I think the negative tagging suggestion that is often suggested would be helpful for this. I like looking up 2D horror, but I can hardly find what I'm after since I can't also include "-visual novel" and "-erotic".
I'm glad that itch allows lewd stuff... It seems like a good "freedom of speech"-stance, but *gosh*, it does get in the way when trying to search for something specific.
Viewing post in Delete all ADULT games
I think the negative tagging suggestion that is often suggested would be helpful for this.
You wanna exclude two dozen different adult tags?
Adult content is excluded from your search and browse results by your account settings
[ ] Show content marked as adult in search & browse
If you do not have this activated, you only see adult content in search and browse, if you select one of the arbitrary "adult" tags. Like adult or erotic.
I think that I would like the option of trying to remove results via negative tags.
Maybe just switching the settings option would help with removing the clutter of lewd games, but I think that it's unfortunate that "adult" seems to be considered to just mean "pornographic".
Though I currently haven't made anything that I'd tag "adult", I could easily imagine doing this for a game I'd consider "R18+", where due to subject matter and themes; I'd feel more comfortable making sure people are aware that I'd really prefer that the game isn't played by children and is intended for adults. I'd like to imagine that I'm not the only one with this thought process.
I think I'll just switch off "adult games" for now, but I wish there was a better solution to this.
it's unfortunate that "adult" seems to be considered to just mean "pornographic"
In the US? Yes. Read here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entertainment_Software_Rating_Board#Ratings
There are so few games that have AO, adults only, that they made a list. And you can count the games on that list that are not of a lewd nature on one hand.
To go above M17+ with non lewd things is near impossible. So adult game is a synonym for certain content - just like in "adult book store" or "adult toys".
I also would wish for more content granularity to filter. Age is so one dimensionally.
And then there are games like Darkest Dungeon. Look at the official ratings. It has T in the US and even in restrictive Germany it has 12+. If you do not know Darkest Dungon, I suggest you have a look. And then compare any of your planned "mature" content with the content of that game.
I think as adults we tend to lump children together. Teenagers are technically children in a legal sense if used as a synonym for minors, but actually, the phase of being a child only goes from birth to puberty. A game not being 18+ does not mean, it is family friendly. And Itch is intended for 13+. Unlike that Scratch gaming site, which is intended for 8-16 and even has a ScratchJr for 5-7 yo.
Ah; I'm not American, so maybe that's part of my confusion.
I'm aware of Darkest Dungeon, but my interest isn't in a specific countries rating code (I might of muddied the water by mentioning the Australian ratings code "R18+"), I'm interested in a developers ability to use their own discretion when labeling their own work.
Maybe part of the solution is a more robust way of content filtering.