
There are now 200k games on itch.io - PudgePacket
https://itch.io/blog/108659/there-are-200000-games-on-itchio-heres-how-to-find-your-new-favorite
======
rendaw
I only play a couple games now and then, but Itch.io is a really cool platform
for digital publishing.

On Linux, your typical options are 1. make a package for each distro's package
manager and offer it on your site, or use your language's package manager. On
Windows, your only real option is to provide a zip file or installer exe and
hope people update every once in a while. Chocolately is unfortunately clunky
and hyper-niche.

With Itch you get cross platform distribution with auto updates, a simple
forum, and a payment system. Unlike Steam which is locked down and has an
approval process, you can just sign up and upload your stuff to Itch. A lot of
it is open source too.

The only real complaint I have about Itch are a lot of the ecosystem is built
up around games so if you upload an office application it might turn away some
potential users, and there's no support for other languages in the UI
currently (apparently this is being added though).

------
rasz
Great place, you an stumble upon gems like this
[https://thecatamites.itch.io/magic-wand](https://thecatamites.itch.io/magic-
wand) Playthru:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fizq2qBUh3I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fizq2qBUh3I)

------
ralusek
Is itch.io for browser games or _any_ games?

~~~
ergothus
I know there is a small but growing tabletop rpg community on there. After
drivethrurpg (the current de facto leader in rpg distribution - think of them
like Steam, but for PDFs) had a kerfuffle about whether they should/should not
take down a product that was offensive to many, the community started to
notice that there wasn't really any competition to threaten to move to. That
got some companies looking at itch.io. (I'm not aware of any high profile
switches, but companies like EvilHat have started to make sure they are
selling on both)

Meanwhile people as have an indie community there developing tabletop RPGs
that dont always follow traditional expectations - I dont know if that
community was already in place and just got some new attention, or if it
coalesced as a result, but I assume the former.

~~~
baud147258
> kerfuffle about whether they should/should not take down a product that was
> offensive to many

I hadn't heard about that, do you have a pointer to find more information?

~~~
ergothus
TL;DR: Someone put out a product called "Tournament of Rapists". This followed
on the heels of a good year+ of debate about the role companies in the RPG
market should play when dealing with people like Zak Smith (see also
controversy about Zak Smith as alleged rapist, largely recognized jerk, yet
well-known author and credited for work with D&D 5E) and products like a
GamerGate card game that also caused debate with DriveThru.

This led to people yelling at DriveThru for selling this supplement, so
DriveThru followed through with a new content policy, which led people to be
angry because they were either not doing enough or doing too much (debates
that should be familiar to the HN crowd). Regardless of position, the
realization that DriveThru is an effective monopoly and neither players nor
companies have much leverage somewhat sunk in, so alternatives (itch,
indiepressrevolution) got some more attention.

This has links to what should be decent summaries, though my work is blocking
them so I can't confirm. [https://michaelduxbury.com/2015/09/03/on-the-
drivethrurpg-of...](https://michaelduxbury.com/2015/09/03/on-the-drivethrurpg-
offensive-content-controversy/)

Here's a tweet I have in an open tab waiting for a tuit:
[https://twitter.com/levikornelsen/status/1184949595685543936](https://twitter.com/levikornelsen/status/1184949595685543936)

~~~
baud147258
Thank you for the explanation.

