you will retread them a lot, which takes a bit away from the excitement. The UI also could use some more obvious clues, but overall, its a cute little puzzle game thats worth checking out if you enjoyed games in the crafting puzzle subgenre. 3,5/5

One Eyed Lee and the Dinner Party

Adventure game with a unique setting and some very well written characters. Two friends find an underground bunker where they get to know a family living in a cult that might or might not have led to their current slightly dead disposition. The story is intriguing so you want to explore how this situation came about, the writing is a bit over the top, but endearing and the puzzles are interesting enough to give your brain something to think about. Good fun. 3,5/5


328 / 1111 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

 

[Zaubrer]

Well that racing game looks certainly super interesting. Also thanks for your continued impressions!

 

[Toma]

Well that racing game looks certainly super interesting. Also thanks for your continued impressions!

Click to shrink...

It is, I am a huge fan of any game concept that offers something new and that is a unique racing game, which is not easy to pull off well or even pull off at all. The style is on point, the mechanics are polished, really a shame I could only drive around empty tracks as I would love to give this a spin in MP.

 

[Toma]

The Subject

3D puzzle horror game that has some good atmosphere, a few good ideas that I dont want to spoil, but also slightly annoying puzzle design that requires a lot of guess work and clicking around.You might like this if you treat it like a puzzle box, for which you need to fiddle with every corner and if you have a tendency to enjoy random horror aspects in games. Its pretty, but I cant shake the feeling that the game was missing a more interesting and focussed puzzle approach. 3/5

Daily Chthonicle

Its an event based newsletter simulator in the Cthulhu universe. I was really looking forward to trying this, as ithese boardgame/management game hybrids can be incredibly evocative and good at storytelling, as you can get storytelling beats by the minute. Unfortunately I dont think the game systems are working that well. The story parts arent very rewarding, the game mechanics arent deep enough and the UI and progression are... suboptimal. There is still some excitement to be found here trying to see which event stories they pulled out, but other games did that aspect much better. 2,5/5

Your Future Self

Your future self has committed genocide and you managed to find yourself in a time warping bubble with him, trying to convince him of his wrongdoing, which might make you change your own future. This game is more akin to a visual novel in text form with a relevant outlook on our societies development to experience in its 60-80 minutes of runtime. You pick choices, increase your skills on each loop and eventually manageto change the course of the conversation. The gameplay mechanics are not as reactive as I would have wanted, but they do a good job of reinforcing the main theme of the game. Despite some flaws, its certainly an original concept worth exploring. 3/5

331 / 1111 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

 

[Deleted member 1849]

Cityglitch

Utterly fantastic puzzle game on a 5x5 grid. Almost 100 levels with different challenges and as expected in the genre genuine head scratchers. Its not quite among the best in the genre, as some levels feel a bit redundant, but its really damn close. It does well to constantly introduce new ideas, has more than enogh content if you decide to gold star every level (figre out the paths for minimum moves) and has genuine "oh shit, thats how this works" classic puzzle game moments. 4,5/5

Click to shrink...

Interesting thing about this one: A .love file is provided, which is basically a love2d engine compressed file. They don't ship a Linux version, but if you install the engine on Linux, "love cityglitch.love" will run the game.

Also, since it's basically just a zip file, you can easily look around and see how it was made.

 

[Toma]

Witch Thief

3D bullet hell game that is absolutely worth experiencing, but wont be for everyone due to unforgiving hit boxes, somewhat weird control schemes and sometimes messy visual presentation that makes it harder to keep an overviewe of compared to its 2D brethren. Still even considering all of that, its adorable, offers a good challenge and wont take you too long to beat if you manage to bite through its systems and presentation. 2,5/5

The Night Fisherman

The Night Fisherman is a very short (3 minutes) narrative experiement that was the first in a set of narrative shorts and games that the developer was working on that explored different topics and that were tied together in some form. It is worth playing especially due to the nature of its topic which became more relevant than ever, but considering the length and accompanying somewhat missing impact, it leaves the player wanting for more without the context of other following games. 3/5

Attrition: Tactical Fronts

This is a strategy game heavily inspired by Advance Wars, that unfortunately never was fully finished. I had some fun with the missions in the relatively short main campaign as tinkering with mechanics like Suppression, Unit Abilitiies, Terrain effects etc. tickled my brain, but the game is clearly not finished with bad AI and suboptimal game balancing. The saving grace could be the online multiplayer, but as with all Indie Games, there are no players to play with. There is no local MP either, but if you have an onine friend to play with that also owns the bundle, you could probably have some really fun online skirmishes, even if I wouldnt recommend buying the game for it if you didnt own it yet. 2,5/5


334 / 1111 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

 

[Toma]

Blasting Agent

Retro inspired hardcore jump and shoot game. Despite having a health bar, you often die in a very short moment, because of how lethal all enemies are. I really like that they made a campaign structure in which secrets you find serve as permanent powerups for the rest of your campaign (doubleshot, longer shot range...), which makes exploration feel very rewarding. Its basically a remake of a 2009 flash game, which shows a bit in its design philosophies and presentation, but at its core, its simply an interesting challenge that really scratches an itch to make e want to push through, explore and continue. 3,5/5

Cecconoid

Another hardcore retro inspired arcade game. You start off with a very basic ship, explore the levels for upgrades and try to learn how to maximize your highscore potential. It thoroughly falls into the category of games that require you to learn by making mistakes. You cant know everything, you cant always be prepared, but thats also the kind of micro level game knowledge that made some of these rock hard retro games so satisfying to pull off. The game has some design issues, namely hard to see bullets, no enemy hit indicators etc, but if you enjoy games that force you to learn their rules and level layouts, and you dont mind dying and restarting to get through it after having learned what you need to do with sort of an old school retro mindset, then you will still find this very enjoyable. 3,5/5

