itch.io Recommends: E3 Apology games for the week of 6/22
Hey itch fans, it’s been a while hasn’t it? Sadly, last week I abandoned my post to galavant around E3 and talk to devs about games, and Giant Bomb about Pixy Stix. It was a fairly productive trip which you should see the results of on the site in the coming months. Yes, that’s vague.
As a sort of mea culpa, please accept this fresh bunch of rad-as-hell games™ that you can enjoy to get you through the weekend.
Everything is going to be OK:
I ran into Everything is going to be OK’s dev Nathalie at E3 and it was easily one of my favorite experiences at the show. Everything is going to be OK is not a game per se but an interactive, digital zine that looks/ plays like a game. Yes, it’s a small distinction but an important one nonetheless. OK is cut into small vignettes that all approach the central theme of durability, strength, and mental health in different and personal ways.
OK isn’t finished quite yet –Nathalie is still polishing the final experience– but the zine is already both playable and affecting. Check OK out if you’re interested in something that’s simultaneously alien and very, very human.
Frog Smashers:
Is it an understatement to say that we like local multiplayer games here at itch.io? Yes. Categorically yes. As it turns out we also love frogs. Why are we talking about this? Frog Smashers has brought these two great loves together and we couldn’t be more pleased.
Set in a universe where all of frog-kind has shown up for battle at the local bus stop, Frog Smashers combines Samurai Gunn and Super Smash Bros. to hilarious effect. Hit your friends with bats and fight to wrest control over the ultimate kingdom. Frog Smashers is pay what you want and available now.
Scanline:
Procedural generation is one of my favorite trends in gaming. It never matters if you win or lose, because you’re always going to see something new. If you’re as bad at games as I am, that’s a huge boon.
Scanline (originally a part of the CGAJAM) takes one of my favorite games, Cave Story, and throws it through horizontal tunnels with random generation. It’s a great time and shows an incredible level of polish for being developed in less than 2 weeks. It’s hard game not to recommend, and is likely one of the better ways to spend your weekend.
