I quite like this idea. I think thinking "outside the box" is necessary as it's no good for Itch to be seen only to be copying ideas from other sites, it needs to innovate - saying that it's already been innovating for quite some time of course! :-)
Also it's not just about growing a user base, it's about ensuring retention of those already using it, and I think it would be nice if we could build a real sense of community here (there may already be one, I have to admit that I haven't been interacting much with the Itch community at large until quite recently).