Fate Tectonics

So speaking of unique game mechanic mixes, how about a world building god power open ended puzzle game? You build the world, one tile at a time and building the world properly gives it more durability, while reaching certain milestones unlocks more time for future runs. After a set time, you get to destroy the world, unlock achievements for your playthrough and then start your next run with your next goals and more time for your next run. Its cute, pocket sizes, the next achievements give a very good direction despite its open ended nature, has a unique game mechanic that reminds me a lot of boardgames like Carcassonne and a few additional modes to make your game experience cater to your preference (like an endless no destruction mode). 4/5


337 / 1111 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

 

[Toma]

Pendula Swing

Absolutely amazing concept. Its more of an adventure game where you explore a world, get to know characters and solve simple quest lines. The unique, special thing about that is the setting: You are a dwarven adventurer, who has saved the world a long time ago, lived out the rest of your peaceful life in a small island home far from the rest of the world until you get pulled back to the more urban life, once a thief steals your irreplacable axe with which you saved the world. In the meantime your world of fantasy and wizardry has transformed into an era inspired by the roaring 20s with a ton of charme, heart and change that might have passed by your character over the last decades. Dont expect challenging puzzles or combat, but if you enjoy reading, exploring and getting to know an interesting world, then this is a gem of a game. 5/5

Nepenthe

Unique RPG with hand drawn graphics and a lot of meme-y jokes. With its clearly undertale inspired mechanics, its dancing dangerously on the line between cult classic and "first game project". It is charming, the action based Undertale inspired combat keeps being entertaining and the little mysteries, divergent story paths and multiple endings are appreciated and keep the suspense high. However, despite all of that, thegame never feels like developing a sense of worldbuilding that I could believe, never made me that curious to talk to someone or visit a new place, but I can see how a game like this might resonate entirely differently with you. 3/5

Veritas

Basically an Escape room style adventure game that I enjoyed surprisingly much. Out of all the Escape room games I played, it had the most coherent idea of how to structure those puzzles in a way that feel well placed in its environment with a fair setup to the player, while also giving me enough to think about and offering a generous hint system if you wanted it. The story on top worked well enough that I was curious what happened to patient #3 and #6, even if it didnt reinvent the wheel. The game could run a bit smoother, but overall, I very much enjoyed the atmosphere and puzzles, which was I want from these games. Definitely recommended. 3,5/5


340 / 1111 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

 

[Toma]

Just as an aside how insane discoverability for Indies has become:
The last 3 games I rated 4,5/5 or 5/5 are among the most intriguing Indie games I played in the last year and they have a combined amount of steam reviews/impressions that totals 52.

52 for 3 genuinely interesting games. It baffles me that quality Indie games are still being made and devs didnt give up. Thanks to all the aspiring devs out there reading this. You deserve so much more credit (and money).

 

[Saoshyant]

Just as an aside how insane discoverability for Indies has become:
The last 3 games I rated 4,5/5 or 5/5 are among the most intriguing Indie games I played in the last year and they have a combined amount of steam reviews/impressions that totals 52.

52 for 3 genuinely interesting games. It baffles me that quality Indie games are still being made and devs didnt give up. Thanks to all the aspiring devs out there reading this. You deserve so much more credit (and money).

Click to shrink...

Yeah... it's absurd and honestly unfair to those creators. But we can't do more than trying to bring up those gems to the attention of others. And on that part you're doing an amazing job. I've discovered quite a few great titles I wouldn't have know existed if not for you.

 

[Jo-awn]

I've been lurking in this thread. But this is great to see games that I would never touch or even know exists. Thanks a lot, Toma!

It reminds me of a growing small-time YouTuber called Budget Gamer who highlighted 15 of his favorite games on the Switch eShop. Discoverability is terrible across every digital distribution platform. One would think that the game industry for all its talk of appealing to Indie devs, would have a universal standard on discoverability when they don't. Word of mouth helps.

 

[Rotondo]

Daily Chthonicle

Its an event based newsletter simulator in the Cthulhu universe. I was really looking forward to trying this, as ithese boardgame/management game hybrids can be incredibly evocative and good at storytelling, as you can get storytelling beats by the minute. Unfortunately I dont think the game systems are working that well. The story parts arent very rewarding, the game mechanics arent deep enough and the UI and progression are... suboptimal. There is still some excitement to be found here trying to see which event stories they pulled out, but other games did that aspect much better. 2,5/5

 

[Rotondo]

About Daily Chthonicle... I disagree that the mechanics aren't "deep enough". When you play the game on medium or hard, there are more systems and it becomes quite challenging. It can really only be beaten if you have a good grasp of the rules.

 

[Toma]

About Daily Chthonicle... I disagree that the mechanics aren't "deep enough". When you play the game on medium or hard, there are more systems and it becomes quite challenging. It can really only be beaten if you have a good grasp of the rules.

Click to shrink...

Thats a fair assessment. I was already wondering if someone who puts more time into it will get more out of it. I played it for a bit more than an hour and failed at that unfortunately. Could you describe how you think the complexity of the mechanics are working together?

 

[mere_immortal]

I keep forgetting I have this pack until this thread pops up occasionally! Nice work Toma .

For the 5/5 games or the ones you find interesting do you play them to completion or make a note to go back to them?